New study reveals global reservoirs are becoming emptier

on 23/10/2023

Water is an essential and indispensable component of humanity’s everyday existence. As the global population grows and the climate warms, so does the water demand.
Over the past two decades, global reservoirs have become increasingly empty despite an overall increase in total storage capacity due to the construction of new reservoirs.
Led by Dr. Huilin Gao, associate professor in the Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M University, researchers used a new approach with satellite data to estimate the storage variations of 7,245 global reservoirs from 1999 to 2018.
The researchers published their findings in Nature Communications.
Overall, global reservoir storage increased at an annual rate of 28 cubic kilometers, attributed to the construction of new reservoirs. However, despite these efforts, the data reveals that the rate of reservoir filling is lower than anticipated.
“As the global population continues to grow in the 21st century, surface water reservoirs are increasingly being relied on to meet rising demands in the context of a changing climate,” Gao said. “However, the amount of water available in reservoirs and its trends have not been well quantified at the global scale.”
The researchers developed the Global Reservoir Storage dataset, freely available online to benefit decision-makers and the wider science community. It represents a significant advancement in tracking global reservoir storage conditions.
Given the projected decline in water runoff and the rising water demand, the observed trend of diminishing storage returns from reservoir construction is expected to continue, potentially impacting water supplies with significant implications. These findings indicate that addressing future water demands cannot rely solely on constructing new reservoirs, emphasizing the need for novel management strategies.
“Through this research, we share a new perspective for reevaluating the socio-economic benefits of new reservoir construction and the tension between growing water demand and lessening water availability in developing countries,” said Dr. Yao Li, a Texas A&M former postdoctoral researcher who is currently a professor at the School of Geographical Sciences at Southwest University.
The decline in reservoir storage is particularly prominent in the global south, including South Asia, Africa and South America. Despite efforts to construct new reservoirs, the data shows that they fall short of expected filling levels.
The most significant decline is in South America and Africa, where growing populations contribute to an escalated water demand.
In contrast, reservoirs in the global north, including regions in North America and Europe, are experiencing an upward trend in reaching their maximum capacity. Reservoirs in high-latitude regions like the Great Lakes and Siberia exhibit comparatively higher storage capacities, primarily attributed to their lower population densities and lesser impacts from human activities.
The analysis did not consider the sedimentation process, and therefore the overall storage decline presented in this study is conservative.
Other contributors to this research are Dr. Gang Zhao, a former postdoctoral fellow at the Carnegie Institute for Science in Stanford who is now a researcher at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, and Dr. George H. Allen, assistant professor of Hydrology and Remote Sensing at Virginia Polytechnic and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. Both Li and Zhao are former Texas A&M students who worked in Dr. Gao’s research group, Gao Hydrology Research Group.
This research is funded by NASA and the Texas A&M President’s Excellence Fund X-Grants Program.

