From water pollution to blue gold

Water "“blighted by mats of algae, mountains of foam, scum, and dead fish floating on the surface. Pollution from water companies and agricultural runoff are driving the contamination, which affects all parts of the country, causing toxic algal blooms, mass die-offs of fish, and risks to human health."

"A country that once let raw sewage and industrial wastewater flow directly into its water. Today, it is 98%, and the country has a reputation for pristine swimming waters, sometimes referred to as its “blue gold” – and it’s all thanks to a complex network of sewage plants."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/17/from-sewage-and-scum-to-swimming-in-blue-gold-how-switzerland-transformed-its-waterways-aoe
#water #pollution #micropollutants #ecosystem #health #swimming #Australia #sewage #floods #runoff #ImperviousSurfaces #roads #MassMortalities #SepticTanks #sprawl #biodiversity #rivers #civilisation

Stressed Norfolk pines at beach car parks
to be woodchipped

"Norfolk pines were planted after much of the Gold Coast region was cleared of its original tree cover and many were now in difficult growth areas like car parks and other paved areas. Have a look the trees that are next to car parks; they look worse than those that are in stands [groups]...Maybe the best way is to completely avoid roads and car parks." >>
“https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-21/norfolk-pines-damaged-by-alfred-gold-coast-destroyed/105077320
#trees #cars #carparks #harm #ImperviousSurfaces

Sea foam - You wouldn’t go swimming in sewage

"Research shows people should not go in the sea when it is foaming. These bacterial smoothies can contain more harmful pathogens than a sewage treatment plant – and you wouldn’t go swimming in sewage."

"If the water is polluted with floating fats and grease as well as asphaltene, motor oil and hydrocarbons, these spores soon form bacterial colonies or biofilms that go forth and multiply."

"Reducing stormwater pollution will reduce the growth of sea foams. As long as humanity continues to produce pollution, the problem will increase. It will also worsen as the world warms, because sea foams like it hot."
>>
https://theconversation.com/dozens-of-surfers-fell-ill-after-swimming-in-seas-that-turned-into-a-bacterial-smoothie-of-sea-foam-what-was-in-it-252506
#pollution #ocean #coast #sewage #floods #runoff #surfing #swimming #MarineLife #FossilFuels #ImperviousSurfaces #Sawtell #NSW #beach

Flood Susceptibility Mapping Of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Using GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis
--
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110653 <-- shared paper
--
#GIS #spatial #mapping #analyticalhierarchyprocess #floodhazardcriteria #floodpotentialzone #localadministrativeunit #Nepal #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #model #modeling #processmodeling #water #hydrology #flood #flooding #Kathmandu #distance #proximity #river #climatechange #extremeweather #precipitation #rainfall #monsoon #builtenvironments #impervious #impervioussurfaces #concrete #stormwater #drainage #economics #environment #infrastructure #damage #ecology #floodinnundation #urbanplanning #criteria #slope #elevation #drainagedensity #rainfall #landuse #landcover #distancefromriver #distance #topography #elevation #floodsusceptibility #floodprone #risk #hazard #mitigation #budgets #costs #policymakers