Evidence: method/water

103 articles. Distilled findings; bold = already cited in the docs.

Smallholder farming setbacks in South Africa (guide) — Nobuntu Nose, a full-time teacher in Cofimvaba, Eastern Cape, started a farming business after saving from her salary, but early ventures suffered from poor management, failed germination, and land…
Terracotta evaporative cooling designs (guide) — The article profiles terracotta and clay coolers that use evaporative cooling, in which water slowly evaporating from porous clay lowers air temperature without electricity or refrigerants. It…
Scavenger roles in wetland ecosystems (news) — A review of over 200 studies published in Biological Reviews finds that scavengers in wetlands contribute to nutrient recycling, water quality regulation, pathogen control, and biodiversity…
Global flash drought intensification trends (news) — A study in Geophysical Research Letters finds that flash droughts, sudden severe dry spells that develop within weeks, are intensifying in most regions worldwide, driven by heat and shifting…
[cited] Community-led groundwater management in Algarve (news) — In Portugal's drought-prone Algarve region, local communities are taking a larger role in groundwater management, which supplies 65% of drinking water and 25% of agricultural irrigation. The…
Hydroelectric dams and biodiversity loss (news) — Dams, weirs and other barriers are fragmenting free-flowing rivers, and the article identifies this as one of the largest and least acknowledged drivers of freshwater biodiversity loss. According to…
Cocoa farming investment and climate adaptation (news) — Ghanaian cocoa farmer Emmanuel Nana Sarpong argues that improving farmers' livelihoods requires long-term investment and training rather than focusing only on farmgate price. He points to…
Thwaites Glacier warm seawater melt (news) — An international team of researchers reports, in a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that warm seawater is flowing beneath the Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica, and…
Drought-driven hydropower failure in Ecuador (news) — Ecuador is facing an unprecedented energy crisis caused by its worst drought in over 60 years, which has drained hydroelectric reservoirs that supply about 70% of the country's electricity and led to…
Climate-driven hydropower decline in the Middle East (news) — Drought linked to human-caused climate change is reducing hydropower output in the Middle East, particularly along the Euphrates-Tigris basin where riparian countries from Turkey to Syria and Iraq…
Human-driven river carbon emissions (news) — A global study involving more than 100 scientists in 40 countries found that human activities, including warming temperatures and fertilizer pollution, are speeding up the decomposition of organic…
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation collapse risk (news) — Oceanographer Stefan Rahmstorf warns that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which includes the Gulf Stream, is weakening and could collapse with catastrophic consequences.…
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation collapse (news) — The article reports that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a system of ocean currents that carries warm water northward, may be nearing collapse, citing leading climate…
Indigenous role in biodiversity (news) — COP16 closed on November 1, 2024, with the adoption of a new Program of Work under Article 8(j), which sets specific tasks for Indigenous peoples and local communities to contribute to biodiversity…
Ancient Greek and Roman environmental pollution (news) — This Conversation article examines how ancient Greek and Roman writers recognized human damage to rivers, air, and soil. It cites Pliny the Elder, the military writer Vegetius, Suetonius, and…
Global water cycle disruption (news) — A landmark report from the Global Commission on the Economics of Water argues that human land use, water mismanagement, and climate change have pushed the global water cycle out of balance for the…
Spain's projected drier, warmer climate shift (news) — A study from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya projects that rainfall in Spain could decline by up to 20 percent by 2050, shifting the country from a temperate Mediterranean climate toward…
Enhanced rock weathering with basalt (news) — UK farms are spreading crushed basalt, a volcanic rock, on fields to speed up enhanced rock weathering, a process in which rainwater helps lock carbon dioxide into the rock while the basalt also…
Upwind moisture and global water scarcity risk (news) — A Stockholm University study published in Nature Water argues that global water scarcity risk is underestimated when rainfall is traced back to its upwind moisture sources rather than only the…
Methane's role in climate warming (news) — The article argues that controlling methane is potentially the most effective near-term lever for limiting peak global temperatures, since methane leaves the atmosphere within about a decade and…
Pantanal waterway project threats (news) — Scientists warn that the Hidrovia Paraguay-Paraná, a project to dredge the Paraguay River for grain and commodity exports, could devastate the Pantanal, the world's largest tropical wetland. They say…
