"What a 5,000-Mile-Long Marine Heat Wave Means For Summer In The U.S. [1]
"It could worsen heat and humidity in the West this summer, and also boost the risks of Pacific hurricanes as well as wildfires in the region."

"It could worsen heat and humidity in the West this summer, and also boost the risks of Pacific hurricanes as well as wildfires in the region."
"As the Rio Grande dries out months early, water managers look to blessings, prayers and groundwater to save the acequias that have spread water, history and culture to farmers and families since the 16th century."
"After Texas regulators said Tesla’s lithium refinery near Corpus Christi wasn’t violating its permits by discharging what local officials reported as black wastewater into a drainage ditch, independent water testing there this month found two toxic metals and other contaminants."
'“Severe.“ “Critical.” “Dire.” “Challenging.” “Record-low.” Officials at the Rio Grande Compact Commission annual meeting Friday worked through the thesaurus to describe the conditions on the river that flows out of southwestern Colorado.'

SEJournal is providing full coverage of all eight of the day-long tours from the annual Society of Environmental Journalists’ conference, April 15-18, in Chicago. In Part 2, contributors Meg Duff [36], Nathaniel Eisen [37], Nhung Nguyen [38] and Marlowe Starling [39] provide detailed reports from tours focused on the transitioning steel industry, microgrids, climate-friendly crop practices and evolving Midwestern agricultural systems.
Also check out the first round of tour coverage and read all the great work [35] from our team of early-career freelance journalists, part of SEJournal’s live #SEJ2026 Live conference reporting.

Nearly as rejuvenating as attending the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual gathering is perusing the après-conference spoof by contributing quipster David Helvarg. While it seemed he was mostly there unabashedly preselling his forthcoming book, he somehow found time to send up SEJ’s earnest sessions, lambast its blown-up tours and rib its beat dinners. Read his Chicago roast.
"Burning time for North American wildfires is going into overtime. Flames are lasting later into the night and starting earlier in the morning because human-caused climate change is extending the hotter and drier conditions that feed fires, a new study found."
"Drought in the contiguous United States has reached record levels for this time of year, weather data shows. Meteorologists said it’s a bad sign for the upcoming wildfire season, food prices and western water issues."
"Nearly four dozen water systems that provide drinking water across Maine would be at risk of violating new limits on “forever chemicals” if the state began enforcing updated rules on the toxic substances today, showing how much work they have left to do to meet new requirements."
"Independent testing of the Salween River began in September 2025 after researchers found alarming levels of toxic contaminants in the nearby Kok, Sai and Ruak rivers in Thailand, much of it linked to unregulated mining in Myanmar."
Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/headlines/what-5000-mile-long-marine-heat-wave-means-summer-us
[2] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/climate-change
[3] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster
[4] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-health
[5] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmentalists
[6] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/fisheries
[7] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/science
[8] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water
[9] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81
[10] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national
[11] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international
[12] https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026/04/22/marine-heat-wave-summer-hurricanes-wildfires/
[13] https://www.sej.org/headlines/new-mexico-s-time-honored-irrigation-canals-face-existential-threat
[14] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/agriculture
[15] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/biodiversity-1
[16] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/food
[17] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/infrastructure
[18] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/people-population
[19] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/religion-faith-and-spirituality
[20] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/technology
[21] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southwest
[22] https://insideclimatenews.org/news/21042026/new-mexico-irrigation-canals-low-snowpack-heat/
[23] https://www.sej.org/headlines/tests-tesla-s-lithium-refinery-wastewater-discharges-find-toxic-metals
[24] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/chemicals/toxics
[25] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-justice
[26] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics
[27] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/laws
[28] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/pollution
[29] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/waste
[30] https://insideclimatenews.org/news/21042026/tesla-lithium-refinery-toxic-wastewater/
[31] https://www.sej.org/headlines/facing-drought-low-snowpack-rio-grande-states-expect-challenging-yearfacing-drought-low
[32] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/consumer
[33] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/wildlife
[34] https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20042026/rio-grande-compact-meeting-low-river-flows/
[35] https://www.sej.org/publications/sej-news/sej2026-live-coverage-conference-tours
[36] https://www.sej.org/publications/sej-news/sej2026-live-coverage-conference-tours#Duff
[37] https://www.sej.org/publications/sej-news/sej2026-live-coverage-conference-tours#Eisen
[38] https://www.sej.org/publications/sej-news/sej2026-live-coverage-conference-tours#Nguyen
[39] https://www.sej.org/publications/sej-news/sej2026-live-coverage-conference-tours#Starling
[40] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/sej-news
[41] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/activism
[42] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/air
[43] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/business
[44] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/energy
[45] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/forests
[46] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government
[47] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/health
[48] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media
[49] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land
[50] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/cities-towns
[51] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/policy
[52] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/transportation
[53] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/great-lakes
[54] https://www.sej.org/publications/sej-news/war-and-pizza-sej2026-chicago
[55] https://www.sej.org/headlines/wildfires-used-sleep-night-climate-now-makes-them-burn-overtime
[56] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/alaska-and-hawaii
[57] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/california
[58] https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-climate-change-hotter-drier-maui-los-angeles-42ecbce3440d8d387a5617cc2d1e65a8
[59] https://www.sej.org/headlines/record-us-drought-sparks-worries-about-fires-water-supply-and-food-prices
[60] https://apnews.com/article/drought-us-food-prices-wildfire-water-supply-3625f832e5122c988904fc66d39906f7
[61] https://www.sej.org/headlines/maine-tightens-limits-pfas-drinking-water-are-communities-ready
[62] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northeast
[63] https://themainemonitor.org/maine-tightening-limits-forever-chemicals-drinking-water/
[64] https://www.sej.org/headlines/asia-s-longest-free-flowing-river-polluted-arsenic-myanmar-mines
[65] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/asia
[66] https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/asias-longest-free-flowing-river-contaminated-by-arsenic-linked-to-myanmar-mines/
[67] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water?page=10
[68] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water?page=7
[69] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water?page=8
[70] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water?page=9
[71] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water?page=12
[72] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water?page=13
[73] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water?page=14
[74] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water?page=15
[75] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water?page=891