WEEKLY WATER NEWS

DATASTREME WES WEEK SIX: 25-29 February 2008

Water in the News

(Thurs.) Increased hurricane loss not necessarily due to stronger hurricanes -- A team of hurricane researchers including those from NOAA's National Hurricane Center report that the nearly doubled economic damages due to hurricanes during the last decade were not necessarily the result of increased intensity, but to the increased population and wealth along those sections of the Atlantic and Gulf coastline prone to hurricanes. [NOAA News]
(Thurs.) Martian formations could indicate rapid release of water -- Researchers from Virginia Tech and Utrecht University in the Netherlands claim that the several fan-like formations found on the surface of Mars appear to indicate episodes of rapid water release from the interior of the Red Planet. [EurekAlert!]
(Thurs.) Studying the clouds and weather on Venus -- The European Space Agency recently released a series of images obtained from the Venus Monitoring Camera on board the Venus Express spacecraft that shows the development and movement of a haze layer in the atmosphere of our neighboring planet Venus. These ultraviolet images could help the scientists understand the behavior of Venusian atmosphere that contains water vapor, sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid haze droplets. [ESA]
(Thurs.) Storing carbon dioxide below the ocean's surface -- An expert from the University of Calgary has proposed submerging gigantic inflatable bags that would hold 160 million metric tons of carbon dioxide as a means of sequestering this greenhouse gas. [EurekAlert!]
(Tues.) Research cruise to study climate-relevant gases -- More than 30 scientists will embark later this week from Punta Arenas, Chile upon a six-week research cruise to the Southern Ocean on the NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown as part of the Southern Ocean Gas Exchange Experiment, designed to study the movement of gases such as carbon dioxide between atmosphere and ocean in an effort to improve the accuracy of climate models and predictions. [NOAA News]
(Tues.) Great Lakes and Seaway Ice -- An image from the MODIS sensor on NASA's Terra satellite at the end of last week shows the extent of the ice cover on the eastern sections of the St. Lawrence Seaway that include the lower St. Lawrence River and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. [NOAA OSEI] An image from this sensor on the previous weekend reveals the most of the Great Lakes were ice free, except for Lake Erie that was nearly ice covered. [NASA Earth Observatory]
(Tues.) A trend toward fewer days of lake ice seen -- Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who assessed approximately 150 years of lake and river ice records across the Northern Hemisphere report a steady trend toward fewer days of ice cover. [National Science Foundation]
(Tues.) Higher air temperatures in Greenland could be causing ice sheet losses -- NASA researchers at the Goddard Space Flight Center using surface temperature data collected by the MODIS instrument on the Terra Satellite and ice mass data derived from gravity data obtained from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) twin satellite system have demonstrated that a relationship between increases in surface temperature over Greenland and ice mass loss from the Greenland ice cap. [NASA]
(Tues.) Nanotechnology could provide cleaner water -- Researchers at the University of South Australia claim that nanotechnology could provide clean water for drinking with a more effective and less costly water purification method that involves a thin active layer of silica coated material. [EurekAlert!] Researchers at the United Kingdom's University of Nottingham have also found a process where nanofilters can be used to remove bacteria from water. [University of Nottingham]
Eye on the tropics -- Tropical cyclone activity continued across the South Indian Ocean during the last week. Tropical Cyclone Hondo, which formed early in the month and became a major category 4 tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Intensity Scale, continued to travel westward. This long-lasting cyclone passed La Reunion Island over the weekend.
Farther to the east, Tropical Cyclone Nicholas, a category 1 tropical cyclone, traveled to the southwest offshore of Australia and then finally dissipated by midweek after making landfall along the western coast of Australia. An image from the radar and the microwave units on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite shows the rainfall rate in the spiral bands surrounding Tropical Cyclone Nicholas. [NASA Hurricane Page]
Beet juice used in ice control -- Several state and local road maintenance crews across the northern tier of states have been applying a mixture of beet juice and brine to their highways as an effective and less corrosive method for ice control. [USA Today]
Northeast finally experiences a winter storm -- A winter storm that traveled from the Midwest at the end of last week brought up to a foot of snow to sections of the Northeast, including some of the major metropolitan areas. This storm was one of the heaviest snow-producing systems in a relatively mild winter. [USA Today]
Winter storms deadly in China -- A Chinese official at the end of last week reported that as many as 129 people have died because of winter storms that brought snow and ice to central and southern sections of China' This winter weather has caused an estimated $210 million in economic losses. [USA Today]
Coastal and ocean management awards are announced -- NOAA officials recently announced the names of the recipients of the 2008 Walter B. Jones Awards and NOAA Awards for Excellence in Coastal and Ocean Management. [NOAA News]
More snow would be helpful for the Sierras -- Although winter storms brought snow to the Sierras in January, more snow-producing storms are needed across these mountains during the remainder of the winter to build the snowpack that provides water for agriculture in western Nevada and several municipalities, including Reno and Carson City. [Reno Gazette-Journal]
In the midst of the Southeast drought -- The severe to exceptional drought continues across the Southeast, including the Atlanta, GA metropolitan area where:
- The University of Virginia Cavaliers and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets ACC basketball game was "rained out" due to the water that came through the leaky roof at the Georgia Tech facility during last week's rain. [Atlanta Journal Constitution]
- In a deal struck with the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority, the water rides at the Six Flags over Georgia amusement park will remain open during this spring because the park has instituted water conservation methods. [Atlanta Journal Constitution]
Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes -- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, including drought, floods, and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
Global Water News Watch -- Other water news sources can be obtained through the SAHRA Project at the University of Arizona [SAHRA Project]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Report From the Field:

Terri Kirby-Hathaway, LIT Leader and Marine Education Specialist for North Carolina Sea Grant is inviting all to view the blog http://antarctica-ncsu.blogspot.com/ maintained by a group of professors and graduate students from North Carolina State University who are currently on a research cruise around Antarctica.

