In 2022, California built an emergency drought barrier across the West False River near Oakley to protect against saltwater intrusion.
AP Photo/Terry Chea
Saltwater intrusion is bad for human health, ecosystems, crops and infrastructure. Here’s how seawater can move inland, and why climate change is making this phenomenon more frequent and severe.
The Carlsbad Desalination Plant in Southern California is the largest such plant in the Western Hemisphere, providing 50 million gallons of desalinated seawater per day.
Reed Kaestner via Getty Images
Nearly 97% of the world’s water is in the oceans, but desalination is no magic bullet for water-stressed coastal cities.
Inge Johnsson/Alamy Stock Photo
Climate change is strengthening the division between the ocean surface and the abyss.
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From capturing fog to towing icebergs, these technologies could help reduce water shortages.
LARINE STATHAM/AAP
The review examined hundreds of studies and concluded the lower Murray should remain a freshwater ecosystem, or severe environmental and economic damage will result.
CT scan of a catshark hatchling head. Note the ridged scales.
Rory Cooper, Kyle Martin & Amin Garbout/Natural History Museum London
Shark skin is composed of millions of tiny scales, which have a similar chemical composition to human teeth.
Grant Elliott/Unsplash.
The salt in the sea has built up over billions of years – but it wouldn’t have got there without freshwater rivers and streams.
I’m parched as.
Nick Harris/Flickr.
Fish that live in the sea have found amazing ways to control the amount of water and salt in their bodies, and stay hydrated.
Spraying salt onto roads is a safety measure.
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When it snows, it pours – but why do municipalities treat the roads with salt? A chemist explains how salt affects water and ice.
Where do the ocean waters that wash the Gold Coast come from?
Flickr/LJ Mears
If you’ve ever wondered where the ocean currents flow around Australia’s coastline then we have a great map for you.
Cancer pagurus, the edible crab.
davemhuntphotography/Shutterstock
New research shows how two types of common UK crabs will respond to increasing carbon dioxide and seawater dilution.
Salt water is fun to swim in – but it also carries the electrical signals vital for life.
Raphael Nogueira/Unsplash
We take salt water for granted, and often overlook how important it is for our own lives and in sustaining a healthy planet.
Rising waters: Paris, January 29, 2018.
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It was the Seine’s rise and fall, in response to heavy rain, that inspired our current understanding of river systems.
Eastern ice.
Shutterstock/Hall
Warm waters run very deep.
Kelp forests in South Africa are thriving but the marine life relying on it aren’t.
Steven Benjamin
Climate change affects kelp forests all over the world differently. In southern Africa, they seem to be thriving which should be good news. The marine life relying on kelp, are however struggling.
Bathing in the Dead Sea has long been used to treat psoriasis.
leiris202/Flickr
Seawater has been used to treat skin problems, sinuses and mental health issues for centuries. And the evidence largely stacks up.
Seawater could be used to fuel naval ships, replacing the need for oil-based jet fuel. Using metal catalytic converters in…
The acidity of Antarctic seawater has risen dramatically, new research shows. The study, published in The Journal of Marine…