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Articles on Freshwater

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It’s not just climate – we’ve already breached most of the Earth’s limits. A safer, fairer future means treading lightly

We’ve blown past the safe and just limit for vital Earth systems, from climate change to the biosphere and the use of fertilisers and freshwater. For humans to thrive means living in safe limits
Roads require de-icing strategies in northern regions, but this practice has negative effects on aquatic biodiversity.

Freshwater ecosystems are becoming increasingly salty. Here’s why this is a concern

Although it has been considerably less studied than other environmental problems, salinization presents major challenges for biodiversity in freshwater and coastal areas.
A paddler launches a canoe on Bass Lake in central Ontario on Canada Day, 2021. Could humble Canada be heading towards superpower status in the decades to come? THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Thornhill

Canada, a superpower? Here’s how the country might one day fit the bill

In 1776, with a population of 2.5 million, few imagined that within two centuries, the U.S. would become the dominant superpower. It’s not inconceivable that Canada could do the same by 2223.
Heavy rain from a series of atmospheric rivers flooded large parts of California from late December 2022 into early January 2023. Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

How California could save up its rain to ease future droughts — instead of watching epic atmospheric river rainfall drain into the Pacific

Urban infrastructure was designed to take stormwater out to the ocean quickly. Now, California needs that precious water.
Studying the impacts of climate and landscape stressors on freshwater biodiversity can only help find more strategic solutions when conducted in the messy, yet realistic, outdoor environment. (Shutterstock)

The use of natural outdoor laboratories can reduce threats to freshwater biodiversity

Governments, industrial and development companies and scientists need to take a leading role in finding strategic solutions to the cumulative threats impacting our freshwater ecosystems.
Hundreds of freshwater basins across the world, including the dried-up Santa Olalla permanent freshwater lagoon, in Spain’s Doñana National Park, are the most likely to experience social and ecological impacts due to freshwater use. (Donana Biological Station/CSIC)

Ripple effect: As global freshwater basins dry up, the threat to ecosystems and communities grows

While we know how global changes in freshwater pose risks to humans and ecosystems, we know less about how people and ecosystems will respond to these global freshwater challenges.
Environmental DNA is a promising tool for tracking species in freshwater ecosystems like Oregon’s Elkhorn Creek. Greg Shine, BLM/Flickr

Scientists at work: We use environmental DNA to monitor how human activities affect life in rivers and streams

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.

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