Tag: Morocco
Pumped Dry: The Global Crisis of Vanishing Groundwater
Much of the planet relies on groundwater. And in places around the world – from the United States to Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America – so much water is pumped from the ground that aquifers are being rapidly depleted and wells are going dry.
Groundwater is disappearing beneath cornfields in Kansas, rice paddies in India, asparagus farms in Peru and orange groves in Morocco. As these critical water reserves are pumped beyond their limits, the threats are mounting for people who depend on aquifers to supply agriculture, sustain economies and provide drinking water. In some areas, fields have already turned to dust and farmers are struggling.
Climate change is projected to increase the stresses on water supplies, and heated disputes are erupting in places where those with deep wells can keep pumping and leave others with dry wells. Even as satellite measurements have revealed the problem’s severity on a global scale, many regions have failed to adequately address the problem. Aquifers largely remain unmanaged and unregulated, and water that seeped underground over tens of thousands of years is being gradually used up.
In this documentary, USA TODAY and The Desert Sun investigate the consequences of this emerging crisis in several of the world’s hotspots of groundwater depletion. These are stories about people on four continents confronting questions of how to safeguard their aquifers for the future – and in some cases, how to cope as the water runs out.
Energy Hunger, Energy Guzzlers and Energy Providers, Part 1
What is supposed to be the largest and most efficient solar power plant in the world is currently being built near the Moroccan desert city of Ouarzazate. The Noor solar power plant, which means “Light” in Arabic, is due to be completed by 2020, when it will comprise 4 units. In its final expansion stage, Noor will supply a total of 1.3 million households with electricity. The sun is the most powerful source of energy in our galaxy and could theoretically supply all of humanity with electricity with ease, but what technologies do we have to usher in this new era of electricity?
Could wind power be a more promising alternative? Wind farms are being built at full speed around the world, but is wind energy really viable? Is the enormous investment in wind turbines at all worth it and can it meet our demand for electricity?
China has shown how quickly you can push ahead with the switch from fossil to renewable energy sources. China’s enormous economic growth in recent decades has made the Middle Kingdom the world’s largest energy guzzler. But China is also the world’s largest energy producer. A veritable energy revolution is currently underway. Almost 20 percent of the ever-growing demand for energy is now met by renewable technologies, and a large proportion of the solar cells used worldwide already come from China. What can Europe learn from China? One key to avoiding an electricity crisis could be “decentralization,” so-called “microgrids.” A quiet little town in the Swabian Allgäu region has shown it is possible to produce eight times as much electricity as it needs itself.