Water & Oceans

"Legislation designed to streamline hydroelectric power licensing and relicensing was approved by a majority vote in the House."

"La Niña, the cooler sibling of El Niño, is here. The La Niña climate pattern — a natural cycle marked by cooler-than-average ocean water in the central Pacific Ocean — is one of the main drivers of weather in the U.S. and around the world, especially during the late fall, winter and early spring."

"Antarctica is getting a little hot under the collar. Just under the frozen wasteland of the world's coldest continent are some seriously hot rocks, which are helping to melt its ice sheet and create lakes and rivers, a study found."

"Gulf of Alaska cod populations appear to have nose-dived, a collapse fishery scientists believe is linked to warm water temperatures known as 'the blob' that peaked in 2015."

"Besides lead, no contaminant in drinking water has provoked as loud a public outcry in the last two years in the United States as a class of chemicals known as perfluorinated compounds. New Jersey regulators are taking the strongest action to date on the man-made chemicals that are used in scores of household and industrial products."

"California’s top water regulators adopted an agreement that commits the state to following through on plans of building wetlands and controlling dust around the shrinking Salton Sea over the next 10 years."

"The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin gave the feds notice of intent to sue over the alleged failure to protect the water quality of the tribe's namesake river."

"Walruses are facing a 'death sentence' after the Trump administration declined last month to list the Pacific walrus as endangered, according to the Center for Biological Diversity."