Water Notes: A Few of Our Favorite Things
We read a lot of stuff about water, and sometimes we forget
to pass the fun along to you. This week, we’re starting a new tradition and
making up for that oversight by sharing a few of our favorite blogs, websites, and
tools. If you have great additions to our list, be sure to share in the
comments or on Twitter @IllinoisWater or Facebook.
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| by Irene Miles |
- Unwantedmeds.org hosts the UpClose series
in which they interview scientists about
their research. You know how much we love chatting about science, and this
is fun and accessible. Since Unwantedmeds focuses on safe disposal of unwanted
or expired medicine, the interviews generally deal with what happens to the
environment when pharmaceuticals escape. The collection so far includes an
engineer, a toxicologist, and a microbial ecologist. We hear rumors that there
will be more soon.
- Did you know that Illinois has sister lakes and
rivers? We do, in Brazil, Mexico,
Ireland, and China, to name a few. The goal of the Sister
Rivers and Lakes initiative is to share innovative solutions to the
problems these water bodies share with those in Illinois. Some of the
strategies used by Illinois to address state water resource dilemmas include
the Mud-to-Parks
program and the Clean
Water Initiative.
- One of the most helpful sites we follow is the
blog of State Climatologist Jim Angel. Dr. Angel keeps us up-to-date on
drought, tornado drought, the average temperatures of the season we’re in, and lots
of other useful information about Illinois weather and climate. We highly
recommend adding Illinois State
Climatologist to your blog roll.
- Speaking of weather, the Midwest Regional Climate Center’s
webpage is also fantastic. Not only can you look up the maximum snow in one
month in Champaign County (it was 32 inches in March of 1906), but you can also
look up extreme temperatures, past weather events, drought, and the weather on the day you were born!
