Water & Oceans
"Nigeria On Alert as Shell Announces Worst Oil Spill in a Decade"
"Nigerian coastal and fishing communities were on Thursday put on alert after Shell admitted to an oil spill that is likely to be the worst in the area for a decade, according to government officials."
Groundwater Drought Can Be Very Different from Surface Drought
Groundwater depletion can lead to significant impacts on uses such as drinking water, irrigation, industries, and aquifer recharge, while excess can contribute to flooding. To see how the groundwater is faring in your area, check out NASA's groundwater maps, updated weekly.
"Unusual Marine Mammal Deaths on Four US Coasts"
"As of this week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has declared three 'unusual mortality events' (UME)—unexplained death clusters—for multiple species of marine mammals on four US coastlines: the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, the Bering Sea, and the Chukchi Sea."
"With Federal Green Light, Shell Hits the Gas on Arctic Plans"
"In a sign that the Obama administration is willing to clear the regulatory decks for oil drilling in Alaska's remote Arctic waters, the Interior Department on Friday gave a conditional green light allowing Royal Dutch Shell PLC to explore for oil this summer in Alaska's Chukchi Sea."
"Is It Safe To Drill? Learn What New Oil-Spill Report Says"
"BP and the oil industry drilling in the Gulf of Mexico lacked the proper safety attitude to handle the large risks of deepwater drilling, leading to the many bad decisions behind the nation's worst offshore spill, a panel of expert engineers said today.
More specifically, the industry needs to radically redesign the blowout preventers that are meant to be a last line of defense against runaway wells or else risk a repeat of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, the National Academy of Engineering concluded.
States Partly Fill Federal Vacuum on Fracking Fluid Disclosure Law
Colorado, which adopted its disclosure rules December 13, 2011, joins Texas, Pennsylvania, and several other states in requiring some disclosure by drillers of the chemicals they pump into shale formations under high pressures to release natural gas. Scores of chemicals, some very toxic, may be involved.
"Disasters Doom Texas Oyster Crop"
"A monstrous bloom of toxic algae looming across the Texas coast has shut down oyster season. Fueled by Texas' ongoing drought, the algae — known as Karenia brevis— thrives in warm, salty water and has spread through the bays and islands along Texas' 350-mile coast, says Meridith Byrd, a marine biologist for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The algae could cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea in humans and is harmful to fish but not fatal to people, she says."
"Sewage Leaks Foul Baltimore Streams, Harbor"
"Heavy rains routinely trigger big sewage overflows in Baltimore, but there is growing evidence that chronic leaks from the region's aging, cracked sewer lines are a bigger threat to public health."
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