River restoration for flash flood management (news) — Flash floods are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change, urbanization, and river engineering. Restoring rivers to their floodplains, by removing dikes, re-establishing meanders, and…
Groundwater-dependent ecosystems global depletion (news) — Researchers used satellite remote sensing to map the global distribution of groundwater-dependent ecosystems, finding that 53% lie in areas with known groundwater depletion. Only 21% are on protected…
CRISPR gene editing in crop breeding (news) — The article explains that gene editing, most commonly using CRISPR-Cas9, allows precise, targeted changes to plant DNA, letting breeders develop crops faster and with fewer unintended changes than…
Beaver reintroduction for flood and drought control (news) — Beavers reintroduced to the River Otter in Devon in 2015 are reshaping the landscape by building dams and wetlands that slow, store, and slowly release water. University of Exeter and Devon Wildlife…
Climate-driven lake phytoplankton predation (news) — Recent research suggests that climate change may cause some lake phytoplankton to shift from photosynthesis to predation, consuming bacteria and smaller plankton. Because digesting prey releases CO2,…
EU agriculture biodiversity monitoring (news) — Industrial monoculture farming, such as Peru's rapid expansion of avocado production for export to Europe, is facing rising energy and fertilizer costs, pesticide concerns, and water-use pressures.…
Water quality and future water scarcity (news) — An international team of researchers developed a modeling approach that identifies cost-effective combinations of water quantity and quality management measures. Applied to the Pearl River Basin in…
[cited] Restoration of the Vascão River for biodiversity and drought… (news) — Environmentalists are advocating for the restoration of the Vascão River in Portugal by removing obsolete river barriers to improve river connectivity, reduce drought impacts, and promote…
Methane-reducing rice irrigation in Latin America (news) — Researchers in Colombia adapted alternate wetting and drying (AWD), a rice irrigation technique, so that it reduces both methane and nitrous oxide emissions while cutting water use and maintaining…
Farm machinery electrification in Australia (news) — Farmers and machinery makers worldwide are electrifying equipment and exploring alternative fuels to cut farm emissions, and the Australian Farm Institute estimates diesel supplies about 85 per cent…
Zeekoevlei and Rondevlei weir overhaul (news) — Cape Town is undertaking a major overhaul of the Zeekoevlei and Rondevlei weirs in the False Bay Nature Reserve as part of a broader strategy to improve water quality and restore wetland ecology. The…
Coral reef bleaching and citizen science (news) — Scuba divers in Thailand's Koh Tao area are increasingly training in conservation and citizen science as coral reefs suffer a fourth global bleaching event. The Professional Association of Diving…
Climate-driven crop shifts in Sicily (news) — Sicily's warming climate is reshaping its agriculture, with some farmers replacing traditional lemon, olive, and grape crops with exotic fruits such as mangoes, avocados, and papayas. Average…
Drought-soil carbon emission feedback loop (news) — Researchers describe a feedback loop in which drought causes soil desiccation and surface cracking, exposing soil carbon to oxidation and releasing CO2 that intensifies warming. A Drought Atlas of…
Citizen science river water quality monitoring (news) — A citizen science project in which thousands of volunteers collected over 1,300 water samples across Britain in early June 2024 found that three-quarters of the country's rivers are in poor…
Nelson Dam removal follow-up (news) (needs verification) — The Yakima Herald-Republic revisits the site of the former Nelson Dam on the Naches River near Yakima, Washington, one year after the dam was removed. The available material is mostly photographs…
Lifecycle emissions of electric vehicles (news) — Lifecycle analyses find that electric vehicles produce substantially fewer greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline cars, even after counting the higher energy cost of battery manufacturing. The…
Aral Sea desiccation and Aralkum Desert (news) — The Aral Sea, an endorheic lake on the Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan border, has shrunk to about 10 percent of its original area since the 1960s, after the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers were diverted for…
Sicily drought impact on agriculture (news) — Sicily is experiencing one of its worst droughts in decades, with water reserves falling and temperatures rising. Some farmers have been forced to sell livestock or abandon fields, threatening the…
urban climate change resilience strategies (news) — The article argues that cities, which house over half the world's population and produce about 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions, face growing climate risks that are hard to address due to…
Shipping container hydroponic farming (news) — Village Hydroponics, a nonprofit in Burlington, Vermont, grows vegetables year-round in a recycled 40-foot shipping container using a flood-and-drain hydroponic system with energy-efficient lighting…
