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
Rising concern about possible environmental damage from the active ingredients in sunscreens could have ripple effects on public health if it causes people to use less of them.
Maywood Riverfront Park was built on the site of eight former industrial properties in Los Angeles County.
Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Climate change is colliding with old factory sites where soil or water contamination still exist, and the most vulnerable populations are particularly at risk.
Satellite photo of an algal bloom in western Lake Erie, July 28, 2015.
NASA Earth Observatory
Donald Boesch, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science dan Donald Scavia, University of Michigan
Nutrient pollution fouls lakes and bays with algae, killing fish and threatening public health. Progress curbing it has been slow, mainly because of farm pollution.
Plastic waste from land based sources pollute the beaches and other water bodies.
Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via GettyImages
Belfast needs to rid its infrastructure of lead water pipes and raise public awareness of the serious health issues caused by excess levels of lead in the water.
Cleaning up the Great Lakes was a big job when the US and Canada undertook it in 1972. Today it’s far more challenging.
Maria Khoza collecting water from the City of Tshwane municipality after a short closure of the a treatment plant caused by a sewage leakage in 2019.
Phill Magakoe/AFP/GettyImages
Laboratory studies suggest sunscreen chemicals are dangerous to coral reefs. But in real world conditions, that’s not true. Bleaching must have another cause.
For the opening of the One Ocean Summit in Brest from February 9 to 11, 2022, France’s marine research institute looks at promising avenues of research to protect the planet’s largest ecosystem.
Wildfire smoke contains a mixture of toxic pollutants that can be harmful to both the lungs and the brain.
Bloomberg Creative/ Bloomberg Creative Photos via Getty Images
Pollution from more frequent floods and wildfires – exacerbated by the warming climate – is threatening human health and poses particular risks to the brain.
Oiled sand in Huntington Beach, Calif., after a 126,000-gallon spill from an offshore oil pipeline.
Nick Ut/Getty Images
Offshore oil drilling has a long history in California, but is highly unpopular today. The latest major spill is likely to fuel efforts to wind down oil and gas production statewide.
Environmental DNA is a promising tool for tracking species in freshwater ecosystems like Oregon’s Elkhorn Creek.
Greg Shine, BLM/Flickr
Rivers are among the most embattled ecosystems on Earth. Researchers are testing a new, inexpensive way to study river health by using eDNA to count the species that rivers harbor.
The remarkably resilient structure is in good health, for now. But work is needed to ensure it is preserved for future generations.
Organic vegetables at the Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens, Goleta, Calif.
Citizen of the Planet/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Four out of five Americans regularly buy some kind of organic food. An expert on the industry says more federal support could greatly expand organic farming and its environmental benefits.