Water has been discovered for the first time in the atmosphere of an exoplanet with Earth-like temperatures that could support life as we know it, scientists revealed on Wednesday. Eight times the mass of Earth and twice as big, K2-18b orbits in its star's habitable zone at a distance - neither too far nor too close - where water can exist in liquid form, they reported in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Eight former Brazilian environment ministers blasted new right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro and his administration in a letter on Wednesday, saying it is dismantling the country's environmental protections.
The world must race to avert disastrous loss of water supplies, Brazil's President Michel Temer told a conference Monday, after the UN said some 5.7 billion people may run short of drinking water by 2050.
Just two weeks ago Chile was desperately combating with foreign support thousands of acres of bushfires out of control, but now over the weekend rainstorms and landslides killed four and contaminated a major river, forcing authorities to cut off drinking water to four million people in the capital Santiago, authorities said.
Global efforts to provide improved water and sanitation for all are gaining momentum, but serious gaps in funding continue to hamper progress, according to a new report from the World Health Organization on behalf of UN-Water.
Federal prosecutors have asked the government of Sao Paulo to present water rationing plans for Brazil's most populous state to prevent the collapse of its main reservoir. If such plans are not presented in 10 days, the prosecutor's office said on its website it may ask courts to force rationing.
The Chilean Economic Development Agency (CORFO) raised US$984 million last week by selling its 29.98% stake in the country’s main water utility, Aguas Andinas SA.
Israel's Finance Ministry has approved funding for the construction of the largest water desalination plant in the world. Under construction in Sorek, central Israel, the plant is scheduled to be completed in 2013 at a cost of 400 million US dollars.
The huge tabular blocks of ice that frequently break off Antarctica get swept towards the Atlantic and then ground on the shallow continental shelf that surrounds the 170km-long island of South Georgia.
A 3.85 billion US dollars pipeline to carry freshwater some 1,000 kilometres from central Chile to the country’s northern desert will provide a cheaper alternative for users now reliant on desalinization of ocean water, a business news Web site said this week.