Water

New Hampshire: State seeks more communities to help track COVID through wastewater

Wed, 2022-07-13 09:44 — mike kraft

N.H. is looking for more communities to help track COVID through wastewater

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services is looking for more wastewater treatment plants to participate in a COVID data tracking project.

People infected with COVID can shed the virus in their feces. That means even if someone doesn't have symptoms, the virus can be detected in the wastewater — allowing public health officials to monitor its spread even when traditional testing is less reliable.

While wastewater data doesn’t show how many people in a given community have the virus, it illustrates changes in levels of COVID-19.

So far, 12 wastewater plants are participating in the state's tracking program. They include more densely populated areas like Manchester, and more rural areas of the state.

...

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about New Hampshire: State seeks more communities to help track COVID through wastewater
Log in or register to post comments

Monkeypox: Wastewater testing finds monkeybox traces in San Francisco

Mon, 2022-06-27 09:55 — mike kraft

Traces of monkeypox virus found in San Francisco wastewater Wastewater samples taken from a San Francisco treatment plant this week have detected traces of monkeypox virus, researchers say. KTVU FOX 2 KTVU FOX 2

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about Monkeypox: Wastewater testing finds monkeybox traces in San Francisco
Log in or register to post comments

U.S: Tracking the virus in wastewater is helping respond to the most recent wave of the coronavirus, but a more coordinated national effort is needed, experts sa

Thu, 2022-01-20 20:07 — mike kraft

As the highly contagious Omicron variant pushes national coronavirus case numbers to record highs and sends hospitals across the country into crisis mode, public health officials are eagerly searching for an indication of how long this surge might last.

The clues are emerging from an unlikely source: sewage.

People who contract the coronavirus shed the virus in their stool, and the virus levels in local wastewater provide a strong, independent signal of how much is circulating in a given community.

The sewage data reveal an Omicron wave that is cresting at different times in different places.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Analysis

Situation Report

At least 85 percent of the world’s population has been affected by human-induced climate change-- new study

Tue, 2021-10-12 12:22 — mike kraft

At least 85 percent of the world’s population has been affected by human-induced climate change, new study shows Researchers used machine learning to analyze more than 100,000 studies of weather events and found that four-fifths of the world’s land area has suffered impacts linked to global warming. Washington Post

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Analysis

The US western fire season starts much drier than record 2020

Mon, 2021-05-24 20:41 — mike kraft

Grim western fire season starts much drier than record 2020 As bad as last year’s record-shattering fire season was, the western U.S. starts this year’s in even worse shape. The soil in the West is record dry for this time of year. In much of the region, plants that fuel fires are also the driest scientists have seen. AP NEWS

As bad as last year’s record-shattering fire season was, the western U.S. starts this year’s in even worse shape.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about The US western fire season starts much drier than record 2020
Log in or register to post comments

Sea-level rise is accelerating to its highest levels in at least 2,000 years across the Northeast, including New York City, Rutgers study

Sun, 2021-03-28 20:05 — mike kraft

Sea-level rise is accelerating to its highest levels in at least 2,000 years across the Northeast, including New York City, study says Along a stretch of the East Coast that includes New York City, sea-level rise has increased at its fastest rate in the prior 100 years compared to the past 2,000 years, according to a new study led by Rutgers University. Jackson Dill and Brandon Miller, CNN CNN

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Analysis

Situation Report

Hundreds of thoiusands of Texas and Mississipi residents still have no running water after winter storms.

Tue, 2021-03-02 20:16 — mike kraft

In Texas and Mississippi, Hundreds of Thousands Still Have No Water Weeks After Winter Storms | The Weather Channel - Articles from The Weather Channel | weather.com Two deadly and devastating winter storms cracked water mains, froze equipment and shut down treatment plants. - Articles from The Weather Channel | weather.com The Weather Channel

In the weeks following two deadly and devastating winter storms, millions of people across the South have seen their power restored. Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands remain without clean water.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Earth is losing ice faster today than in the mid-1990s, study suggests

Tue, 2021-01-26 10:05 — mike kraft

Earth is losing ice faster today than in the mid-1990s, study suggests Earth’s ice is melting faster today than in the mid-1990s, new research suggests, as climate change nudges global temperatures ever higher. Yereth Rosen U.S.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Earth’s ice is melting faster today than in the mid-1990s, new research suggests, as climate change nudges global temperatures ever higher.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Analysis

Read more about Earth is losing ice faster today than in the mid-1990s, study suggests
Log in or register to post comments

In Trump’s last days, a spree of environmental rollbacks

Sat, 2021-01-16 19:03 — mike kraft

In Trump’s last days, a spree of environmental rollbacks The Trump administration went on a final spree of environmental rollbacks with just days left in office, scaling back standards for equipment Americans use to heat their homes, habitat for the northern spotted owl, and protections for conservation lands in California and Utah. Juliet Eilperin, Dino Grandoni Washington Post

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about In Trump’s last days, a spree of environmental rollbacks
Log in or register to post comments

Researchers Make Progress Toward High-Performing Water Desalination Membranes

Sat, 2021-01-02 12:47 — mike kraft

http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/materials/high-performing-water-desalination-membranes-09209.html

Biological membranes can achieve remarkably high permeabilities while maintaining ideal selectivities by relying on homogeneous internal structures in the form of membrane proteins. In new research, a team of scientists led by Penn State University and the University of Texas at Austin applied such design strategies to desalination polyamide membranes.

Dr. Enrique Gomez, Dr. Manish Kumar and their colleagues from Iowa State University, Penn State University, the University of Texas at Austin, DuPont Water Solutions, and Dow Chemical Co. found that creating a uniform membrane density down to the nanoscale of billionths of a meter is crucial for maximizing the performance of reverse-osmosis, water-filtration membranes.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Solutions

Situation Report