Water & Oceans

Major parts of the coastal United States are in the same boat as vulnerable, low-lying nations and islands when it comes to climate-driven sea level rise and extreme weather, says Thomas Lovejoy, a noted ecologist.

"A Russian-flagged oil tanker has run aground off Nevelsk on the southwest coast of Sakhalin Island, spilling oil into the sea, Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations reports."

"The process to relicense the hydroelectric dam system on the Klamath River will likely move forward if Congress fails to act by the end of the year on historic settlement agreements to remove four of the dams."

"A concerted 30-year effort has seen substantial improvement in the health of the largest freshwater habitat on Earth, but persistent and emerging problems exist prompting calls for further investment, legislation and long-term planning".

"Brazil filed a lawsuit on Monday against two of the world's largest mining companies for 20 billion Brazilian reais ($5.2 billion) to clean up what it says was its worst environmental disaster, caused by the collapse of a tailings dam."

"Construction work on a controversial canal that would link the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean via an overland route across Nicaragua and through Central America’s largest lake has been postponed until late 2016, says the company behind the project."

"Japan has announced it will resume whaling in the Antarctic early next year after a break of more than a year."

"Only one in three people in Tanzania has access to piped water despite government efforts to improve water supplies with most of the population still relying on unsafe water that brings the risk of disease, according to a study on Thursday."

"Illegal levels of arsenic and mercury polluted the Rio Doce river in the days after a dam burst at an iron ore mine in early November in Brazil's worst-ever environmental disaster, according to tests by a state water agency."