Natural vegetation and irrigated farmland along the Snake River Plain in Idaho use dramatically different amounts of water during the growing season.
Published Jan 26, 2010The fast-growing city has polluted waterways and a growing demand for clean tap water.
Published Apr 11, 2017A new study found that the abundance of these floating plants has increased due to urbanization.
Published Sep 2, 2020An arid region grew even drier between 2003 and 2009 due to human consumption of water for drinking and agriculture.
Published Mar 13, 2013It takes thousands of years for rainwater to seep deep underground, warm up, and return to the surface before bathers can enjoy it in Arkansas.
Published Apr 23, 2014For more than 100 years, groups in the western United States have fought over water. During the 1880s, sheep ranchers and cattle ranchers argued over drinking water for their livestock on the high plains. In 1913, the city of Los Angeles began to draw water away from small agricultural communities in Owen Valley, leaving a dusty dry lake bed. In the late 1950s, construction of the Glen Canyon Dam catalyzed the American environmental movement. Today, farmers are fighting fishermen, environmentalists, and Native American tribes over the water in the Upper Klamath River Basin. The Landsat 7 satellite, launched by NASA and operated by the U.S. Geological Survey, documented an extreme drought in the area along the California/Oregon border in the spring of 2001.
Published Sep 8, 2001The tiny amount of water vapor in our atmosphere has an outsized influence on the planet as a potent greenhouse gas.
Published Oct 7, 2010The pitted appearance of the karst topography in Coatia’s Biokovo Range is highlighted by early morning sunlight in this astronaut photograph from December 29, 2008.
Published Feb 2, 2009Underground channels have supplied towns in southeastern Morocco for centuries.
Published Nov 19, 2016Yellowstone National Park’s Old Faithful Geyser erupts so reliably—every hour on the hour—you can set your watch by it. So goes the legend, but it’s not true.
Published Nov 30, 2008