Water & Oceans

"So far, the downpours are largely in line with past storms, an official said. But their quick pace is testing the limits of the state’s infrastructure."

"An environmental group gave the Chesapeake Bay watershed a D-plus grade in an evaluation released on Thursday — the same grade earned in its last report two years ago."

"A large plume of toxic chemicals produced by a plant that manufactures firefighting foam has seeped through groundwater to Lake Michigan’s Green Bay, scientists said Tuesday."

"A sweeping study of all the world’s glaciers outside of the Greenland and the Antarctic ice sheets has found that nearly half of them will melt by century’s end, even if the world meets its most ambitious global warming goal."

"Dozens of once crystal-clear streams and rivers in Arctic Alaska are now running bright orange and cloudy, and in some cases they are becoming more acidic. This otherwise undeveloped landscape now looks as if an industrial mine has been in operation for decades, and scientists want to know why."

"In a world getting used to extreme weather, 2023 is starting out more bonkers than ever and meteorologists are saying it’s natural weather weirdness with a bit of help from human-caused climate change."

"Kelp absorbs carbon dioxide and has high nutritional value, but it is under threat from rising temperatures, pollution and invasive species".

"Laws and regulations restricting “forever chemicals” in more than a half dozen states are entering effect in 2023, including the start of a timeline for a first-in-the-nation ban on PFAS in all products in Maine."

"A U.S. judge serving as special master in the legal battle over management of the Rio Grande, one of North America’s longest rivers, has cleared the way for a proposed settlement to be made public."

"Time is running out for coral reefs as the climate gets hotter. So scientists are searching the globe for corals that are better at enduring heat."