Concept of the Week: Bottled Water

During the 1990s, bottled water soared in popularity among Americans. Today, they spend more than $7 billion a year on bottled water. Although 120 to 7500 times more costly per gallon than tap water, the demand for bottled water (especially in individualized containers) continues to climb for several reasons including convenience, health concerns, and dissatisfaction with the quality and taste of municipal tap water. Furthermore, clever ad campaigns have been very successful at persuading consumers of the advantages of drinking bottled water.

Although enamored by bottled water, the U.S. consumer must navigate through a variety of different brands (more than 900), and a potentially confusing terminology on labels mostly having to do with the source of the water. According to the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), bottled water is defined as drinking water that is sugar-free, calorie-free, and contains no sweeteners or chemical additives other than small amounts of flavors or extracts. Bottled water may also have trace amounts of sodium. Beverages containing 1% or more by weight of flavors or extracts are classified as soft drinks. Soda water, seltzer water, and tonic water are considered soft drinks not bottled water because they may contain sugar and are not calorie-free.

About 75% of all bottled water comes from the subsurface. Bottled water from a well that taps a confined aquifer under hydrologic pressure is artesian water or artesian well water. Mineral water is groundwater that contains at least 250 parts per million (ppm) of dissolved solids from natural sources (i.e., dissolved bedrock, and sediment). Sparkling water contains dissolved carbon dioxide undiminished in concentration from its natural source. Spring water is groundwater that flows naturally to the surface of the Earth where an aquifer intercepts the ground. Well water is bottled water withdrawn from a hole drilled or bored into an aquifer. Collectively, all bottled water from subsurface sources is called natural water.

The quality of bottled water from the subsurface benefits from natural filtration as groundwater slowly seeps through permeable Earth materials. Nonetheless, in many cases bottlers employ additional purification steps such as applying ozone and/or ultraviolet light as disinfecting agents. Bottled water producers who use municipal sources (about 25% of the supply) typically (but not in all cases) reprocess the water for improved quality and taste through distillation, reverse osmosis, deionization, filtration, and/or ozonation. Labels on their products may include the terms purified water or distilled water. These same labels may include the statement "from a community water system," or "from a municipal source" meaning tap water.

While efforts at quality control of bottled water are designed to protect public health, a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) published in March 1999 raised some questions about whether enough is being done. The NRDC tested the quality of 1000 bottles of 103 brands of bottled water and found that not all the tested water was of high quality and some samples contained contaminants (http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/nbw.asp). Although the industry has strict standards and both federal and state governments regulate bottled water quality, the NRDC argues that existing regulations are not adequate. The NRDC recommends that the Food and Drug Administration set strict limits for contaminants in bottled water and that bottled water standards be at least as strict as those applicable to municipal (tap) water supplies.

Concept of the Week: Questions

By convention, bottled water is drinking water that is both sugar-free and calorie-free. [(True)(False)]
The source of most water in bottled water is [(subsurface)(surface)] reservoirs.

Historical Events

26 February 1910...Parts of Washington State were in the midst of a storm that produced 129 in. of snow at Laconia between the 24^th and the 26^th, a single storm record for the state. A series of storms, which began on the 23^rd, led to a deadly avalanche on the first of March. By late on the 28^th, the snow had changed to rain, setting the stage for disaster. (The Weather Channel)
26 February 1972...The "Buffalo Creek Disaster" occurred in the Buffalo Creek Hollow of Logan County in West Virginia. A coal slag dam on the Middle Fork of Buffalo Creek burst sending a fifty-foot wall of water down a narrow valley killing 125 persons and causing $51 million in damage. Three days of rain atop a six-inch snow cover prompted the dam break. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
27 February 1717...What was perhaps the greatest snow in New England history commenced on this date. During a ten-day period, a series of four snowstorms dumped three feet of snow on Boston, and the city was snowbound for two weeks. Up to six feet of snow was reported farther to the north, and drifts covered many one-story houses. (David Ludlum)
27 February 1988...A major rain event occurred across Saudi Arabia's Foroson Islands in the Red Sea and on the adjacent mainland around Jizon when 1.15 in. fell. The monthly average rainfall is only 0.02 in. On the following day, flash flooding south of Riyadh killed 3 children. (Accord's Weather Calendar)
28 February 1959...An accumulation of heavy snow on the roof of a Listowel, ON arena caused it to collapse during a hockey game. Several people inside were killed. (The Weather Doctor)
28 February 1964...A world 12-hour rainfall record was set at Belouve, La Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean when 52.76 inches of rain fell. World records for 9 hours and 18.5 hours were also set with 42.79 and 66.49 inches, respectively. (Accord's Weather Calendar) (The Weather Doctor)
1 March 1910...The deadliest avalanche of record in the U.S. thundered down the mountains near Wellington Station, WA sweeping three huge locomotive train engines and some passenger cars off the tracks, over the side and into a canyon, burying them under tons of snow. This train was snowbound on the grade leading to Stevens Pass. The avalanche claimed the lives of more than 100 people. The station house at Wellington was also swept away. (The Weather Channel)
1 March 1983...A ferocious storm battered the Pacific coast. The storm produced heavy rain and gale force winds resulting in flooding and beach erosion and in the mountains produced up to seven feet of snow in five days. An F2 tornado hit Los Angeles. Thirty people were injured and 100 homes were damaged. (The Weather Channel) (Intellicast)