Agricultural stream nitrous oxide emissions (news) — Streams draining farmland in Minnesota are heavily supersaturated with nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, and two studies found that these stream emissions largely originate from nitrification…
[cited] Germany spring drought 2025 (news) — Spring 2025 was one of the driest on record in Germany, with rainfall from early February to mid-April the lowest in 100 years and March receiving nearly 70% less precipitation than usual. The…
Desert soil restoration in Saudi Arabia (news) — Saudi Arabia is using biochar, organic amendments, and beneficial microbial inoculants to convert degraded desert sand into fertile soil that supports vegetation. Pilot areas planted with native and…
Environmental communication and narrative strategy (news) — This commentary, part of Mongabay's Letters to the Future series by its 2025 Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellows, argues that environmental messaging should rely on emotionally resonant, oral,…
Soil degradation from modern farming (news) — Modern intensive farming practices such as plowing, heavy fertilizer and pesticide use, irrigation, and monoculture are degrading soils worldwide, reducing their organic matter, structure, and…
Oder Delta wetland rewetting (news) — Water is being returned to 26 hectares of the Rożnowo Plain in the Oder Delta, a wetland on the German-Polish border, as part of rewilding efforts. Decades of drainage, riverbed straightening, and…
Psychology of environmental crime (news) — Criminologist Julia Shaw describes environmental crime as the breaking of laws that protect the earth, air, water, and biodiversity, including poaching, illegal burning of nature reserves, and…
Groundwater depletion recovery strategies (news) — A 2026 review by UC Santa Barbara's Scott Jasechko, published in Science, examined 67 cases of aquifer recovery and identified strategies that worked. Most successful efforts combined multiple…
AI-powered satellite imagery search tool (news) — Earth Index, a free-to-access tool from the nonprofit Earth Genome, lets users search satellite imagery by visual similarity, so a pattern such as deforestation or a mining site can be used to find…
Drought-induced iron uptake suppression in plants (news) (needs verification) — University of Calgary researchers found that plants including canola, rice, and tomatoes actively suppress their own iron uptake when experiencing drought, reported in the journal Cell. The shift…
Simultaneous breadbasket failures under climate change (news) — Climate change is increasing the likelihood that several major crop-producing regions experience stress at the same time, which the global food system is not built to absorb. A cited study estimates…
[cited] managed aquifer recharge in landscapes (news) — Researchers at the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research used a computer model of an area in Brandenburg's lower Spree catchment to show that small natural basins could absorb excess…
1877-78 El Niño famine (news) (needs verification) — A strong El Niño in 1877-78, combined with acute droughts, contributed to a global famine that killed an estimated 50 million people across Asia, South America, and Africa. A 2018 Journal of Climate…
Sacred landscapes as ecological infrastructure (news) (needs verification) — The article argues that sacred landscapes, such as South Indian temple tanks, sacred groves, and oasis settlements, functioned as ecological infrastructure long before environmental performance…
[cited] Lizard-inspired water harvesting system (news) (needs verification) — Researchers found that the desert horned lizard draws water from its skin microchannels into its mouth using slow, uneven jaw openings and rapid closings, which minimize water loss. Based on this…
El Niño drought risk mapping (news) — The FAO has released an analysis that maps where El Niño-linked agricultural drought will likely hit farms and pasturelands hardest, using more than 40 years of vegetation stress data and historical…
[cited] Sustainable living directory in Portugal (news) — Sustainable Living is a hand-curated, bilingual English and Portuguese platform launched about six months before this article to connect people and projects working toward a greener Portugal. It also…
[cited] El Niño and La Niña history (news) — Visual Capitalist's Voronoi-based graphic tracks every Northern Hemisphere winter El Niño, La Niña, and neutral phase from 1979-80 through the forecast 2026-27 season. It reports 17 El Niño, 19 La…
[cited] Agrivoltaics farm value and configurations (news) — The article argues that agrivoltaics (solar panels combined with farming on the same land) succeeds only when the solar structure performs real farm functions such as protecting crops, relieving heat…
Atmospheric water harvesting from dry air (news) — Ahbstra unveiled the ARK, a plug-and-play device that the company claims can harvest up to 500 litres of water a day from air, using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), the material behind the 2025…
