 | | The New York City skyline and the Hudson River. Photo © J. Carl Ganter / Circle of Blue
This election season, Americans voted on local and state infrastructure spending and environmental protections. |
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A movement to enshrine individual rights to clean air and water in state constitutions received a boost yesterday.
By a large majority, New York voters approved the addition of an environmental rights amendment to their state constitution.
Nearly 61 percent of voters endorsed the inclusion of new language in the state Bill of Rights. That foundational document will now protect the right to “clean air and water, and a healthful environment.”
High-profile water-related issues were also on the ballot in Maine, Boise, and Virginia Beach.
Read our full coverage of Election Day here. |
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| HotSpots H2O: The Philippines’ Largest Wetland Faces Prospect of Drilling
The vast oil and gas reserves that lie beneath the surface of the Liguasan marsh has remained untapped. But that might soon change.
The marsh, located on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, is a flourishing ecosystem. War has racked the island since the 1970s, amid the decades-long conflict between the Philippine government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Now, having gained its status as an autonomous region, the fledgling Bangsamoro government has invited investors to drill under the marsh for fossil fuels.
The situation crystallizes several conundrums of global development: the plight of Indigenous communities, the often conflicting imperatives of economic stability and ecosystem preservation, and the temptation that planet-warming fossil fuels present for impoverished areas. |
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| What’s Up With Water – November 1, 2021 For the news you need to start the week, tune into “What’s Up With Water” fresh on Monday’s on iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, and SoundCloud. Featured coverage from this week's episode of What's Up With Water looks at: - In international news, this week marks the start of a critical UN climate conference, known as COP26. Leaders meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, have three main issues on the agenda.
- In the Nile River basin last week, a political power shift in Sudan could turn up the heat on a long-simmering dispute over a major dam in the region.
- In the United States, it’s election week, and Circle of Blue reports on state and local ballot measures related to water.
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| From Circle of Blue's Archives: |
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 | | Photo © Lester Graham, Michigan Radio |
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Earlier this year, scientists aboard the R.V. Lake Guardian were taking samples and measurements of the Great Lakes.
One trend they observed, the warming climate, could mean changes for the base of the food web in the lakes. But the researchers are not yet sure what those changes might be.
One thing scientists are finding is changes in diatom populations. Diatoms are microscopic algae. Tiny organisms called zooplankton and some just-hatched fish like to eat diatoms. Those little fish either grow up or they’re eaten by bigger fish, the kinds people like to eat.
Algae such as diatoms are sensitive to water quality changes. The Great Lakes National Program Offices says diatoms can serve as the first indicators of nutrient and contaminant changes such as phosphorous runoff from farm fields and lawns. Some researchers believe that climate change may lower the productivity diatoms and other organisms lower in the food web.
This piece was originally published by Michigan Radio as part of the Great Lakes News Collaborative. In the "Ready or Not" series, members of the Great Lakes News Collaborative explore what it may take to prepare the Great Lakes region for the future climatologists say we can expect.
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