Water & Oceans

"The most potent El Niño event in almost a decade is about to exert its peak influence on North American weather. Many parts of the world are affected by El Niño, a periodic one- to two-year warming of the eastern tropical Pacific. In fact, El Niño is the biggest single shaper of Earth’s year-to-year weather variations atop human-induced climate change. And North America is one of the places where El Niño’s influence is most pronounced."

"The largest beaver dam on Earth was discovered via satellite imagery in 2007, and since then only one person has trekked into the Canadian wild to see it. It’s a half-mile long and has created a 17-acre lake in the northern forest — a testament to the beaver’s resilience."

"Navajo Nation environmentalists are opposing a “self-described jet setter” and French millionaire’s plans for a massive hydropower project they claim will adversely affect the land, water, wildlife, plants and cultural resources of the largest land area held by Indigenous American peoples in the US."

"In the face of heavy opposition from environmental groups, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his administration are pushing forward with a controversial plan to build a 45-mile water tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta—a project the governor says is vital to modernizing the state's aging water system."

"When a heavy rainstorm hits D.C., it’s bad news for the city’s rivers. The city’s sewer system, which combines storm runoff and raw sewage in some areas, has a history of overflowing. Instead of flowing into a treatment plant, that toxic mix, along with the sediment, trash and other pollutants storm water washes off streets, ends up in rivers."

"A new study from Oregon State University estimates that wildfire and drought caused $11.2 billion in economic losses to privately owned timberland in California, Oregon and Washington over the past two decades."

"Over the next two decades, Los Angeles County will collect billions more gallons in water from local sources, especially storm and reclaimed water, shifting from its reliance on other region’s water supplies as the effects of climate change make such efforts less reliable and more expensive."

"Ongoing catastrophic rains in Eastern Africa have been worsened by human-caused climate change that made them up to two times more intense, an international team of climate scientists said Thursday."

"Despite some recent financial setbacks, U.S. offshore windpower has hit a milestone. An 800-foot tall turbine is now sending electricity onto the grid from a commercial-scale offshore wind farm on pace to be the country’s first."

"A substance found in hundreds of drinking water samples across England has been categorised as carcinogenic by the World Health Organization (WHO). The move will increase pressure on the UK government to take action on “forever chemicals”."