[cited] Rewilding as climate adaptation (news) (needs verification) — Aerial footage from the National Trust's Holnicote estate in Somerset shows that rewilded areas, where rivers were restored to natural courses and wetlands were rebuilt, stayed green through five…
Nature-based river water treatment for food security (news) (needs verification) — Researchers from the University of Cape Town's Water Hub project in Langrug, South Africa, are treating about 36,000 litres of sewage- and chemical-polluted river water daily using a chemical-free,…
Lake Erie algal bloom mitigation (news) (needs verification) — Algal blooms in Lake Erie persist despite a 2016 Canada-U.S. agreement to cut phosphorus inflows by 40 per cent, and that target remains largely unmet. A study of the Medway Creek agricultural…
El Niño-Southern Oscillation (news) (needs verification) — The El Niño/La Niña Update provides current analysis of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, including sea surface temperature anomalies, atmospheric conditions, and rainfall patterns.…
El Niño and record ocean temperatures (news) — The Australian Bureau of Meteorology reports El Niño at near-record strength, with the weekly Niño3.4 index at +2.81 °C for the week ending 11 October 2026, the highest value in its SST record since…
El Niño extreme weather forecast (news) (needs verification) — The UN's World Meteorological Organization warns that a strong El Niño is developing, with central Pacific temperatures forecast to rise about 3.8 C above normal between November and January,…
El Niño storms in Latin America (news) (needs verification) — An El Niño-linked storm season brought flooding, mudslides, and coastal damage across Latin America in late October 2026, including Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Mexico. Two farm workers died…
El Niño impacts on global food security (news) (needs verification) — The JRC's September 2026 global crop overview reports that cereal harvests are largely favourable in Southern Africa, West Africa, Central Asia and South Asia, but El Niño-driven drought and heat…
El Niño drought risk to agriculture (news) — FAO experts used 41 years of satellite-based drought data to map where El Niño-linked drought is most likely to hit crops and pasturelands as a strong El Niño phase approaches. The highest risks are…
El Niño winter seasonal outlook (news) (needs verification) — NOAA's U.S. Winter Outlook for December 2026 to February 2027 projects warmer-than-average temperatures across the northern U.S. and wetter-than-average conditions across the South and East, driven…
Very strong El Niño forecast 2026-2027 (news) — The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reports that El Niño is firmly established and will intensify into a very strong event, with near-100% forecast likelihood of persisting through February…
El Niño sea-surface temperature forecast (news) — The World Meteorological Organization reports that sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific are forecast to reach record levels in October-December 2026 as El Niño…
El Niño humanitarian impacts and anticipatory action (news) (needs verification) — The World Meteorological Organization warns that the current El Niño could be unprecedented in strength, with tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures possibly reaching 3.8°C above average between…
El Niño forecast 2026 (news) — The World Meteorological Organization reports that a strong El Niño is intensifying and is expected to dominate global climate patterns during August–October 2026, with multi-model forecasts showing…
Record sea temperatures in Spain (news) (needs verification) — Puertos del Estado reported that sea temperatures around Spain hit record highs during summer 2026, with monitoring buoys in the Mediterranean and Bay of Biscay registering their highest readings.…
Mediterranean marine heatwave anomalies (news) (needs verification) — Marine heatwave conditions have persisted through summer 2026 in the western Mediterranean Sea and parts of the north-eastern Atlantic, with sea surface temperatures still unusually warm on 13 August…
Hurricane Isaias Gulf Coast landfall (news) (needs verification) — Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida, on a Friday as a Category 2 storm, bringing damaging winds, heavy rain, flooding, and storm surge of up to 2.7 metres to Alabama and the Florida…
Post-tropical cyclone Isaias US landfall (news) (needs verification) — Post-tropical cyclone Isaias made landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast as a Category 2 hurricane, then weakened and moved north, killing at least four people and leaving about 440,000 US customers…
Kelvin waves and coastal flooding (news) (needs verification) — A Kelvin wave, a deep ocean wave linked to this year's strong El Niño, is currently raising sea levels along the U.S. West Coast. It does not cause flooding on its own, but it raises the background…
Hurricane Isaias Gulf Coast warnings (news) (needs verification) — Hurricane Isaias, the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season, intensified to category 2 with sustained winds of 100mph and is forecast to make landfall on the northern Gulf Coast. Federal…
