Water

Plastics break down over time into micro- and nanosized particles that litter our water and air.

One Liter of Bottled Water May Contain 240,000 Tiny Plastic Fragments

A new technique reveals that the liquid may contain 10 to 1000 times more plastic pieces than previously thought

Lake Michigan, pictured here in December 2022, had 0.1 percent ice cover on Jan. 1, 2024.

The Great Lakes Reached a Record Low for Ice Cover on New Year's Day

The 'extreme' lack of ice follows warm temperatures in December and calls attention to recent downward trends in ice coverage on the lakes

Keālia Pond National Wildlife Refuge

Could Climate Change Cause More Lakes to Turn Bright Pink?

While rosy-hued waters exist naturally around the world, a pond in Hawaii recently turned pink, and Australian scientists say the same could happen there

Maritime archaeologists suspect the wreck is the George L. Newman.

Father and Daughter Discover 152-Year-Old Shipwreck While Fishing in Green Bay

Tim and Henley Wollak found what is likely the wreck of the "George L. Newman," which sank during the Great Peshtigo Fire of 1871

Boat docks sit on dry, cracked earth at the Great Salt Lake's Antelope Island Marina on August 1, 2021.

Could a 550-Mile Pipeline From the Ocean Save the Great Salt Lake? Scientists Say Probably Not

New research suggests the electricity costs would exceed $300 million per year and carbon dioxide emissions could approach one million metric tons annually

A 14-inch goldfish (Carassius auratus) pulled from the Niagara River

Giant Goldfish Are Bad News for the Great Lakes

Researchers are tracking invasive goldfish—which, often, were once kept as pets—in Lake Ontario to determine how best to manage them

Because St. Lucie's hull was raised and repaired, the anchor is all the remains from the 1906 wreck.

Anchor From 1906 Shipwreck Found in Florida

The steamship "St. Lucie" went down in a hurricane, killing 26 passengers on board

The jawbone likely belonged to a Columbian mammoth.

Fossil Hunter Pulls Massive Mammoth Jawbone Out of Florida River

John Kreatsoulas, who made the discovery while diving in southwest Florida, initially thought the 60-pound mandible was a log

The S.S. Dix was part of the "Mosquito Fleet" of vessels that ferried passengers around Puget Sound.

117-Year-Old Shipwreck Found in Puget Sound

The S.S. Dix went down while ferrying passengers between Seattle and Bainbridge Island

Flag design finalist submission F2100

See the Top Contenders for the New Minnesota State Flag

Picked from more than 2,600 submissions, the finalists pay homage to the state's motto and nickname

An oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Officials spotted an oil slick three to four miles wide off the coast of Louisiana last Thursday.

Oil Spill Dumps as Much as 1.1 Million Gallons Into Gulf of Mexico, Raising Concerns About Wildlife

The U.S. Coast Guard is still searching for the specific source of the leak, which occurred last week

Crews used armor-plated excavators while working on the riverbed in case they came across unexploded ordnances.

Civil War Weapons Recovered From South Carolina's Congaree River

Union troops tossed Confederate munitions and supplies into the waterway after taking Columbia in February 1865

After several attempts to dolphin-proof the bait, the team finally figured out a solution: a mesh bait pouch.

Watch Dolphins Outsmart Crab Traps in First-Ever Footage

Bottlenose dolphins in Australia have been snatching fish used to bait crabs—and adapting to fishers' attempts to thwart them

AmaWaterways' first Black heritage river cruise took place in August on the Rhône River in France.

These New River Cruises Celebrate Black History and Culture Around the World

On the heels of its first sold-out Black heritage cruise in August, AmaWaterways is unveiling new trips in France, Portugal, Egypt and beyond

Tamarix aphylla can survive in salty environments by excreting saline water from its leaves.

This Desert Plant's Salty 'Sweat' Can Collect Water From the Air

The athel tamarisk's hydration trick could improve on human techniques to harvest water in dry environments, researchers say

Italian officials suspect they recovered between 30,000 and 50,000 bronze coins.

Divers Discover Tens of Thousands of Ancient Coins Off the Coast of Italy

Their fourth-century find also hints at the possible presence of a shipwreck hidden nearby

Jurassic lampreys help bridge the evolutionary gap between the earliest lampreys and those species still alive today.

These Large, Flesh-Eating Lampreys Lived 160 Million Years Ago

Paleontologists in China recently unearthed the fossilized remains of two new species of lamprey, a group of jawless fish that dates back 360 million years

The Africa disappeared on Lake Huron in October 1895.

Filmmakers Stumble Upon 128-Year-Old Shipwreck in Lake Huron

A duo working on a documentary about invasive quagga mussels in the Great Lakes discovered the long-lost steamship "Africa"

A historic drought in the Amazon has revealed faces carved in the rocky banks of the Rio Negro in Brazil.

Drought Exposes Ancient Rock Carvings in Brazil

Revealed by receding Amazon waters, the carvings of human faces are up to 2,000 years old

Alaska canceled its snow crab harvest for two seasons in a row.

Why Ten Billion Snow Crabs Disappeared Off the Coast of Alaska

The unprecedented die-off represents roughly 90 percent of the eastern Bering Sea population

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