PORTAL RASMI
JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI
AGENSI PENGURUSAN BENCANA NEGARA
JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI
AGENSI PENGURUSAN BENCANA NEGARA
TORONTO, Jan 22 — The world is facing irreversible water “bankruptcy”, with billions of people struggling to cope with the consequences of decades of overuse as well as shrinking supplies from lakes, rivers, glaciers and wetlands, UN researchers said yesterday.
Nearly three-quarters of the global population live in countries classified as “water insecure” or “critically water insecure”, and four billion people face severe water scarcity at least one month per year, the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health warned in a report.
“Many regions are living beyond their hydrological means, and many critical water systems are already bankrupt,” said Kaveh Madani, lead author and director of the institute.
“By acknowledging the reality of water bankruptcy, we can finally make the hard choices that will protect people, economies and ecosystems,” he said.
The report said water supplies are “already in a post-crisis state of failure” after decades of unsustainable extraction rates that have drawn down water “savings” contained in aquifers, glaciers, soils, wetlands and river ecosystems, with supplies also degraded by pollution.
More than 170 million hectares of irrigated cropland — an area larger than Iran — are under “high” or “very high” water stress, and economic damage from land degradation, groundwater depletion and climate change amounts to more than US$300 billion (RM1.2 trillion) a year worldwide, the report said.
Three billion people and more than half of global food production are concentrated in areas already facing unstable or declining water storage levels, while salinisation has also degraded more than 100 million hectares of cropland, it said.
The researchers wrote that the current approach to solving water problems was no longer fit for purpose, and the priority was not “returning to normal” but a new “global water agenda” designed to minimise damage.
However, Jonathan Paul, geoscience professor at Royal Holloway, University of London, said the report did not address one major factor behind the crisis.
“The elephant in the room, which is mentioned explicitly only once, is the role of massive and uneven population growth in driving so many of the manifestations of water bankruptcy,” he said. — Reuters
Dunia alami muflis air
- Admin UKK
- Berita
PARIS – Dunia memasuki era ‘kebankrapan air global’ dengan sungai, tasik, dan punca air lain menyusut lebih cepat daripada kemampuan alam semula jadi mengisinya semula, kata sebuah institut penyelidikan Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu(PBB) semalam.
Institut Universiti PBB untuk Air, Alam Sekitar dan Kesihatan (UNU-INWEH) berkata, penggunaan air berlebihan, pencemaran, kemusnahan alam sekitar dan perubahan iklim mengakibatkan banyak sistem air melepasi batas pemulihan dan memerlukan klasifikasi baharu.
“Tekanan air dan krisis air tidak lagi mencukupi untuk menggambarkan realiti air dunia,” demikian menurut laporan UNU-INWEH.
Laporan itu mencadangkan istilah alternatif ‘kebankrapan air’ iaitu keadaan di mana penggunaan air jangka panjang melebihi bekalan semula jadi dan tidak dapat dipulihkan secara realistik.
Situasi tersebut dilihat menerusi pengecutan tasik-tasik besar dunia, kata laporan sama, manakal semakin banyak sungai utama gagal mengalir ke laut pada sesuatu masa dalam setahun.
Dunia juga hilang sebahagian besar tanah lembap, dengan kira-kira 410 juta hektar atau menyamai saiz Kesatuan Eropah hilang sepanjang lima dekad yang lalu.
Penyusutan air bawah tanah adalah satu lagi tanda kebankrapan tersebut. – AFP
WASHINGTON: Aktiviti solar luar biasa yang dilepaskan oleh matahari menuju ke bumi berpotensi mencetus gangguan besar grid bekalan elektrik, sistem komunikasi berasaskan satelit serta ketepatan Sistem Penentu Kedudukan Global (GPS).
Menurut Pusat Ramalan Cuaca Angkasa (SWPC), satu ribut geomagnetik yang diklasifikasikan pada tahap empat dari segi bahayanya sampai ke bumi pada pukul 2.20 petang (waktu tempatan) semalam dan kini sedang dipantau di bawah Perkhidmatan Cuaca Kebangsaan AS.
“Ribut radiasi solar teruk S4 kini sedang berlaku. Ini merupakan ribut radiasi suria terbesar dalam tempoh lebih 20 tahun. Kali terakhir tahap S4 direkodkan adalah pada Oktober 2003.
“Kesan utama dijangka terhad kepada operasi pelancaran angkasa, penerbangan dan satelit,” menurut kenyataan SWPC di platform X.
