Water & Oceans

"With public officials across the nation under fire for downplaying the health risks posed by lead water pipes, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration is moving to start testing tap water in the homes of children poisoned by the brain-damaging metal."

"A federal judge in New Orleans has granted final approval to an estimated $20 billion settlement, resolving years of litigation over the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico."

"The water in the Gulf of Maine is warming rapidly, a change that could bring a once-rare lobster disease further north."

"Ohio's environmental regulators are proposing an overhaul of how the state and its cities deal with lead in drinking water, including speeding up notifications when lead is found at the tap."

"It was a controversial move when Madison, Wis., decided to replace all its lead pipes in 2001. But that decision put the city ahead of the curve — allowing it to avoid the lead water contamination that is plaguing cities like Flint, Mich., now."

"The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared likely to rule that property owners can challenge the federal government in court over the need for permits under a national water protection law in a case involving a company's plans for a Minnesota peat mine."

"Sea levels could rise 50 cm (20 inches) more this century than had been expected, according to a report published on Wednesday which found that Antarctic ice will melt faster than previously thought."

The marsh Arabs who live at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers have a culture and economy that has survived for millenia. Now climate change is drying up the water they depend on, and expecially affecting the roles of women.

"Study also finds companies fracked into underground sources of water and at much shallower depths than previously known, close to drinking water wells."