Water & Oceans

As climate change warms ocean waters, they may become depleted of dissolved oxygen, with profound consequences for the ecosystems.

"For the second straight day, Senate Democrats blocked consideration of an energy and water spending package due to a proposed amendment dealing with the Iran nuclear agreement."

"Brine spills from oil development in western North Dakota are releasing toxins into soils and waterways, sometimes at levels exceeding federal water quality standards, scientists reported Wednesday."

"Shortly after Chicago Public Schools disclosed the district has not tested water fountains for lead contamination, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the nation's third-largest school system will begin checking water in a small number of schools this year. The announcement Wednesday came more than a month after the Tribune requested the results of any water quality tests conducted by or for CPS since 2012."

"President Barack Obama is planning to visit Flint on May 4 to spotlight the city’s lead-contaminated water that has deprived the city’s 100,000 residents of reliable access to drinking and bathing water."

"Six years on, scientists are continuing to tally the ecological harms caused by the deadly 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico."

"The Senate unveiled a $9.4 billion waterways bill to boost U.S. ports, waterways and clean water infrastructure on Tuesday that also provides emergency assistance to address the drinking water crisis in Flint, Mich., where water from the Flint River corroded the city's pipes, contaminating the water supply with lead."

"Federal regulators plan to begin working with state and local officials on an assessment of drinking water infrastructure in the wake of the Flint, Mich. crisis."

"After sampling muddy water from the mouth of the Amazon River, oceanographer Patricia Yager steamed in the research ship Atlantis toward the continental shelf, where a Brazilian colleague was chasing a phantom. Yager’s colleague was carrying a 1977 six-page research paper that included a hand-drawn map suggesting this region might mask an extraordinary set of reefs."

"The United States is on the verge of a national crisis that could mean the end of clean, cheap water. Hundreds of cities and towns are at risk of sudden and severe shortages, either because available water is not safe to drink or because there simply isn’t enough of it."