Apabila ribut radiasi solar sampai ke bumi, ia boleh meningkatkan risiko pendedahan radiasi kepada angkasawan di orbit rendah bumi, termasuk mereka yang berada di Stesen Angkasa Antarabangsa (ISS), selain penumpang pesawat yang melalui laluan kutub.
SWPC memaklumkan syarikat penerbangan, Pentadbiran Aeronautik dan Angkasa Kebangsaan (NASA), Pentadbiran Penerbangan Persekutuan (FAA), Agensi Pengurusan Kecemasan Persekutuan (FEMA), Perbadanan Kebolehpercayaan Elektrik Amerika Utara (NERC) serta pengendali lain agar bersiap sedia menghadapi kemungkinan gangguan.
Peningkatan aktiviti suria turut menghasilkan fenomena aurora di sekitar kawasan kutub, dikenali sebagai aurora borealis dan aurora australis.
SWPC memaklumkan, aurora dapat dilihat di sebahagian besar kawasan utara AS, malah berpotensi sejauh Alabama dan California utara.
Ahli Fizik Makmal Fizik Atmosfera dan Angkasa Universiti Colorado Boulder, Ryan French memberi amaran lebih banyak letupan suria berkemungkinan berlaku dari kawasan tompok matahari yang berpotensi menghasilkan lebih banyak lontaran menghala ke bumi.-AGENSI
KUANTAN, Jan 21 — The pollution incident at Sungai Lipis near the Sengkela Bridge in Raub, which went viral on social media yesterday, was caused by the discharge of silt from a silt trap at an iron ore mining operation in Hulu Sungai Bekil.
Pahang Department of Environment (DOE) Director, Zakaria Ahmad @ Mohd, said that based on inspections along Sungai Lipis, only Sungai Bekil — located near the mining area — was found to be murky.
“The occurrence of silt overflow into Sungai Bekil was also confirmed by the mine operator,” he said in a statement today adding that the condition of the river has since returned to normal.
Zakaria noted that the department conducted in-situ sampling tests along Sungai Lipis and found the water turbidity level to be 75.48 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU), which exceeds the 50 NTU limit for Class II water resources.
“The pH reading was 7.34 and the Dissolved Oxygen (DO) level was 7.47 milligrams per litre, both of which are normal for aquatic life,” he said.
Furthermore, he stated that the investigation findings will be forwarded to the Pahang State Department of Minerals and Geoscience (JMG) for further action by that agency.
Based on official records, Zakaria noted that there are no iron ore mining projects in the Raub District with an approved Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report.
“Existing mining activities approved for mining leases prior to 2015 are not subject to the requirement of an EIA Report under Section 34A of the Environmental Quality Act 1974,” he explained. — Bernama
GEORGETOWN: Kejadian lubang benam di Jalan Kenyalang 1, Bayan Lepas kelmarin dipercayai berpunca daripada kebocoran paip utiliti.
Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Infrastruktur, Pengangkutan dan Digital negeri, Zairil Khir Johari, berkata kontraktor sedang menjalankan siasatan terperinci bagi mengenal pasti punca kebocoran yang disyaki menyebabkan kejadian berkenaan.
Beliau berkata mengenal pasti punca kebocoran adalah penting sebelum sebarang kerja pembaikan lanjut dapat dilaksanakan.
"Kita perlu mengenal pasti terlebih dahulu punca kebocoran sebelum dapat meneruskan langkah seterusnya," katanya kepada pemberita di Pejabat Ketua Menteri di Komtar, di sini hari ini.
Kelmarin, Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR) Pulau Pinang mengumumkan Jalan Kenyalang 1 membabitkan satu lorong sisi di Bayan Lepas ditutup enam hari susulan penemuan lubang benam di kawasan berkenaan.
Dalam satu kenyataan yang dimuat naik di laman Facebooknya, JKR Pulau Pinang memaklumkan jalan berkenaan akan ditutup sehingga 25 Januari sebagai langkah keselamatan bagi melindungi pengguna.
Lubang benam dianggarkan berukuran kira-kira dua meter panjang, dua meter lebar dan sedalam 1.7 meter.
Setakat ini, laluan utama tidak terjejas dan hanya lorong sisi ditutup kepada trafik.
Zairil berkata, selepas mengenal pasti punca, syarikat utiliti akan diminta untuk melaksanakan kerja-kerja pembaikan yang diperlukan.