water news stories on Newser

For Drinkable Water, Add ... Dirt?

Matt Cantor — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:58:03 CDT

One in 6 people in the world faces a clean-water shortage, according to the United Nations—so scientists are proposing a quick fix. Dirty water can be rendered drinkable using a few odd ingredients: Sun, salt, dirt, and lime, NPR reports. The sun's rays can kill the germs in bottled...

Mars Once Had Earth-Like Oceans

Neal Colgrass — Mon, 07 May 2012 19:34:14 CDT

A far denser atmosphere may have allowed Earth-like oceans to flourish on Mars billions of years ago, the Telegraph reports. Analyzing data from the Mars rover Spirit, Professor Josef Dufek of Georgia Tech University concluded that the planet's atmosphere was once 20 times denser—perfect for harboring lots of water....

Africa Sitting On Tons of ... Water?

Kevin Spak — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:34:04 CDT

Believe it or not, Africa is lousy with water—it's just mostly underground. British scientists have produced a new map of the groundwater hidden in aquifers under the arid continent, and found that there's about 100 times more water down there than there is on the surface, the BBC reports....

Weapon of the Future: Water

Kevin Spak — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 18:11:05 CDT

Soon, the precious commodity that starts wars may not be oil: It'll be water. Thanks to fresh-water shortages, droughts, and floods, US intelligence thinks it's increasingly likely that water could be "used as a weapon" in war, with one state denying water to another, according to a report released yesterday....

California Facing Driest Year on Record

Rob Quinn — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 06:06:35 CST

The snow that provides around a third of California's water has largely gone AWOL this year, and with rain also noticeably scant, experts believe the state may be about to experience its driest year since records began. The temperature pattern known as La Niña, combined with a strong atmospheric barrier...

Melting Peru Glaciers Threaten Water Crisis

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:32:06 CST

Peru’s arid Rio Santa watershed could find itself facing a serious water shortage, as rapidly melting glaciers are causing a decrease in supply 20 to 30 years earlier than anticipated. The glaciers in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range, which covered some 530 square miles in the 1930s, now cover less...

Dead Sea Dried Up 120K Years Ago

Dustin Lushing — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 09:41:27 CST

Scientists have discovered that the Dead Sea pretty much vanished 120,000 years ago when the earth was as warm, or slightly warmer, than it is today, reports the BBC . It's in danger of doing the same today, this time helped along by populated areas taking the water that would...

Earth-like Water Spotted on Comet

Rob Quinn — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:31:16 CDT

Most of the water that fills the world's oceans—and makes up more than half of the human body—may have started out as comets, not asteroids as current theories hold, according to new research. Scientists using the Herschel telescope found that unlike other comets studied, the comet Hartley 2...

NASA Photos Point to Flowing Water on Mars

Matt Cantor — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:40:14 CDT

New NASA images show “tendrils” of what appears to be mud flowing down hillsides, researchers say. “It's hard to imagine they are formed by anything other than fluid seeping down slopes,” notes one scientist. The cold temperatures when the tendrils appear suggest they aren’t fresh water, the BBC reports. “The...