Rivers

Clearbot, a Hong Kong-based marine technology startup plans to launch a cutting-edge fleet of larger solar-powered autonomous boats that can clean up river and ocean pollution in Indian rivers In a bid to tackle the…

California National Guard Soldiers support local first responders in rescue operations due to flooding in Monterey County, California, March 11, 2023. Credit: 1-184 Infantry Regiment, California National Guard In December 1861, intense rainfall began pounding central California, thrashing the state for the next 43 days. The rain, which scientists now think was caused by atmospheric rivers, killed thousands of people and…

River, an Indian startup manufacturing electric two-wheelers, has raised $40 million in a funding round led by Japan’s Yamaha Motor as the nearly three-year-old startup looks to increase R&D spending and expand the market presence of its first electric ‘SUV’ two-wheeler in India. The all-equity Series B round also saw participation from startup’s existing investors, including Futtaim Automotive, Lowercarbon Capital, Toyota Ventures, Trucks VC and Maniv Mobility. With the latest funding, the startup has…

February 1, 20244 min readThough atmospheric river storms are dreaded for the damage they can cause, they are also essential to the western U.S.’s water supply, particularly in CaliforniaBy Qian Cao & The Conversation USA satellite image shows a powerful atmospheric river hitting the U.S. West Coast on Jan. 31, 2024. The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research.Millions of people were under flood alerts and winter storm warnings on Jan. 31…

Satellite image of Tukpahlearik Creek captured on July 23, 2023, by the Operational Land Imager-2 on Landsat 9,In Alaska, streams are turning orange as permafrost thaws.Scientists are keenly aware that losing permafrost—the year-round frozen ground prevalent across the Arctic—generally does not bode well for the planet’s future. The thawing of this frozen layer releases the potent greenhouse gas methane, thereby feeding more warming and thawing, while also destabilizing the ground and potentially letting loose dormant…

A new report by the U.S. branch of the non-profit Environmental Investigation Agency says that investment interest and government tax incentives are fuelling intense mining exploration in remote northern B.C. — raising concerns about the environmental impacts of the work and its financial implications.The report focuses on the transboundary region, which falls along the border between the Alaska panhandle and the province of B.C. Much of this exploration is focused on the so-called Golden Triangle, which in many areas is…

A flooded street in Merced County in California on Jan. 11, 2023. Credit: Andrew Innerarity / California Department of Water Resources Early in 2023, a series of storms dumped record-breaking amounts of rain and snow across California. Flooding, power outages, and mudslides from the deluge resulted in 21 deaths and more than $3 billion in losses. The…

Small wooden tree-mounted boxes for bats are an increasingly common sight in B.C.'s urban parks, often resembling birdhouses except with entrances underneath.After a string of tragedies near bat boxes, B.C. scientists teamed up to investigate.What they learned over four years, they say, has changed how we should be building summertime homes for mother bats and their pups, with the species' survival at stake."For them to to raise that young they need just-right temperatures to do so," explained study co-author Cori Lausen.…

When a toilet is flushed in California, the water can end up in a lot of places: An ice skating rink near Disneyland, ski slopes around Lake Tahoe, farmland in the Central Valley.And — coming soon — kitchen faucets.California regulators on Tuesday approved new rules to let water agencies recycle wastewater and put it right back into the pipes that carry drinking water to homes, schools and businesses.It's a big step for a state that has struggled for decades to secure reliable sources of drinking water for its more than…

University of Manitoba research computer analyst Wayne Chan holds a copy of the Silk Dress cryptogram. (Trevor Brine/CBC)"Bismark Omit leafage buck bank."That seemingly random string of words appears in something called the Silk Dress cryptogram, 23 handwritten lines on two sheets of crinkled paper that were discovered in a hidden pocket of a Victorian-era dress bought in Maine in 2013. The lines seemed like an encoded message from the late 1800s, with references to North American cities, including Calgary and…