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Thursday, November 8, 2007
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Political Wire: "A new national AP-Ipsos poll finds Sen. Hillary Clinton leads the Democratic presidential race with 45%, followed by Sen. Barack Obama at 22%, and John Edwards at 12%. Among Republicans, Rudy Giuliani leads with 29%, followed by Fred Thompson at 19%, Sen. John McCain at 13%, Mitt Romney at 12% and Mike Huckabee at 10%."
Political Wire: "Mitt Romney has opened a wider lead in New Hampshire over his Republican presidential rivals, according to a new Rasmussen Reports survey. Romney now has support from 32% of likely voters, followed by Rudy Giuliani with 17%, Sen. John McCain at 16%, Mike Huckabee at 10% and Fred Thompson at 7%. Meanwhile, a new Zogby poll in Iowa shows Romney leading with 31%, followed by Mike Huckabee at 15%, Rudy Giuliani at 11%, Fred Thompson at 10% and Sen. John McCain at 8%."
"2008 pres"
6:18:38 PM 
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From The North Denver News, "Funding for water projects throughout Colorado will be restored despite President Bush's veto as the United States Senate today successfully voted to override the President's veto on the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) by 79-14. The House of Representatives earlier this week also successfully voted to override the President's veto by 362-54. WRDA contains over $120 million for critical water-related projects in Colorado included at the request of Senator Salazar. The report authorizes federal spending on water development, infrastructure, flood control and other projects conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation."
"colorado water"
6:08:13 PM
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Groundwater is a huge source for drinking water across the U.S. Here's an article from Ohio State University dealing with the potential effects of rising ocean levels on groundwater aquifers along the coasts. They write:
As sea levels rise, coastal communities could lose up to 50 percent more of their fresh water supplies than previously thought, according to a new study from Ohio State University. Hydrologists here have simulated how saltwater will intrude into fresh water aquifers, given the sea level rise predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC has concluded that within the next 100 years, sea level could rise as much as 23 inches, flooding coasts worldwide. Scientists previously assumed that, as saltwater moved inland, it would penetrate underground only as far as it did above ground. But this new research shows that when saltwater and fresh water meet, they mix in complex ways, depending on the texture of the sand along the coastline. In some cases, a zone of mixed, or brackish, water can extend 50 percent further inland underground than it does above ground.
Like saltwater, brackish water is not safe to drink because it causes dehydration. Water that contains less than 250 milligrams of salt per liter is considered fresh water and safe to drink. Motomu Ibaraki, associate professor of earth sciences at Ohio State, led the study. Graduate student Jun Mizuno presented the results Tuesday, October 30, 2007, at the Geological Society of America meeting in Denver.
"Most people are probably aware of the damage that rising sea levels can do above ground, but not underground, which is where the fresh water is," Ibaraki said. "Climate change is already diminishing fresh water resources, with changes in precipitation patterns and the melting of glaciers. With this work, we are pointing out another way that climate change can potentially reduce available drinking water. The coastlines that are vulnerable include some of the most densely populated regions of the world."[...]
"Almost 40 percent of the world population lives in coastal areas, less than 60 kilometers from the shoreline," Mizuno said. "These regions may face loss of freshwater resources more than we originally thought."
Typically, coastlines are made of different sandy layers that have built up over time, Ibaraki explained. Some layers may contain coarse sand and others fine sand. Fine sand tends to block more water, while coarse sand lets more flow through. The researchers simulated coastlines made entirely of coarse or fine sand, and different textures in between. They also simulated more realistic, layered underground structures. The simulation showed that, the more layers a coastline has, the more the saltwater and fresh water mix. The mixing causes convection -- similar to the currents that stir water in the open sea. Between the incoming saltwater and the inland fresh water, a pool of brackish water forms. Further sea level rise increases the mixing even more. Depending on how these two factors interact, underground brackish water can extend 10 to 50 percent further inland than the saltwater on the surface. According to the United States Geological Survey, about half the country gets its drinking water from groundwater. Fresh water is also used nationwide for irrigating crops...
"To desalinate, we need energy, so our water problem would become an energy problem in the future."
"colorado water"
7:05:29 AM
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Unbossed: "In a report out this week, GAO takes issue with the way that the Administration has been requesting funding for the DOD's actions in the GWOT and the 'longer war against terror.' This issue is about more than just a lot of money. GAO thought it was serious enough to initiate this study on its own. That is not unheard of , but it is definitely not the norm. This report provides a window into how the government has been funding the military. The report points out that staring with September 2001, funding for military operations in support of GWOT was not part of regular budgeting but, rather, came through 'emergency funding essentially outside of the annual budget process.' Most of this emergency money came through supplemental appropriations, separate from DOD's annual appropriation."
"2008 pres"
6:45:33 AM
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Political Wire: "By a 50% to 35% margin, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll show Americans prefer that a Democrat gets elected to succeed President Bush next November. However, in a direct matchup of leading candidates, that margin shrinks to 46% for Clinton and 45% for Giuliani."
Andrew Sullivan: "A dead heat: That's Zogby's latest poll on Iowa Dems: once the undecideds are winnowed, it's Clinton with 30 percent, Obama with 29 and Edwards with 27."
"2008 pres"
6:43:53 AM
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TPM Muckraker: "In fact, however, a considerable amount of the money the U.S. gives to Pakistan is administered not through U.S. agencies or joint U.S.-Pakistani programs. Instead, the U.S. gives Musharraf's government about $200 million annually and his military $100 million monthly in the form of direct cash transfers. Once that money leaves the U.S. Treasury, Musharraf can do with it whatever he wants. He needs only promise in a secret annual meeting that he'll use it to invest in the Pakistani people. And whatever happens as the result of Rice's review, few Pakistan watchers expect the cash transfers to end."
"2008 pres"
6:39:38 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/15/09; 1:41:40 PM.
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