Water & Oceans

"Another North Atlantic right whale calf and its mother have been spotted - the critically endangered species’ second confirmed newborn of the winter birthing season."

"The president signed U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown’s and Rob Portman’s Water Infrastructure Flexibility Act into law that would provide local communities with increased flexibility when complying with Clean Water Act requirements for updates to sewer systems."

"Almost 16,000 desalination plants worldwide produce bigger-than-expected flows of highly salty waste water and toxic chemicals that are damaging the environment, a U.N.-backed study said on Monday."

"A multi-agency state task force assembled to tackle a ubiquitous chemical contaminant across Michigan continues to operate under the Whitmer administration, but without a director or the executive directive that created it."

"The ice in Antarctica is melting six times faster than it did just 40 years ago, a new study reports.

This dramatic acceleration of the ice loss is a clear indication of human-caused climate change, the study authors said.

Lead author Eric Rignot, an ice scientist at the University of California–Irvine, said the melting ice has caused global sea levels to rise more than half an inch since 1979.  

While that may not sound like much, the amount is certainly alarming to climate scientists, as it's a preview of things to come:"

"Up against a federal deadline to approve a Colorado River drought plan — a “generational change” in Arizona water management — four key legislators say they’re optimistic they’ll meet it."

"PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon wildlife officials have started killing California sea lions that threaten a fragile and unique type of trout in the Willamette River, a body of water that’s miles inland from the coastal areas where the massive carnivorous aquatic mammals usually congregate to feed."