Water & Oceans

"Just as wars over oil played a major role in 20th-century history, a new book makes a convincing case that many 21st-century conflicts will be fought over water."

"A coalition of former governors, congressmen, scientists and others sent the Obama Administration their proposed Chesapeake Bay restoration strategy, a plan much tougher than the one being developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."

"In the Pacific, jumbo squid have moved to new waters, signaling changes in the ocean, scientists observe."

"Experts say the 10 million gallons of untreated wastewater that poured into Puget Sound off Magnolia last week, while unacceptable, pales when compared with the toxic insults legally funneled into the Sound every day."

The effluent stream of an East Chicago, Indiana, wastewater treatment plant is clean enough to fool salmon into spawning there.

"The 35-year-old federal law regulating tap water is so out of date that the water Americans drink can pose what scientists say are serious health risks — and still be legal."

"Large swaths of toxic algae have punished U.S. coastal towns at record levels this year, shutting down shellfish harvests and sickening swimmers from Maine to Texas to Seattle."

The first robot to cross the Atlantic Ocean is a prototype that may offer dramatic new opportunities for measuring the ocean's properties at various depths -- a key to better understanding of climate change, as well as an aid to hurricane prediction, fishing, and shipping.

"The Department of the Interior will undertake an experimental initiative to improve the management of Glen Canyon Dam and the Colorado River as it flows through Grand Canyon National Park, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced Thursday during the Colorado River Water Users Association conference."