Displays more versatile, efficient than LED screens

on 23/10/2023

Flexible displays that can change color, convey information and even send veiled messages via infrared radiation are now possible, thanks to new research from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Engineers inspired by the morphing skins of animals like chameleons and octopuses have developed capillary-controlled robotic flapping fins to create switchable optical and infrared light multipixel displays that are 1,000 times more energy efficient than light-emitting devices.
The new study led by mechanical science and engineering professor Sameh Tawfick demonstrates how bendable fins and fluids can simultaneously switch between straight or bent and hot and cold by controlling the volume and temperature of tiny fluid-filled pixels. Varying the volume of fluids within the pixels can change the directions in which the flaps flip — similar to old-fashioned flip clocks — and varying the temperature allows the pixels to communicate via infrared energy.
The study findings are published in the journal Science Advances.
Tawfick’s interest in the interaction of elastic and capillary forces — or elasto-capillarity — started as a graduate student, spanned the basic science of hair wetting and led to his research in soft robotic displays at Illinois.
“An everyday example of elasto-capillarity is what happens to our hair when we get in the shower,” Tawfick said. “When our hair gets wet, it sticks together and bends or bundles as capillary forces are applied and released when it dries out.”
In the lab, the team created small boxes, or pixels, a few millimeters in size, that contain fins made of a flexible polymer that bend when the pixels are filled with fluid and drained using a system of tiny pumps. The pixels can have single or multiple fins and are arranged into arrays that form a display to convey information, Tawfick said.
“We are not limited to cubic pixel boxes, either,” Tawfick said. “The fins can be arranged in various orientations to create different images, even along curved surfaces. The control is precise enough to achieve complex motions, like simulating the opening of a flower bloom.”
The study reports that another feature of the new displays is the ability to send two simultaneous signals — one that can be seen with the human eye and another that can only be seen with an infrared camera.
“Because we can control the temperature of these individual droplets, we can display messages that can only be seen using an infrared device,” Tawfick said, “Or we can send two different messages at the same time.”
However, there are a few limitations to the new displays, Tawfick said.
While building the new devices, the team found that the tiny pumps needed to control the pixel fluids were not commercially available, and the entire device is sensitive to gravity — meaning that it only works while in a horizontal position.
“Once we turn the display by 90 degrees, the performance is greatly degraded, which is detrimental to applications like billboards and other signs intended for the public,” Tawfick said. “The good news is, we know that when liquid droplets become small enough, they become insensitive to gravity, like when you see a rain droplet sticking on your window and it doesn’t fall. We have found that if we use fluid droplets that are five times smaller, gravity will no longer be an issue.”
The team said that because the science behind gravity’s effect on droplets is well understood, it will provide the focal point for their next application of the emerging technology.
Tawfick said he is very excited to see where this technology is headed because it brings a fresh idea to a big market space of large reflective displays. “We have developed a whole new breed of displays that require minimal energy, are scaleable and even flexible enough to be placed onto curved surfaces.”

Three things to know: Climate change’s impact on extreme-weather events

on 23/10/2023

In an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Michael Mann, professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science in the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Arts & Sciences, and colleagues from Clemson University, the University of California Los Angeles, and Columbia University investigate the effects of climate change on exacerbating compounding heat and drought situations.
Their findings offer new insights into predicting their interplay, which will provide scientists and policymakers with a clearer and more holistic approach to preventing and preparing for extreme-weather events.
“We wanted to see how the state-of-the-art climate models used in the most recent assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change address the episodes of heat waves and droughts that have given rise to some of the worst wildfires we’ve witnessed in recent history,” Mann says.
“We also wanted to get a better understanding of how often these events were occurring, their typical durations, and their intensity to improve not only our forecasting but approaches to mitigating further damage to human life.”
Compound drought and heat wave events and their effects
The researchers document the deleterious effects of increasingly severe droughts and wildfires occurring in the past three years.
“Two standout events,” Mann says, “were the 2020 California wildfires and the 2019-20 Australian bush fire season, which lasted nearly one whole year and came to be known as the Black Summer. These are known as compound drought and heat wave (CDHW) events and refer to situations wherein a region experiences both prolonged hot temperatures and a shortage of water.”
These conditions can occur together and worsen each other’s impacts, the researchers say, and could potentially lead to heat-related illnesses and deaths, water scarcity for drinking and agriculture, reduced crop yields, increased wildfire risk, and ecological stress. They also note that anthropogenic climate change — climate change that is driven by human activity — can contribute to the frequency and severity of these events.
Projected impact of a worst-case versus moderate-case scenario
The researchers compared two contrasting socioeconomic pathways: the high-end or worst-case scenario, wherein society fails to mitigate the effects of anthropogenic climate change, and a moderate scenario, wherein some conservative measures are put in place and efforts are made to abide by them.
In the worst-case scenario, they found that by the late 21st century approximately 20% of global land areas are expected to witness approximately two CDHW events per year. These events could last for around 25 days and a fourfold increase in severity.
“Comparatively, the average CDHW frequency over the recent observed reference period was approximately 1.2 events per year, lasting less than 10 days, with far less severity,” Mann says.
The most vulnerable geographical regions, such as eastern North America, southeastern South America, Central Europe, East Africa, Central Asia, and northern Australia, are projected to experience the largest increases in CDHW frequency by the end of the 21st century.
“Interestingly, places like Philadelphia and some of the regions in the eastern U.S. are where we expect to see an increase in these sorts of events; urban environments in the summertime will witness the highest relative frequency of these events,” Mann says.
Critical need for proactive measures
The researchers emphasize the profound threat posed by more frequent and intense CDHW events in the coming decades and the dependence the emissions pathway chosen has on the severity of these events.
As climate change continues to unfold, addressing the escalating risks associated with CDHW events becomes crucial. This study contributes to the growing understanding of the projected changes in CDHWs and highlights the need for proactive measures, including emission reductions and adaptation strategies, to build resilience and safeguard vulnerable regions from the impacts of compound drought and heat wave events.
“Our findings provide important scientific context for the record heat and wildfire that we’re witnessing right now here in the United States,” Mann says.
“They underscore that we need to get off fossil fuels as quickly as possible to prevent a worsening of these dangerous combinations of heat and drought.”

