What is an atmospheric river?

What is an atmospheric river? A hydrologist explains the good and bad of these flood-prone storms and how they’re changing

Qian Cao, University of California, San Diego (from The Conversation) A series of atmospheric rivers is bringing the threat of heavy downpours, flooding, mudslides and avalanches to the Pacific Northwest and California this week [early 2024]. While these storms are dreaded for the damage they can cause, they are also essential to the region’s water supply, particularly in California, as Qian Cao, a hydrologist at…

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Climate change is intensifying the water cycle, bringing more powerful storms and flooding – here’s what the science shows

Mathew Barlow, UMass Lowell (from The Conservation) Powerful storm systems triggered flash flooding across the U.S. in late July 2022, killing at least 25 people in eastern Kentucky as floodwater engulfed homes and set off mudslides. Record rainfall also inundated St. Louis neighborhoods, and another deluge in Nevada flooded the Las Vegas strip. The impact of climate change on extreme water-related events like this is…

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Cities and the lack of water

“São Paulo. Cape Town. Now Santiago and Los Angeles. Cities around the world are being forced to live with less water, as global warming melts glaciers, diminishes snowpacks and exacerbates decades of water mismanagement. Not just less water for now. Maybe less water forever.” Read the entire article: Sengupta, Somini (2022, April 29). Climate Forward. New York Times. Real climate change with severe consequences is…

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Water purification by solar power: an update

An update to the Solar-powered water harvesting and purification bibliography. The most current version of the bibliography can be seen here — https://sciencebibliographies.strategian.com/solar-powered-water-harvesting-and-purification/. Featured articles (these articles have been added to the Science Primary Literature database): *Fillet, R., Nicolas, V., Fierro, V., & Celzard, A. (2021). A review of natural materials for solar evaporation. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 219, 110814. [Cited by] “One…

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Drought in California

Water, drought, and the western United States

The western United States (including parts of the Great Plains) is going through an historic period of drought–a level of extended drought that the region has not seen in potentially hundreds of years. “All told, nearly 85% of the West is suffering through drought conditions right now, according to the US Drought Monitor. Almost half the region is now in an extreme or exceptional drought,…

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Trends in treating industrial textile wastewater and other effluents using electrocoagulation

Featured article: Gafoor, A., Ali, N., Kumar, S., Begum, S., & Rahman, Z. (2020). Applicability and new trends of different electrode materials and its combinations in electro coagulation process: A brief review. Materials Today: Proceedings. Available online 7 June 2020. The content of textile wastewater “broadly depends on the composition of scum in fibers and the chemicals used in various stages.” A large quantity of…

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