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Mexico Is Experiencing One of The Most Widespread And Intense Droughts In Decades: NASA
According to the space agency, 85% of the territory is facing these conditions, which has affected the drinking water resources for drinking, cultivating, and irrigating. "Dams throughout Mexico are at exceptionally low levels."
As of April 15, 85% of the country was facing these conditions, explained the space agency.
ENTREPRENEUR STAFF
May 11, 2021
This article was translated from our Spanish edition using AI technologies. Errors may exist due to this process.
NASA published a statement in which it explains the drought situation in Mexico and ensures that the country is experiencing one of the most widespread and intense in decades.
According to the space agency, 85% of the territory is facing these conditions, which has affected the drinking water resources for drinking, cultivating, and irrigating. "Dams throughout Mexico are at exceptionally low levels."
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In this report, NASA shows images of the levels of the Villa Victoria dam, one of the main water supplies in Mexico City, one taken on March 27, 2020, and another on March 30, 2021, and exposes:
March 27, 2020. Photo via NASA.
March 30, 2021. Photo via NASA.
“The most recent images, although more cloudy, show that the water levels have continued to decrease. Villa Victoria is at approximately a third of its normal capacity ”.
Mexican dams at their lowest levels
According to what was exposed by the space agency, 60 large dams located in the north and center of the Aztec country are below 25% of their capacity. This has caused some government administrators to regulate the flow of the liquid from the reservoirs so that some inhabitants have been left without running water.
On the other hand, in the following map NASA shows the areas in which the vegetation is most stressed due to drought, through data on the Evaporative Stress Index (ESI, for its acronym in English).
Photo via NASA.
The ESI indicates how the evapotranspiration rate, water evaporates from the earth's surface and from plant leaves, is compared to normal conditions. The space agency explains that the negative values are below normal rates, which is why plants are stressed due to inadequate soil moisture.
No rain
From October 1, 2020, to April 18, 2021, the National Meteorological Service of Mexico said that the country had about 20% less rainfall than normal. He also explained that the northeast of the territory has gone from severe drought to an extreme one.
The report also adds that in the wet months of last year, little rainfall was also received due to the La Niña phenomenon, in which cold water from the Pacific Ocean inhibits the formation of rain clouds over Mexico and the southern United States.
“Mexico is approaching one of the worst widespread droughts on record. In 2011, drought conditions covered 95 percent of the country and caused famines in the state of Chihuahua. In 1996, the country experienced the worst drought on record and suffered huge crop losses, ”concludes NASA.
Lead Photo: Image credit: Depositphotos.com
PODCAST: Vertical Farming Podcast - Season 3 Episode 29 - Nicholas Dyner. Nick Is The CEO of Moleaer
In this episode, Harry and Nick discuss Nick’s extensive background working in the water treatment industry
Join Harry Duran, host of Vertical Farming Podcast, as he welcomes to the show Nicholas Dyner. Nick is the CEO of Moleaer, an organization that produces commercial nanobubble generators to deliver sustainable, chemical-free water quality improvement for agriculture, reservoirs, lakes, ponds, and more.
In this episode, Harry and Nick discuss Nick’s extensive background working in the water treatment industry. Nick expounds on nanobubble technology, what it is and how it can be used to improve vertical farming and the agricultural industry as a whole. Finally, Harry and Nick talk about the ongoing struggle for universal access to safe water and how advancements in technology can help restore and improve the quality of sea life.
Listen & Subscribe
FDA Releases Protocol on The Treatment of Agricultural Water
The Food and Drug Administration has a new protocol for the development and registration of treatments for water used on crops before harvest
July 30, 2020
The Food and Drug Administration has a new protocol for the development and registration of treatments for water used on crops before harvest.
( Courtesy FDA )
The FDA announced the protocol during a July 30 web seminar on its 2020 Leafy Greens STEC Action Plan, referring to Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, which has caused 40 foodborne illness outbreaks from 2009 and 2018, according to the federal agency.
The FDA and Environmental Protection Agency worked on the protocol.“
This new protocol is a huge milestone for produce safety and for the Leafy Green Action Plan released by the FDA earlier this year,” Frank Yiannas, FDA deputy commissioner for food policy and response, said in the agency’s announcement. “Working together, the FDA and EPA have supported the development of this protocol that may ultimately help farmers address contamination issues in their water sources and protect consumers from foodborne illness.”
There are no registered antimicrobial treatment products authorized to control “microorganisms of public health significance” for agricultural fields, or treatment of irrigation water systems or ponds, according to an FDA news release.
The protocol is intended to help companies develop data on the effectiveness of their products on pathogens including E. coli and salmonella in preharvest agricultural water.“
Teams of FDA experts have been working collaboratively with partners in the public and private sectors to help protect agricultural water from the many ways it can be contaminated in the environment or from unsanitary practices on a farm,” according to the FDA announcement. “This effort has included hundreds of farm visits over the past few years.”
The FDA plans to propose a rule late this year that would revise agricultural water requirements in the Food Safety Modernization Act’s Produce Safety Rule, according to the announcement.