News
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Where hidden water tables meet the Earth’s surface, life can thrive even in the driest locations. A new study maps these ecosystems in dryland regions globally, examines their protection status and explores how they overlap with human communities.The results show that 53% of these ecosystems are in areas with known groundwater... read more...
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In the Netherlands, certain grassland farms are permitted to use more manure from grazing animals on their land than the amount specified in the Nitrates Directive. A new report shows nitrate concentrations in groundwater have been decreasing for all soil types in these areas since 2021. This has been attributed... read more...
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Microplastics can be found everywhere, even in your drinking water. Are you afraid of possible effects of microplastics pollution on human health? What about their effects on the environment? Researchers from the PlasticUnderground Project developed a survey to understand the public risk perception on microplastic contamination. They are inviting people... read more...
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The over-exploitation of ground water by an expanding population and agricultural use has magnified the impact of climate breakdown which has led to chronic winter drought, heatwaves and erratic monsoons in western Nepal. Towns and cities desperate for water are drilling ever deeper for precious water, using up a diminishing... read more...
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Water in more than 70 percent of the country’s wells is not safe for consumption and does not meet sanitary standards, warn specialists of the National Agency for Public Health (ANSP). The results of monitoring the quality of drinking water from wells over the past few years show quite high... read more...
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The EU Council has agreed its negotiating mandate on the directive which will amend the water framework directive, the groundwater directive and the directive on environmental quality standards. The proposal updates priority substances and environmental quality standards in surface water and groundwater. Find out more https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2024/06/19/surface-water-and-groundwater-council-agrees-negotiating-mandate-to-update-list-of-pollutants/ read more...
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Although most of Namaqualand, South Africa, receives very little rainfall, there are rare, high intensity rainfall events. When these occur, termite burrows on the mound surfaces serve as water flow paths that can harvest rain and channel water into the mound. This causes the salts that built up in the... read more...
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Ongoing research by health organizations has linked the low-level occurrence of natural lithium in drinking water to positive human-health outcomes such as reduced suicide mortality and other mental-health benefits, in addition to potential negative outcomes such as autism and thyroid hormone levels. A new study estimates lithium concentrations in groundwater... read more...
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As the atmosphere continues to heat up, more and more heat is penetrating underground. The heat shows up in temperature measurements taken in boreholes around the world. This can be extracted using heat pumps, which are increasing in popularity for space heating across Europe. But warmer groundwater is harmful for... read more...
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Planning on the use of water resources in Sardinia has favoured, until now, the creation of artificial basins, yet groundwater can represent a fundamental resource for water supply, especially in regions like Sardinia, where irregularity of rainfall and frequent droughts can put the dam system to the test. This would... read more...