Today is World Water Day, and this year’s theme is “Water and Food Security.” UN Water explains why we should care: Each of us needs to drink 2 to 4 litres of water every day. But it takes 2 000 to 5 000 litres of water to produce one person’s daily food. Today, there are […]
Communities affected by contaminated air, water and soil, workers retaliated for complaining about safety issues, and vulnerable groups abused by organizations charged with protecting them, are topics at the heart of public health. This week they are especially recognized by the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy […]
Water & Sanitation
Changing the rules in the middle of the game: Philadelphia’s green infrastructure
Aging US water infrastructure has meant more leaks, flooded basements, and massive sinkholes in cities across the US. Fixing the water and sewer systems in need of repair will take billions of dollars, and it’s hard to find that kind of money in the budget these days. Saqib Rahim reports for ClimateWire on Philadelphia’s decision […]
For Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Candace Rowell at Mind the Science Gap reminds us that environmental injustice is a pressing civil rights issue, writing, “minority groups in the United States bear an unequal distribution of environmental risks and outcomes.” (Mind the Science Gap will feature posts from 10 University of Michigan MPH students over […]
Two years ago, a 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti, killing 300,000 Haitians and leaving 1.5 million homeless. Nine months later, a cholera epidemic began — its first victim a 28-year-old man who bathed in and drank from a river that was likely contaminated by raw sewage from an encampment of UN peacekeepers from Nepal. Half a […]
J. Freedom du Lac reports in the Washington Post that Army Spec. David Emanuel Hickman, killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad on November 14th, was the 4,474th US servicemember to be killed in Iraq. With all the US troops now gone from Iraq, Hickman’s death may well be the last servicemember fatality directly attributed […]
By Jay Graham Global Handwashing Day is coming up on October 15, and events in its honor will be occurring all week. Children are a key focus of handwashing campaigns. Diarrhea continues as the second leading cause of death in kids under 5 years of age globally. Nearly one in every five child deaths, around […]
by Dick Clapp, DSc, MPH The documentary “Semper Fi: Always Faithful” was screened at the Congressional Auditorium in the Capitol Visitors Center on a hot, humid evening in Washington, DC on June 23. Congressman Brad Miller (D-NC) welcomed the audience of Congressional staff, North Carolina Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), and approximately 150 audience members and […]
While much of the Earth Week news coverage has dwelt on the lasting effects of the BP/Deepwater Horizon disaster, two other events have highlighted a separate but related issue: water supply. Drought conditions in the Plains and Southwest have damaged winter wheat crops and fueled the spread of wildfires in Texas. Two volunteer firefighters, Elias […]
Every March 22nd is designated as World Water Day, with the goal of “focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.” This year’s theme is “Water for Cities: Responding to the Urban Challenge,” in recognition of the fact that half the world’s population now lives in an […]