sunfoundation:

Which nations consume the most water?

This Scientific American article by Mark Fischetti and infographic by Jen Christiansen detail the consumption of water usage throughout the world. Jen used a Sankey diagram to show the top 10 water consuming countries and how their water was being used. One of Mark’s first points in the article is that population is the largest factor of water consumption. So I wonder why population adjusted numbers weren’t used. Many of the article’s commenters felt the same way.

Because while water-per-capita is interesting and arguably more informative for policy-makers and advocates, water doesn’t exist in a per-capita form. Once you’ve used it all up, it’s gone.

inothernews:

With one nudge, the Great Camera Vs. Bear Fight of 2012 came to a quick, anticlimactic end, and photographers everywhere cried into their Lowepros.

(Photo of a bear destroying camera equipment at Yellowstone National Park — don’t worry, the photographer got away — by Andrew Kane / Barcroft Media via The Telegraph)

Another reason not to liquidate Chilco Falls Park.

From http://jasonbakerbouldersandice.blogspot.com/

Why not to sell Chilco Falls Park. 

For 70 consecutive years, trees on the Coeur d’Alene dike have NOT been a problem in high water… 

Today on the Coeur d’Alene River near Harrison. The flooding is impressive, sure, but the fact that all of the sediment coming downstream is contaminated with heavy metals is heartbreaking. 

Complete and utter nonsense from Larry Spencer. 

accuweather:

Common Pesticide Implicated Bee Colony Collapse Disorder

Honeybee colonies have been mysteriously dying off all over the globe, leaving scientists scratching their heads-and important crops languishing in the fields unpollinated. Viruses, mites, pesticides and poor food choices have been fingered as potential culprits. And three new studies in the past week are taking aim at one of the most common types of agricultural insecticides.

This derailment north of Sandpoint spilled only soybeans. With double the train traffic,  and with longer and heavier coal trains, these wet-season derailments could be much more frequent in the future.