Water & Oceans

"As the UN conference on water kicks off, it’s vital to reflect on how water has been used as a tactical weapon and a strategic battlefield resource."

"A new report says an estimated 43,000 people died amid Somalia’s longest drought on record last year and half of them likely were children under 5 years old."

"From February to April each year, Kam Thon spends most of her days knee-deep in the waters of the Mekong River by her village in northern Thailand, gathering river weed to sell and cook at home."

"A federal court judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction against the Biden administration’s waters of the US, or WOTUS, rule late Sunday. The injunction applies only to Texas and Idaho. The 2023 WOTUS rule takes effect Monday in the rest of the country and determines which waters and wetlands receive federal protection under the Clean Water Act."

"The latest case involving Indian Country was argued Monday before the Supreme Court. Arizona v. Navajo Nation, like many cases heard before the high court, is complicated and this case in particular deals with the tribe’s water rights as it relates to the Colorado River."

"One by one, big oil firms have touted their investments in algae biofuels as the future of low-carbon transportation – and one by one, they have all dropped out. Now in the wake of the last remaining algae proponent, ExxonMobil, announcing its withdrawal, insiders say they are disappointed but not surprised."

"Alarmed by plummeting stocks of commercial fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay, officials in Maryland and Virginia are scrambling to control invasive fish species that are causing at least part of the problem."

"Tom Brundy, an alfalfa grower in California's Imperial Valley, thinks farmers reliant on the shrinking Colorado River can do more to save water and use it more efficiently. That's why he's installed water sensors and monitors to prevent waste on nearly two-thirds of his 3,000 acres."

"Sunflower sea stars, huge starfish that until recently thrived in waters up and down the west coast of North America, are threatened with extinction and should be protected under the Endangered Species Act, federal officials said Wednesday."

"The Texas Public Policy Foundation used AI to push a misleading story about renewable energy—a practice that could soon become widespread."