Water & Oceans

"United Nations members gather Monday in New York to resume efforts to forge a long-awaited and elusive treaty to safeguard the world’s marine biodiversity."

"Those melancholy tunes sung by humpback whales may really be a sign of loneliness. Scientists who tracked humpback whales in Australia noticed that fewer whales wailed to find mates as their population grew."

"The wet winter, cutbacks in releases from Glen Canyon Dam and proposals from states to reduce demand aren’t enough to stem the reservoir’s decline, leading some activists to advise phasing it out."

"Don’t look now, but the divided Congress could pass a major climate change bill."

"In the midst of an unusually warm winter across much of the northern United States and southern Canada, the Great Lakes now have the least ice cover on record for the middle of February, which is typically when the ice begins to reach its maximum extent for the season."

"A group of 24 Republican-led states is suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to try to knock down a rule governing which waters get federal protections."

"A visit to East Palestine from the head of the E.P.A. and a White House pledge to lend more support were met with skepticism in the community."

"Against the backdrop of a severe drought linked with global warming, conservation advocates and Native Americans in California are calling for a temporary emergency stop to all surface water diversions from Mono Lake, contending that continuing to drain the watershed, along with the long-term drought, threaten critical ecosystems, as well as the Kootzaduka’a tribe’s cultural connection with the lake."

"The amount of floating sea ice encircling Antarctica reached the lowest level ever recorded, scientists reported Tuesday, a sign that one of the most remote and mysterious facets of the climate system may, at last, be responding to the overall planetary warming trend."