Mar 28 New cousin of El Niño may forecast summer heat waves months in advance By Nsikan Akpan A new climate model, based on a cauldron of Pacific ocean water, may soon be able to predict heat waves 7 weeks before they happen. Continue reading
Dec 30 Watch 5:26 News Wrap: Deadly flooding overwhelms in Missouri, Illinois By PBS News Hour In our news wrap Wednesday, the rising Mississippi River and its tributaries have overwhelmed towns across parts of Missouri and Illinois. At least 20 people have been killed in the region and flood waters are expected to hit record levels. Continue watching
Dec 29 Watch 8:06 How Puerto Rico is coping with the worst drought in decades By PBS News Hour The tropical island of Puerto Rico has been scrambling for a precious resource: clean, fresh water. Puerto Ricans have faced the worst drought in more than 20 years and the most stringent water rationing ever imposed. Special correspondent Chris Bury… Continue watching
Dec 21 Watch 6:28 Lost history treasures revealed as waters recede in Nevada By PBS News Hour The devastating drought that has ravaged the West has had an upside: it has made never-before-seen sights accessible. At Lake Mead in Nevada, recreational history hunters can now dive to see a B-29 bomber, and as special correspondent Sandra Hughes… Continue watching
Nov 26 Watch 4:17 Is it possible to build 'meat' out of plant protein? By PBS News Hour Americans eat three times the world average of beef each year. However, with each pound requiring more than 50 gallons of water, producers in drought-stricken California are looking to find other ways to get protein into our diets. Dr. James… Continue watching
Nov 03 Watch 8:04 To build or not to build, that's the dam question in dry California By PBS News Hour Across California, after years of punishing drought, reservoirs that normally fill canals and make crops bloom are greatly depleted or even empty. Some say that getting more water into storage by building more dams is key. But dams also create… Continue watching
Nov 03 Why dams are at the heart of California's water wars By Spencer Michels I’ve been covering California water issues a long time. As the years have gone by, the water wars have ebbed and flowed. Mostly flowed. Continue reading
Oct 31 Watch 9:46 Is desalination the future of drought relief in California? By PBS News Hour San Diego is set to soon start supplying itself with millions of gallons a day of fresh, drinkable water, using saltwater from the Pacific Ocean, converted by a brand new desalination plant. As California's historic drought continues, the plant will… Continue watching
Oct 14 Watch 5:50 California's water-starved sequoias show signs of stress By PBS News Hour California's giant sequoias are special. These massive trees stretch hundreds of feet and live for thousands of years. But they are also being stressed: requiring an enormous amount of water, they are showing signs of suffering through the state's historic… Continue watching
Oct 07 Watch 6:43 As drought-desperate California sinks, the risk of flood is rising By PBS News Hour California is sinking, and sinking fast. As desperate farmers have turned to drilling to keep their crops green, the removal of groundwater is making the land settle inches lower at a sharp pace. In the Central Valley, that geological drop… Continue watching