water – Page 2 – envirobites

Friday, April 26, 2024

Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products Alter Lake Food Webs

July 12, 2019 Brittany Maule 0 Comments algae, emerging contaminants, lakes, water

The pharmaceutical and personal care products we use daily enter aquatic environments. Phytoplankton, or microscopic algae, are important pieces of the aquatic food chain. Phytoplankton exposed to pharmaceutical and personal care products in two Norwegian lakes responded quickly and dramatically – altering their community structure. The effects of these compounds on phytoplankton suggest these compounds have the potential to alter the food webs of entire aquatic ecosystems.

Environmental Science

Microplastics take flight—how mosquitoes move microscopic pollutants from water to land

April 23, 2019September 16, 2022 Kara Cromwell 0 Comments Ecology, environmental health, plastic pollution, Pollution, water

Discarded plastics aren’t only disrupting the ocean, they accumulate in freshwaters too. And the impacts may not end there. Aquatic insects eat microplastics and, when they become adults, carry the polluting particles from water onto land and potentially into the stomachs of their predators.

Environmental Science

White water in the swamp: The success of the Bonnet Carré in controlling the Mississippi River

March 27, 2019September 12, 2022 Mary Grace Lemon 0 Comments floods, water

“Why are there rapids in the cypress swamp?”, I ask myself. It is a weird scene. White water is tumbling through the cypress forest out towards Lake Pontchartrain from the southwest, traversing a completely flat landscape. A strong current tears out under the bridge into the lake. “That would be a fun kayak,” I think. I am cruising down Interstate 10 right where it touches the edge of the lake just upriver from New Orleans. I quickly remember that the Army Corps of Engineers opened the Bonnet Carré Spillway. Again.

Climate Environmental Science

How the Driest Regions on the Planet Add to Sea Level Rise

March 25, 2019September 12, 2022 Alina Spera 0 Comments Climate Change, sea level rise, water

Terrestrial water loss is a major contributor to water stress around the world. Areas that are hydrologically isolated tend to lose water twice as fast as other regions. But where does that water go? New evidence is showing that water from the driest regions on the planet may have a consequential impact on global sea level rise.

Cities Climate Environmental Science

Pave Paradise and Put up a …Desert?

March 19, 2019September 9, 2022 E.M.B. Doran 0 Comments urban, urban development, water

As the song goes, “you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone; they paved paradise, and put up a parking lot.” (Joni Mitchell). Now, what if, instead of a parking lot, they paved a mega-city?

Environmental Science Human Exposure and Public Health Toxicology

Down the drain: What man-made products are in our waterways?

March 11, 2019September 12, 2022 Brittany Maule 0 Comments Pollution, Wastewater, water, water quality

Humans use thousands of pharmaceutical and personal care products in any given day. What happens to these products after we use them? The unfortunate answer is that many of them end up in our waterways. Population size and land use may help us predict what products we can see in a waterbody. If we know what products are out there, we could better understand what effects these products can have on aquatic ecosystems and human health.