Flood Protection Sector project among others get nod

on 23/10/2023

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved various development projects costing billions of rupees with Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar in the chair.
The ECNEC considered and approved a project of the Ministry of Water Resources titled “Umbrella PC-I of the Flood Protection Sector Project-III (FPSP-II)” at the updated cost of Rs194,625.00 million including FEC of Rs10,862.94 million.
The project is to be executed in all four provinces and GB and AJK as well. The project is to be financed through federal components, provincial components, and donor financing. The main object of the project is the improvement of country-wide comprehensive flood management approaches on an integrated and innovative basis by the implementation of structural as well as non-structural interventions.
The ECNEC also considered and approved another project of the Ministry of Water Resources to be executed by the Irrigation Department Govt of Sindh titled “Makhi Farash Link Canal Project (Chotiari Phase-II)” for water supply to Thar coal in districts Sanghar and Umerkot at the raised cost of Rs. 12,087.489 million. The project has been prepared to carry 200 cusecs of canal water for electricity generation and agro-industrial growth.
Another project of the Ministry of Water Resources titled “Kachhi Canal Project Restoration of Flood Damages 2022” was also considered and approved by the ECNEC with the cost of Rs. 8280.647 million to be executed in Punjab Districts of Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, and Rajanpur by Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA). The project is related to the issue of water scarcity & protection of infrastructure from the onslaught of floods.
The ECNEC also considered and discussed a project of the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa titled “New Balakot City Development Project” and directed the concerned stakeholders i-e KP govt, Ministry of Planning and Development, and ERRA to re-examine and remove technical and financial discrepancies in the project.
The ECNEC further considered and approved a project titled “National Multi-sectoral Nutrition Program to Reduce Stunting and other forms of Malnutrition” to be executed in 36 high-burden districts of the country. The project is to be financed by the federal government and through foreign aid under IsDB Country Engagement Framework for Pakistan 2023-25. The overall goal of the project is to significantly reduce malnutrition-induced stunting in Pakistani children in the next three years.
The ECNEC considered and approved the project titled “Extension/Construction of 36km Sindh Coastal Highway” for Rs. 16,204.303 million. The project is to be executed by the government of Sindh. The project is to be funded through the federal PSDP.
The ECNEC also considered and approved a project of the Ministry of Communications titled “Construction f Lahore Sialkot Motorway (LSM) link Highway (04-Lane) connecting LSM to Narang Mandi and Narowal (73-kilometer approximately)” at the revised rationalized cost of Rs. 36,814.347 million without FEC on 50:50 cost-sharing basis by the federal and provincial governments.
The project is to be executed in districts Narowal and Sheikhupura, Punjab province by National Highway Authority (NHA).
A project of the Government of Sindh titled Improvement of Road from Sanghar to National Highway (N-5), at Point Rohri via Mundh Jamrao and Salehput (221-kilometer)” was considered and approved at the updated rationalized cost of Rs. 12,521.799 million without FEC on 50:50 cost-sharing basis between the federal government and government of Sindh. The project is to be executed in District Sanghar.

