The Gaia Reports

By Theodora Filis During the next decade, Russia will be unable to deal effectively with the formidable environmental challenges posed by decades of Soviet and post-Soviet environmental mismanagement and recurring economic crises.  Although the prolonged contraction in economic activity has resulted in significant drops in most pollution categories, substantial environmental improvement will depend on an array of socioeconomic, institutional, and cultural changes--facilitated by the international engagement that will only begin to develop sporadically and close to the end of our 10-year time frame at the earliest. Major progress is decades away. Among Russia's most serious environmental problems: Water pollution is the most serious concern. Less than half of Russia's population has access to safe drinking water. While water pollution from industrial sources has diminished because of the decline in manufacturing, municipal wastes increasingly threaten key water supply ...

By Theodora Filis                     (Video: World Water Day 2023: UN Warns of potential global crisis) Water scarcity is an increasingly frequent and worrying phenomenon that affects at least 11% of the European population and 17% of the EU territory. Since 1980, the number of droughts in Europe has increased, and they have become more severe, costing an estimated €100 billion over the past 30 years. Everyone agrees that we are in the midst of a global freshwater crisis. Around the world, rivers, lakes, and aquifers are dwindling faster than we can possibly replenish them. Increased global population and industrial and household chemicals are also causing a decrease in freshwater. A drought’s impact is far-reaching and touches every part of our ecosystem, from human life to crops and vegetation, and even to livestock. Water shortages also affect wildfires; dried-out land can feed fires and make them larger, and a lack of water also a...

By Theodora Filis Bottled water is fresh from the mountains and induces health. Not! P ictures of mountains or nature on bottled water labels are not only misleading, it is also contradictory to the industry as a whole. There is no relationship between the image on your water bottle and the source of the water. The bottled water industry is loosely regulated, and water sources are not clearly or consistently revealed on product labels. Don’t be taken in by the pretty pictures. Bottled water isn't special. It’s just water. Plastic bottles (even BPA-free ones) can leach chemicals into your water. Bottled water companies increasingly use BPA-free plastic, but other potentially harmful chemicals are still present in plastic bottles, and they can leach into the water if exposed to heat or left to sit for long periods of time. Although both tap and bottled water have pros and cons, tap water is generally the better option. It's less expensive, more environmentally friendly, and l...

By Theodora Filis When we damage our water systems, we're not only putting marine life at risk, but we're also putting human life and resources in peril. Our planet currently has six plastic islands made of trapped garbage. The damage to sea life by these plastic death traps can only be imagined, but scientists are now investigating the long-term impacts of toxic pollutants absorbed, transported, and consumed by fish and other marine life, including the potential effects on human health.  Scientists previously thought that only actual plastic floating in the ocean could harm marine animals. But, new research proves there are additional unseen dangers being created by the plastic we discard daily. Initially, it was thought that large plastic rubbish heaps were caused by shipping fleets that crisscross our oceans every day. Although an estimated 639,000 plastic containers thrown overboard every day do contribute to ocean death traps, this only represents 20% of the overa...

By Theodora Filis In 2007 an unprecedented drought, lasting nearly three years, stretched across the southeastern United States forcing some of the region's largest cities to declare water emergencies. The situation became so serious that officials in Atlanta, where rainfall totals were more than 16 inches below normal, were worried they would run out of drinking water. David Stooksbury, a climatologist at Georgia State, classified the drought as “an exceptional drought... basically [it is] the type of drought that we expect to see about once in 100 years.” When Lake Lanier reservoir, the main source of Atlanta’s water supply, shrank to historic lows in the midst of the drought, Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue called the drought “man-made,” and sought to halt or severely restrict water releases from Lake Lanier reservoir, directly threatening numerous aquatic species downstream, including endangered mussels and sturgeon. This crisis triggered litigation, and a water war, involv...

By Theodora Filis Last year the South Central Strategic Health Authority (SCSHA), in Southampton, UK, arrogantly rejected the overwhelming public opposition to fluoridation of Southampton City's water supply on the grounds that the public was too ignorant to hold a valid opinion. Predictably, this resulted in legal action, by Southampton residents, on the interpretation of the law on fluoridation. Southampton City resident, Geraldine Milner, took legal action against the SCSHA who, in 2009, made the decision to force the fluoridation of Southampton's water despite the fact that 72% of the public opposed the idea. Inside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Mr. Wolfe, counsel for Geraldine Milner, said approximately 195,000 people in Southampton and parts of south-west Hampshire "would have fluoride added to their water whether they liked it or not". Mr. Wolfe told Justice Holman that the decision to fluoridate Southampton's water supply was con...

By Theodora Filis A new government study has recently been launched to measure the exact amount of water available in the United States. Steve Solomon, author of the new book “Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization” claims, “Water is overtaking oil as our scarcest natural resource in the world…” Experts agree, demand is greater than supply, and 36 States face water shortages in the next three years. Everyday Arizona and parts of New Mexico use 300 million gallons of water.  Americans are the world’s biggest water consumers. By 9am, after showering, using the bathroom, brushing our teeth and having a cup of coffee, each of us typically has used more than 30 gallons of water.  After doing the dishes (12 gallons per load), watering the lawn (10 gallons per minute), running the washing machine (43 gallons per load), by the time we go to bed, we've used up to 150 gallons of water. By comparison, people in the UK use a quarter of that ...