Water & Oceans

"Generative artificial intelligence uses massive amounts of energy for computation and data storage and billions of gallons of water to cool the equipment at data centers. Now, legislators and regulators — in the U.S. and the EU — are starting to demand accountability."

"New York City is considering limiting the types of laundry and dishwashing detergents available in the five boroughs. City Council Member James Gennaro, a Democrat, introduced a bill on Thursday that would make it illegal to sell or distribute detergent pods or laundry sheets that contain polyvinyl alcohol, also known as PVA or PVOH."

"A company’s plan to mine minerals near the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp and its federally protected wildlife refuge neared final approval Friday as Georgia regulators released draft permits for the project, which opponents say could irreparably harm a natural treasure."

"Doctors have reported surges of gastrointestinal illness when intense storms like this week’s atmospheric rivers overwhelm wastewater treatment plants and flood communities with raw sewage."

"Maine’s Legislature voted down a bill that would have limited large-scale pumping of groundwater in the state. Poland Spring, the bottled-water giant, had lobbied aggressively against the measure."

"Disruption of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current could freeze Europe, scorch the tropics and increase sea level rise in the North Atlantic. The tipping point may be closer than predicted in the IPCC’s latest assessment."

"The same flood-control system that protected L.A. from the atmospheric rivers also saw tens of billions of gallons of stormwater flush to the sea."

"A glaring loophole already had allowed at least a half-billion tons of the waste to go unregulated. Now the agency says many of the facilities that are subject to the rules do not comply."

"Octopuses are capable of sophisticated tasks, from solving puzzles to decorating their dens to remembering people's faces. So when a company in Spain announced that it wanted to commercially farm octopuses to harvest them for seafood, the plan sparked an uproar."

"The introduction of a new forecast track graphic in mid-August will do more than show the expected area where hurricanes and tropical storms may travel. It will also depict where wind watches and warnings are posted to better warn of dangers residents outside the cone are facing."