Fiberglass and Its Application Areas

on 23/10/2023

Fiberglass is a type of reinforced plastic material made from fine fibers of glass. It is commonly used in various industries and applications due to its excellent strength-to-weight ratio, durability, and insulating properties. Fiberglass is a versatile material with a wide range of applications, and its unique properties make it highly sought after in various industries. Here are some key points about fiberglass:
Composition: Fiberglass is composed of small glass fibers that are woven together or laid down in a random pattern and then bound together using a resin. The glass fibers provide strength and reinforcement, while the resin acts as a binder and protects the fibers from damage.
Manufacturing Process: The process of manufacturing fiberglass involves several steps. First, the glass fibers are produced by melting glass at high temperatures and then drawing them into fine strands. These strands are then combined to form a yarn or woven into a fabric-like material. The fabric is impregnated with a liquid resin, usually polyester, epoxy, or vinylester, which cures and hardens to hold the fibers together.
Properties: Fiberglass possesses several desirable properties, including high strength, low weight, corrosion resistance, thermal insulation, and electrical insulation. It is also non-magnetic and non-conductive, making it suitable for a wide range of applications.
Applications: Fiberglass finds applications in various industries, such as construction, automotive, aerospace, marine, electrical, and consumer goods. It is commonly used for manufacturing boat hulls, automotive parts, pipes, tanks, insulation materials, surfboards, wind turbine blades, aircraft components, and more.
Advantages: Fiberglass offers several advantages over other materials. It is lightweight yet strong, making it an excellent alternative to metals. It is also resistant to corrosion and chemicals, which extends its lifespan. Fiberglass is a good electrical insulator, has low thermal conductivity, and can be molded into complex shapes, allowing for versatile design possibilities.
Safety Considerations: While fiberglass is generally safe to use, it is essential to take proper precautions when working with fiberglass products. The tiny glass fibers can cause skin irritation, respiratory issues, and eye irritation if proper protective measures are not taken. It is recommended to use protective clothing, gloves, goggles, and a mask when handling fiberglass materials. 
Application Areas of Fibreglass Composites
Fiberglass is utilized in various industries and has numerous application areas due to its desirable properties. Here are some common application areas of fiberglass:
Construction and Architecture: Fiberglass is widely used in construction for applications such as roofing materials, wall panels, doors, windows, insulation, and reinforcement of concrete structures. It offers durability, weather resistance, and thermal insulation properties.
Automotive and Aerospace: Fiberglass is employed in the manufacturing of automotive parts, including body panels, hoods, bumpers, and interior components. In the aerospace industry, it is used for aircraft components, such as fairings, wingtips, and radomes, due to its lightweight and high strength properties.
Marine and Boating: Fiberglass is extensively used in the marine industry for boat hulls, decks, and other structural components. It is preferred for its resistance to water, corrosion, and its ability to provide strength without adding excessive weight.
Wind Energy: Fiberglass is a common material for manufacturing wind turbine blades. Its lightweight nature, high strength, and ability to withstand harsh environmental conditions make it suitable for harnessing wind energy efficiently.
Electrical and Electronics: Fiberglass is used in the electrical and electronics industry for insulation purposes. It is employed in electrical panels, circuit boards, insulating sleeves, and as a reinforcement material for electrical cables.
Sports and Recreation: Fiberglass is widely utilized in various sports and recreational equipment. It is used in the production of surfboards, paddleboards, kayaks, skis, snowboards, and lightweight helmets due to its strength and flexibility.
Chemical and Corrosive Environments: Fiberglass-reinforced plastics (FRP) are resistant to corrosion from chemicals, making them suitable for applications such as storage tanks, pipes, and ductwork in chemical processing plants and corrosive environments.
Consumer Goods: Fiberglass is used in the manufacturing of a wide range of consumer goods, including furniture, bathtub and shower enclosures, kitchen appliances, water tanks, and decorative items.
Medical and Healthcare: Fiberglass is utilized in the medical industry for orthopedic casts, splints, and prosthetics due to its lightweight, strong, and moldable properties.
These are just a few examples of the numerous application areas of fiberglass. Its versatility, strength, durability, and resistance to various environmental factors make it a valuable material in many industries.