Asia's preparations for record El Niño (news) — Asian governments are racing to prepare for what is expected to be the most severe El Niño on record, which is intensifying through late 2026 into 2027 on top of human-driven climate change. Measures…
NASA satellite tracking of 2026 El Niño (news) — NASA satellites are tracking a 2026 El Niño that NOAA gives an 83% chance of being the strongest since 1950. Sea level altimetry showed an eastward-moving Kelvin wave, radiometers show eastern…
El Niño precipitation anomalies (reference) — NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission released near real-time estimates of July–September 2026 rainfall, showing large departures from seasonal averages during the El Niño that began in…
Ocean acidification and seawater pH decline (reference) (needs verification) — The ocean absorbs roughly a quarter of human-caused CO₂ emissions, and global mean surface seawater pH fell from 8.11 in 1985 to 8.04 in 2024, an approximately 18% increase in acidity. Projections…
High tide flooding from sea level rise (reference) (needs verification) — High tide flooding is the overflow of water onto normally dry coastal land during high tides, and it is becoming more frequent as relative sea levels rise, including on sunny days. Short-term effects…
Subpolar North Atlantic overturning circulation monitoring (reference) (needs verification) — OSNAP is an international observing program that provides a continuous record of heat, mass, and freshwater transport across the subpolar North Atlantic, using two transect legs (OSNAP West from…
G20 ecological footprint forecasting (study) — This study forecasts the ecological footprint (EF) of G20 countries over the next 30 years using a combination of statistical and machine learning models trained on socio-economic and environmental…
Arctic ecosystem climate change research (study) — A six-year, $15 million NSF-funded initiative, the Evolving Meta-Ecosystems (EvoME) Institute, will study how Arctic ecosystems respond to rapid warming, where temperatures are rising nearly four…
[cited] Groundwater level trends in southwestern Europe (study) — A study of 12,398 groundwater wells across Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy (1960–2020) found that 68% of wells had stable levels, 20% showed rising levels, and only 12% declined, challenging the…
Treated wastewater reuse for irrigation (study) — This Review examines treated wastewater (TW) reuse for agricultural irrigation as a way to address water scarcity, food security, and sustainable development. Globally about 400 km³ of wastewater is…
AMOC collapse and European drought (study) — A new study comparing eight climate simulations spanning more than 1,000 years finds that a collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) would intensify summer dry-season…
Freshwater protected area effectiveness (study) — A continental-scale analysis of 1,754 river invertebrate community time series from ten European countries (1986-2022) found that protected areas mainly benefited communities already in poor…
Rainfall origin and crop drought vulnerability (study) — A University of California San Diego study in Nature Sustainability finds that crops are more vulnerable when a large share of rainfall originates from land evaporation rather than the ocean.…
[cited] Perennial grass buffer strips in irrigation (study) — This field study tested circular strips of native perennial grasses placed within center pivot irrigation systems in the Southern High Plains to see whether they could capture intense rainfall that…
Ocean acidification and diatom silicon loss (study) — Long-term data from Tatoosh Island, Washington, show that as seawater pH declined over 24 years, dissolved silicon-to-nitrogen ratios and water column chlorophyll fell together, supporting the…
Organic alkalinity in Arctic ocean acidification (study) (needs verification) — The study reports elevated organic alkalinity in Arctic margin waters, including Svalbard fjords, Tanafjorden, and the Barents Sea Opening. Omitting this organic component when calculating pH and…
Atlantic tropical cyclone fatalities in US (study) — This study compiles a publicly accessible database of direct fatalities from Atlantic tropical cyclones affecting the continental United States from 1963 to 2024, extending earlier records that were…
Arctic warming and environmental change (study) (needs verification) — The Arctic Report Card 2025, now in its 20th year, is an annual peer-reviewed assessment of Arctic environmental conditions compared against historical records. It finds the region warming much…
NOAA relative sea level trends (tool) — NOAA's Sea Level Trends and Extremes is an interactive tool that presents relative sea level trends and historical extreme water levels from National Ocean Service tide gauges across U.S. coastal…
Livestock greenhouse gas emissions modeling (tool) (needs verification) — FAO's Global Livestock Environmental Assessment Model (GLEAM) is a tool for calculating the environmental impacts of livestock agrifood systems, currently simulating greenhouse gas emissions and…
Open source climate technology directory (tool) — Open Sustainable Technology is a GitHub-hosted directory that finds, lists, and shares open source projects addressing climate change, sustainable energy, biodiversity, and natural resources. The…