"To stake its claim in the strategic South China Sea, China is building airstrips, ports, and other facilities on disputed islands and reefs. Scientists say the activities are destroying key coral reef ecosystems and will heighten the risks of a fisheries collapse in the region."

"For years, world leaders have been arguing over the best way to protect the chilly Southern Ocean at the bottom of the world from threats like pollution and overfishing. Now, they may finally be one step closer to an agreement."

"California should leave more water in the state's most vital river delta to save crashing populations of native fish, state regulators said Wednesday in findings that could cut the amounts that cities and farms can take from the Sacramento and San Joaquin waterways."

"The La Jolla of Luiseño Indians have seen their wells shrink dramatically because of California’s ongoing drought. Robin Cabrera explains how a federal grant – and help from other tribes – could lead to a solution."

"As the 15-year Chicago Riverwalk project draws to a close, the city hopes to use its waterways to bridge neighborhoods."

"Long before the first winter frost, hundreds of drinking fountains in Chicago parks have been shut off after testing revealed high levels of brain-damaging lead in the water."

"U.S. government agencies plan to push ahead with a $57 million dam and fish bypass on Montana's Yellowstone River despite concerns among scientists that it won't meet its goal of helping an ancient fish species, officials said Monday."

"The U.S. Air Force is spending nearly $1 billion to build a radar installation that will help keep astronauts and satellites safe by tracking pieces of space junk as small as a baseball. That is, if global warming doesn't get in the way. The Space Fence is being constructed on a tiny atoll in the Marshall Islands that scientists say could be regularly swamped by rising seas within a couple of decades as a result of climate change."

"Numerous cities face financial problems similar to the ones that led to the Flint, Mich., drinking water crisis, a government watchdog report found."

"The shrinking of the country’s ice sheet is triggering feedback loops that accelerate the global crisis. The floodgates may already be open." "Just in the past four years, more than a trillion tons of ice have been lost."