Environment
plants590

Transpiration from plants dominates the terrestrial water cycle.

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Marcellus Shale well pad

Though groundwater gets most of the attention, rivers are also affected by the rush of shale gas development across the United States, according to a new study that claims both wastewater and well development degrade water quality, but in different ways.

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A canal fed by the Liaohe River is seen near Xinmin, Liaoning, China on Sept 26, 2012.

Pollution is a major driver of water scarcity in China, especially in the places where economic growth is the highest and water resources are under the most stress — China’s dry northern breadbaskets and its biggest manufacturing hubs in the south and east.

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watershed payments graphic

China is the world leader for watershed payment programs. But in other regions, long-term funding and monitoring are challenges.

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cow

The U.S. farm sector, more productive and richer than ever, is a major water polluter.

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Silt in the Anacostia River

A sampling of 81,000 images — taken by more than 100 photographers and sponsored by the young EPA — to document the state of the nation’s environment in the 1970s.

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Yeager_swiftslough1000604

The drought that set upon the United States this year has tightened a three-state tug-of-war over fresh water, affecting marine life and a valuable fishing economy downstream in the Deep South’s Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin, the most biodiverse river system in North America.

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Arkansas River US Drought 2012

A new report out of the United Kingdom’s academic world concludes that droughts can cause sharp declines in the number of species in a stream. Additionally, there is the potential for partial collapse of aquatic food webs.

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edwargin

The Fresh Coast Project, an ambitious 10-year, around-the-lakes journey that captures the Great Lakes on film, was created by photographer Ed Wargin to visualize the lakes and streams as one stunning, connected, living story. But Wargin captures the good with the bad, in this series of exclusive photos showing the pollution he found during his travels.

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wargin

The Fresh Coast Project, an ambitious 10-year, around-the-lakes journey that captures the Great Lakes on film, was created by photographer Ed Wargin to visualize the lakes and streams as one stunning, connected, living story.

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ship-banner

With freighters forced to carry lighter loads, port structures damaged by rot, ship cannels that are filling with silt, there are millions of dollars in losses, repairs, and dredging — but scientists are working on adaptation solutions and planning resilience.

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edna_results_lakeErie

While federal efforts are largely focused on stonewalling invasive Asian carp at Chicago, the fish could be making their way into the Great Lakes through Lake Erie, where studies show they are likely to thrive.

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gold2

Water supplies remain key to the global boom in gold mining, driven by high demand and near-record prices.

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LakeMichigan-250

Canadian and American advocates join to promote big oversight idea of the “commons.”

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Beach-70

Closing in on nearly two decades in court, this “David and Goliath” fight seems far from over. Plaintiffs contend that no amount of money can repair the damage to the environment and to the lives of the 30,000 who claim to have been affected, while the U.S. oil company has denounced the Ecuadorean court system [...]

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Panama is one of the fastest-growing economies in the Western Hemisphere, largely thanks to a new free-trade agreement with the U.S. and an ongoing $US 5.25 billion expansion of the Panama Canal. Slated for completion in 2014, the expansion will double the canal's capacity, which will reduce emissions, and the new system will recycle 60 percent of the water in each transit, along with an overall decrease of 7 percent less water than is used by the existing locks.

News headlines are often dominated by the big, unexpected events — BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, for example, or Japan’s earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear catastrophes in 2011 — but some events come with advance warning. Here is a preview of the water news to look for in 2012.

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Pharmaceuticals in the Water Systems Infographic

An estimated 10 to 40 percent of prescription and over-the-counter medicines are not used, but how to properly dispose of these drugs depends on who you ask. Since there is no continuous national program, states — and even some cites — are instituting their own regulations, but not without complaints from the pharmaceutical industry.

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Red Tide Dead Fish Algae Blooms

High temperatures and salinity concentrations along the Texas Gulf Coast are behind a toxic red tide, fish kills, and an influx of oyster parasites. Additionally, several saltwater species have been found upstream, surviving in a typically freshwater environment and signaling a large change in these delta ecosystems.

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European Fracking Infographic

Shale gas test drilling likely triggered two minor earthquakes in northwestern England earlier this year, according to a a new report commissioned by Cuadrilla Resources, a private United Kingdom-based energy company.

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Public Art Purple Pipe

The $1.8 billion Brightwater facility, 10 miles northeast of Seattle, eschews old notions of what a sewage plant is. State-of-the-art membrane technology produces reusable water, a trail system allows outdoor recreation, and wetlands give salmon a place to spawn.

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