Protected areas are a cornerstone strategy for terrestrial and increasingly marine biodiversity conservation, but their use for conserving inland waters has received comparatively scant attention. In 2010, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) included a target of 17% protection for inland waters, yet there has been no meaningful way of …
The Tennessee Valley Authority said workers on Monday were taking precautions to reduce possible flooding at two coal-fired power plants in Tennessee and Kentucky. TVA said crews were preparing sandbags and inflatable coffer dams for possible use at the 1,369-megawatt Shawnee Fossil Plant west of Paducah, Kentucky, on the Ohio …
Missouri's attorney general asked the Supreme Court on Sunday to intervene and block a proposed federal plan to protect the southern Illinois town of Cairo by blowing up a levee on the Mississippi River. State Attorney General Chris Koster asked the nation's highest court for a temporary injunction to prevent …
Dozens of tornadoes spawned by a powerful storm system wiped out entire towns across a wide swath of the South, killing at least 259 people, and officials said Thursday they expect the death toll to rise. Alabama
AMID predictions by climate scientists that half the coastal marshes may not survive rising sea level, comes a glimmer of hope. A study published in Geophysical Research Letters in December says vegetated wetlands with high tidal ranges—remaining flooded for longer periods—and sediment concentration may survive sea level rise. The researchers …
The Gulf oil spill has ruined a vital stretch of feeding habitat for whale sharks -probably one of the world's largest fish, says a new research. Around 4.9 million barrels of oil (one barrel is equivalent to 159 litres) flowed into an area south of the Mississippi River Delta, where …
If the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon rig is not stopped soon it could be the final blow to an already dying Mississippi delta, environmentalists are warning. The slick from the BP well threatening the coastlines of four southern states has highlighted decades-old concerns …
Coast Guard officials were investigating reports on Friday morning that oil from a massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico had washed ashore overnight, threatening fisheries and wildlife in fragile marshes and islands along the Gulf Coast. Officials had not confirmed whether any tentacles of the oil slick had actually …
Houston: The US government intensified its response to a spreading oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, mobilising the military to try to avert an environmental disaster along the fragile coastline of Louisiana and three other Gulf states. President Barack Obama pledged on Thursday to
Deltas around the world are either eroding or have stopped progressing. Climate change, sea level rise, flood management measures take the blame. Since a delta is formed where a river meets a standing body of water, there is talk about diverting more water and sediments into the bay to save …
Bigger, higher and stronger levees cannot save New Orleans from the worst floods and the city remains vulnerable to a repeat of Hurricane Katrina, the National Academy of Sciences said on Friday. New Orleans had the flood protection of a 563 km (350-mile) network of levees, I-walls and T-walls ringing …
Rivers in some of the world's most populated regions are losing water, many because of climate change, researchers reported on Tuesday. Affected rivers include the Yellow River in northern China, the Ganges in India, the Niger in West Africa, and the Colorado in the southwestern United States. When added to …
John Schwartz A suit by some property owners who lost heavily during the hurricane claims that the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet channel was flawed in its design and that the flaws intensified the flood damage. A groundbreaking civil suit began in the federal court in New Orleans on Monday to …
Facing a lake covered by low-lying clouds, spiritual leader Arwa Viku burns leaves hoping that the smoke will carry his message, his voice mixing with the sound of waves lapping the grass-lined shore. Here in mountainous central Colombia, Viku's Arhuaca Indian tribe is concerned that the country's water supply is …
Soaring above the Mississippi River just east of downtown Minneapolis is one remarkable concrete job. There on Interstate 35W, the St Anthony Falls Bridge carries 10 lanes of traffic on box girders borne by massive arching piers, which are supported, in turn, by footings and deep pilings. The bridge, built …
