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Water

water conservation keeps rivers and lakes cleanThe average American uses approximately 126 gallons of water per day, making us the largest water consumers per capita in the world. Canadians are a close second, while many European countries use half as much water we do, and most developing countries use less than 15 gallons each day.

When you are living out of a canoe or kayak, you haul your own water from the rivers and lakes you travel on and quickly realize how little water you really need. Amy and I can easily get by on 3 gallons of water per day for washing, cooking, and drinking.

Now I am not suggesting that you tell the utility company to turn off your water, because you are going to start hauling it from the nearest stream.  But there are plenty of ways to conserve water, which in the end is good for the environment and your wallet.

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Heat wave swept several parts of country

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All India Radio: Heat wave swept several parts of the country today with mercury hovering over 40 degrees in many areas. In the national capital, the maximum temperature rose from yesterday's 40.1 degrees to 40.5 degree Celsius ,five degree above the normal. The temperature rose to 41 degrees in Kolkata and its neighbourhood while the districts of Purulia, West Midnapore and Bankura remained in the grip of a heat wave. Jharsuguda in western Orissa recorded highest temperature of 45 ...

Sudan: 'Hungriest place on earth' cries out for food

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Associated Press: Three-day-old Odong Obong lay in the hospital bed, his pencil-thin arms almost motionless and his shriveled, gaunt face resembling that of an elderly man. Emaciated babies and young children throughout the ward bore the signs of hunger: exposed ribs and distended stomachs. Outside, old villagers reclined motionless in the shade, too frail to walk. The U.N. calls this the "hungriest place on Earth" after years of drought and conflict, with aid agencies already feeding 80,000 ...

United States: Climatologist warns of epic drought

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KOCO: A local scientist said climate change could create the type of drought that Oklahoma hasn't seen since the Dust Bowl. The comments come as the state is about to mark the 75th anniversary of the worst dust storm in history, brutal conditions that led to a mass exodus out of parts of Oklahoma during the 1930s. "Drought happened and what caused it was poor farming practices," said climatologist Gary McManus. "We plowed up entire plains, soil was bare for the wind. There was ...

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Canada: Black gold in Alberta sands

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Irish Times: The process of extracting oil from the vast Canadian sands is a messy one, and with enormous profits at stake, what chance does the environment have? TO MOST environmentalists, the oil sands of Alberta are "Canada`s dirty secret". Described by Tar Sands 101 as "the largest industrial project in human history", the extraction of oil from bitumen (tar, in plain language) buried in the ground is blamed by them for causing air pollution, widespread deforestation and prodigious carbon ...

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Ecuador: Environmental Inspection in Yasuni Park

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Inter Press Service: Representatives of Ecuador's ombudsman's office and environmental groups are visiting the Yasuni National Park on Saturday, home to some of the world's last indigenous people still living in voluntary isolation, in order to verify reports of illegal activity by oil companies. Ecuador's new constitution bans oil drilling in the "untouchable zone" declared by the government in the southern part of the park to ensure the survival of the Tagaeri and Taromenane indigenous communities, who ...

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Brazil: A Tragedy of Local and Global Dimensions

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Inter Press Service: The people who live in the favela of Guararapes are probably unaware that the heavy rains that forced them to flee their homes were caused by a phenomenon that is affecting the whole planet: global warming. But in their own small world - a poor shantytown clinging precariously to the slopes of one of the numerous morros or tall, steep hills that dot the Rio de Janeiro skyline - they can clearly identify the local cause behind the tragedy: the artificial diversion of a stream that has ...

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Austrian glaciers melting due to warm weather

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Associated Press: Experts say that a majority of Austria's glaciers in the Alps are melting due to warm weather. The Austrian Alpine Association says 85 of the 93 glaciers it monitored between the fall of 2008 and the fall of 2009 had receded, while seven stayed the same and one grew. The Innsbruck-based group says in its annual report released Friday that the Niederjochferner glacier in the Oetztal Alps melted the most and shrank by 46 meters (151 feet). It says the average loss among ...

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