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Articles on Salinity

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Exposed lakebed at the Salton Sea on Dec. 29, 2022. RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Human actions created the Salton Sea, California’s largest lake – here’s how to save it from collapse, protecting wild birds and human health

Fifty years ago, the Salton Sea was a draw for boaters and fishermen; today it’s an ecological time bomb. Two water experts who served on a state review panel describe its proposed rescue plan.
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

Desalinating seawater sounds easy, but there are cheaper and more sustainable ways to meet people’s water needs

Nearly 97% of the world’s water is in the oceans, but desalination is no magic bullet for water-stressed coastal cities.
Grant Elliott/Unsplash.

Curious Kids: why is the sea salty?

The salt in the sea has built up over billions of years – but it wouldn’t have got there without freshwater rivers and streams.
Your salt intake from water can vary depending on where you live. Bryan Carlson/Unsplash

Your drinking water could be saltier than you think (even if you live in a capital)

Of Australia’s capital cities, Perth has the saltiest tap water, while Melbourne, Hobart, Darwin and Canberra have the least salty. And while all are within guidelines, the variation is striking.
What does it matter how much rain falls on the ocean? For understanding climate, it matters quite a lot. Ines Hegedus-Garcia

Are the world’s wet regions becoming wetter and dry regions becoming drier?

Surprising evidence from the oceans suggests they are responding to warming at a faster rate than we previously thought. These changes are expressed by patterns of freshening and enhanced salinity in the…
Scientists say the supply of freshwater in Australia could eventually be at risk. AAP/Linda Silmalis

Dry parts of the planet to get drier, wet parts wetter

The cycle of evaporation and rainfall over the past 50 years has intensified at twice the rate predicted by climate change models, according to a report by US and Australian scientists of ocean salt levels…
Our thinly spread efforts to prop up the environment are failing and it is time for tough decisions about what we can realistically preserve. Flickr/rexboggs5

Farms versus nature: how do we decide what to protect?

Australian farmers take pride in their efficient and productive farming systems, competing in the global economy and without many of the large subsidies given to their counterparts in Europe and North…

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