One way to celebrate World Water Day is to learn more about water and sanitation and how water quality and quantity vary by nation. The United Nations has a powerful tool called UN Water that provides an interactive map with snapshots of each country with a ranking of various water quality and water treatment issues.
In the United States, we are fortunate that a large majority of the US population has a safe, sanitary source for drinking water and that wastewater is safely treated. This is not the case everywhere.
Another way to celebrate World Water Day is to share the information that you learn with other people. Sharing knowledge is an important way to help spread awareness of the need for access to clean water. You can also share this information through social media.
Key messages for World Water Day 2025
Glaciers are melting faster than ever. As the planet gets hotter due to climate change, our frozen world is shrinking, making the water cycle more unpredictable and extreme.
Glacial retreat threatens devastation. For billions of people, meltwater flows are changing, causing floods, droughts, landslides and sea level rise, and damaging ecosystems.
Glacier preservation is a survival strategy. We must work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and manage meltwater more sustainably for people and the planet.
Annually, the United Nations celebrates March 22nd as World Water Day. World Water Day celebrates water and raises awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water. The day is about taking action to tackle the global water crisis, and remembering what a vital role water plays for all of humanity. This year, the theme of World Water Day is “SAVE OUR GLACIERS,” with a focus on glacier preservation. Therefore, no matter where we live, glaciers are critical to our water future.
“I don’t live near a glacier. Why should I care about glaciers?”
Glacier Facts: 70% of the Earth’s fresh water exists as snow or ice. Around 10% of the Earth’s land area is covered by glaciers or ice sheets.
Glaciers are part of the “cryosphere” which impacts every living being on the planet. The word “cryosphere” originates from the Greek word ‘kryos’ for frost or ice cold. The cryosphere extends across the globe and can appear seasonally (like snow in Iowa) or be permanently present in most parts of the world. The snow, glacier, permafrost, and frozen ground are significant storage and sources of freshwater, sustaining ecosystems and supporting livelihoods in and far beyond the regions where these are located. While you watch the video below you will learn about the cryosphere and how it’s changing.
Undeniably, all living beings depend directly or indirectly on the cryosphere. For example, as all major rivers originate from mountains, the mountain cryosphere plays an important role in providing and regulating freshwater resources for around half of the world’s population. Furthermore, alterations and loss of critical snow and ice are increasing the risk of other hazards.
The state of cryosphere is also a useful indicator for climate variability and change. Therefore, improved monitoring is critical to understand Earth’s weather, climate, and water cycles. The cryosphere, its changes, and its impacts have received increased attention in recent years, creating a demand for authoritative information on the state of the world’s snow and ice resources.
As shown above in the video, glaciers are extremely important to help regulate the earth’s temperature. Glaciers, snow, and ice reflect much of the sun’s radiation into space (keeping those areas cooler), unlike the bare ground or open ocean water, which absorb the radiation (making them warmer). Glaciers also store freshwater and are an essential part of the water cycle.
On Wednesday, November 20, we had a great GIS Day celebration atThe Catalyst in Parks Library. Thank you to library digital scholarship staff for hosting us and providing their expertise.
We had five speakers sharing on different topics:
CollectionBuilder for Historical GIS: an update on the ISU Historical Buildings Project – Erin Ridnour, Digital Scholarship Librarian, University Library
Tillage Detectives: Determining Residue Cover via Satellite – Bryce Pape, Graduate Student and Brian Gelder, DEP and GISF Co-Lead
Library Instruction with ArcGIS StoryMaps – Michael Cummings and Erin Ridnour, Digital Scholarship Librarians
Using Past Slope Failures to Prepare for the Future: A Case Study across the State of North Dakota – Beena Ajmera, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
Geospatial Modeling for Regional Trail Planning – Austin Dunn, Assistant Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture
The ISU GIS Facility is hosting our second annual Mapping Masterminds Map Competition. It is open to everyone, everywhere. There are two categories for submissions: 1) Maps and 2) StoryMaps. There are cash gift cards for top prizes. Entries are due Sunday, November 17, 2024. Here is the link to the official website for more details and to submit your map: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/f5f90197f924413080353752f6f89e1e.
The ISU GIS Support and Research Facility and IowaView along with Parks Library will be hosting GIS Day 2024 on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in The Catalyst at Parks Library (Room 199) at Iowa State University. This is a come-and-go event so stay as long as you would like. GIS Day is for everyone, from the GIS curious to the GIS user. There will be speakers throughout the morning sharing their research from around campus, information about GIS opportunities and programs on campus, free GIS swag, free food, and a map competition with prizes.
Next week, IowaView and the ISU GIS Facility will be hosting an Earth Observation Day celebration, on Tuesday, October 15, from 10:00 to 11:30 in Durham 206 as part of Earth Science Week 2024.
Here’s the schedule:
10:00 – 10:30 Dr. Antonio Arenas, Civil Construction & Environmental Engineering Topic: Google Earth Engine and Open ET (Evapotranspiration)
10:30 – 11:00 Dr. Brian Gelder, Agricultural And Biosystems Engineering, ISU GIS Facility Research Lead Topic: LiDAR Processing via ArcGIS and PDAL (a Python extension for translating point cloud data)
11:00 – 11:30 Bryce Pape – Graduate Student, Community and Regional Planning Topic: Google Earth Engine and Agriculture Residue Cover
We will also provide snacks (a cupcake cake) and Earth Observation Day swag including booklets, posters, and trading cards. Please come and go as you need to. We look forward to seeing you there.
The ISU GIS Facility will be hosting the 3rd annual geospatial summer workshop for K-12 teachers and pre-service teachers in Ames, Iowa on July 17 – 18, 2024. This workshop will show many geospatial tools and applications from the Esri ecosystem as well as Google Earth, OpenStreetMap, AmericaView, and others. Teachers will get to see a variety of map tools and exercises that they can bring into current lessons. We will explore resources available at local, state, and national levels. Each participant will make a StoryMap to use in their classroom. Teachers can sign up for graduate or continuing education credit. Please email Amy Logan with any questions.
It’s that time of year again! We are celebrating Geography Awareness Week! November 13-17, 2023
The History of Geography Awareness Week:
Thirty-six years ago, the National Geographic Society advocated to create Geography Awareness Week. Geography Awareness Week is a way to celebrate and raise awareness of geography, both as a discipline and as a part of daily life. The National Geographic Society felt the limited exposure to geography in American education was a dangerous deficiency. Without proper exposure to geography, students are unable to make effective decisions, understand geo-spatial and geo-political issues, or even recognize their impacts as global citizens. — see more at the National Geographic Website
GIS Day is around the corner…please join us for festivities in the Parks Library in Ames, Iowa on Wednesday, November 15, 2023. For GIS Day details: https://www.gis.iastate.edu/gis-day-2023. Also if you have a StoryMap or GIS app or GIS poster or regular paper map – please enter the mapping competition. The competition is open to all, i.e. anyone else reading this, we want to see your mapping skills. There will be prizes! https://tinyurl.com/mappingmasterminds
There will be prizes! 