Fact: Carbon emissions are making our oceans acidic

Feb. 1   Leave a Comment  

Ocean acidification is likely to affect the ability of some shellfish to produce and maintain their shells. This process will not only wreak havoc on the shellfish we eat, but also on smaller marine organisms that are key components of the lower end of the marine food chain. (Thinkstock)

Goodbye coral. Goodbye shellfish.

Water usage in the bathroom

Jan. 24   Leave a Comment  

Some 60 percent of our household indoor water usage happens in the bathroom. Toilets are the biggest water hogs, with older models using as much as eight gallons per flush. A shower, even with a low-flow shower head, can use up to 40 gallons of water, and a bath can use up to 50-60 gallons. (Thinkstock)

It’s more than you thought!

Global warming and water shortages

Jan. 8   Leave a Comment  

One out of three counties across the contiguous U.S., says a recent study commissioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council, should brace for water shortages by mid-century as a result of human induced climate change. (Media credit/Comstock)

Water supplies would be hit especially hard

Pharmaceuticals in the water

Sept. 10, 2011   Leave a Comment  

Researchers have identified traces of pharmaceutical drugs -- including antibiotics, hormones, contraceptives and steroids -- in the drinking water supplies of some 40 million Americans. (Stockbyte)

Should you drink the water?

Consequences of stripping the EPA of water quality regulatory authority

Aug. 26, 2011   Leave a Comment  

A new bill, passed by the House of Representatives and awaiting vote in the Senate, aims to strip the EPA of its authority over individual states' water quality. Pictured: The Cuyahoga River on fire in 1952. When it happened again in 1969 it helped kick start the modern environmental movement including the establishment of the Clean Water Act and the founding of the EPA. (Media credit/Wikipedia)

It’s happening

Ocean dead zones

Aug. 13, 2011   Leave a Comment  

Perhaps the most infamous U.S. dead zone is an 8,500 square mile swath of the Gulf of Mexico, not far from where the nutrient-laden Mississippi River, which drains farms up and down the Midwest, lets out.

Hypoxic oceans

Join Aveda’s Earth Month campaign for clean water. It’s as easy as going shopping!

April 9, 2011   Leave a Comment  

Aveda Light the Way Candle 2011

Who says beauty can’t change the world?

The right to clean and fresh water

April 2, 2011   Leave a Comment  

A 2009 World Health Organization and UNICEF study found that 24,000 children in developing countries die each day (one every three-and-a-half seconds) from preventable causes like diarrhea resulting from polluted water. Pictured. An Ethiopian girl drinks water from a newly-installed hand pump. (Water.org)

884 million people lack safe drinking water

Mining hurts water supplies

March 12, 2011   Leave a Comment  

Mine effluent is typically a stew of hazardous acid-generating sulphides, toxic heavy metals, waste rock impoundments and water. When this waste drains into local streams and aquifers, it can kill living organisms and render formerly pristine local waters unsafe to swim in or drink. (Media credit/Courtesy of ilovemountains.org)

Coal mining runoff is a hazardous stew

Bottled water is an utter waste

Feb. 27, 2011   1 Comment  

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Yes it is

EarthTalk: Private water? Genetically-modified food?

Sept. 11, 2010   1 Comment  

Around the world, communities that cannot afford to keep fresh water supplies clean, safe and accessible have increasingly turned over management to private companies. (Media credit/Kris Krug)

Private companies managing the drinking water?

Technology can help those affected by Pakistan flood

Aug. 4, 2010   3 Comments  

Ironically, many of Pakistan’s displaced are suffering from dehydration during the country’s biggest flood in 80 years.

Tips to beat the Boston water boiling blues

May 3, 2010   1 Comment  

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Fun alternatives

List of communities under MWRA boil water order

May 1, 2010   Leave a Comment  

Here is a list of the communities ordered to boil their drinking water after a 10-foot pipe, which supplies water from reservoirs to the Boston metro area, burst in Weston: Arlington Belmont Boston Brookline Canton Chelsea Everett Lexington Lynnfield Water District Malden Marblehead Medford Melrose Milton Nahant Newton Norwood Quincy Reading Revere Saugus Somerville Stoneham [...]

Water from Boston to Haiti

Feb. 12, 2010   1 Comment  

East Boston locals loaded thousands of cartons of water onto a boat bound for Haiti. Media credit/Sam Peters

And it’s not that dirty stuff, either

The poor grad student’s guide: Eating

Nov. 12, 2009   2 Comments  

Buy one good box and one store box. (Media credit/nemoorange/Flickr)

Money’s tight? Here’s how to survive.

EarthTalk: Plankton in the oceans

Nov. 2, 2009   Leave a Comment  

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How is loss of microscopic ocean plankton affecting the environment as a whole?

Boston is one of the greenest, water protecting cities

Sept. 17, 2009   2 Comments  

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The American Rivers groups bestows praise on our city

EarthTalk: Cars that run on water? Green housecleaning?

July 20, 2009   1 Comment  

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EarthTalk answers your burning questions about cars that run on water and using Borax for green housecleaning.

EarthTalk: Mattresses? Birth Control?

June 8, 2009   1 Comment  

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EarthTalk discusses two bedroom topics.