Chasing Waterfalls
Waterfalls are the purview of unicorns and rainbows. But the magic isn’t all fantasy. New experiments are shedding light on how some waterfalls form.
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Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products Alter Lake Food Webs
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.
Read MoreMicroplastics take flight—how mosquitoes move microscopic pollutants from water to land
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.
Read MoreWhite water in the swamp: The success of the Bonnet Carré in controlling the Mississippi River
“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.
Read MoreHow the Driest Regions on the Planet Add to Sea Level Rise
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.
Read MorePave Paradise and Put up a …Desert?
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?
Read MoreDown the drain: What man-made products are in our waterways?
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.
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