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"The vast majority of fishing vessels follow the rules governing fishing – but many are not, and these bad actors can cause a lot of damage. Vessels may take too many fish – overfishing – which is causing our fisheries to collapse. Then there is the problem of illegal fishing, which can occur in protected areas, in another country’s waters or on the high seas. This threatens jobs and food security for millions of people, all around the world.
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"The Last of the Free Seas is the title of this fantastic map of the Great Lakes made by Boris Artzbasheff. It was published in Fortune Magazine in July 1940." Via Ben Salve
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"It’s no secret that the Great Lakes are suffering tremendous ecological strain — Lake Erie was even pronounced “dead” for a time during the 1960s because of an overload of phosphorus from municipal waste. Back in 1615, though, when the entire region was pristine and explorers Samuel de Champlain and Étienne Brûlé gazed out together from Lake Huron’s shores, they dubbed it la mer douce, 'the sweet sea.' Today roughly one-quarter of Canada’s population and a 10th of America’s population drink from the Great Lakes basin; the beleaguered lakes alone hold more than a fifth of Earth’s freshwater." Via Mike Busarello's Digital Storybooks
Lou Salza's curator insight,
April 15, 2017 11:52 AM
These lakes are a tremendous resource, not only for the region but the nation as well. They need our attention and protection.-Lou 
Nicole Canova's curator insight,
February 8, 2018 9:58 PM
It is amazing, in a sad way, to see how in just four centuries these lakes have gone from "la mer douce" to "dead." This map is a reminder of the damage humans do to the environment on a daily basis, and of the importance of protecting our natural resources. Considering the fact that these lakes hold roughly one fifth of all of the fresh water on the planet and provide drinking water for millions of people in both the U.S. and Canada, we need to think about the impact we have on the world around us and how that impact can come back to bite us on the rear end.
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Today, to the southeast of Block Island, there are five new structures rising from the ocean. These are the towers of the Block Island Wind Farm (BIWF), the first offshore wind energy installation in the United States. The turbines will generate 30 megawatts of energy; providing electricity to 17,000 households on Block Island and coastal Rhode Island (McCann, 2016), and replacing the diesel generators that previously powered New Shoreham. The turbines are on schedule to begin turning in November 2016 once commissioning is complete.
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One of the driest countries on Earth now makes more freshwater than it needs
Driven by necessity, Israel is learning to squeeze more out of a drop of water than any country on Earth; researchers have pioneered new techniques in drip irrigation, water treatment and desalination. “The Middle East is drying up,” says Osnat Gillor, a professor at the Zuckerberg Institute who studies the use of recycled wastewater on crops. “The only country that isn’t suffering acute water stress is Israel.” That water stress has been a major factor in the turmoil tearing apart the Middle East, but Bar-Zeev believes that Israel’s solutions can help its parched neighbors, too — and in the process, bring together old enemies in common cause.
Tags: drought, water, environment, Israel, technology, Middle East. Via Mike Busarello's Digital Storybooks
Ivan Ius's curator insight,
February 5, 2017 5:03 PM
Geographic Concepts: Spatial Significance, Geographic Perspective
brielle blais's curator insight,
April 1, 2018 4:16 PM
This connects to the physical geography of Israel as it was once incredibly dry, facing a decade long drought. This ruined the agriculture sector of their economy as well, along with changing the people's way of life. However, desalination has saved the country, and Israel really had no other choice. Instead, the country is now a water giant, and has an overabundance through new technologies.
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"The Ballena Marine National Park is located in Puntarenas, at the South Pacific coast of Costa Rica."
Alexander peters's curator insight,
October 24, 2016 12:23 PM
This article was about the whale and how they were repopulating and how the whale hunting was banned in the 70s. I think this article was really good because use it talked about whales.
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"The depths below the ocean’s surface comprise a staggering 95 percent of the Earth’s living space, and much of it is unexplored by humans. To put into perspective just how deep the oceans go, this XKCD comic, (hi-res image). Most of the ocean doesn’t even see sunlight. Even scientists aren’t familiar with everything that’s down there."
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Global warming has raised global sea level about 8" since 1880, and the rate of rise is accelerating. Rising seas dramatically increase the odds of damaging floods from storm surges.
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Most of the 1,000 or so Marshall Islands, spread out over 29 narrow coral atolls in the South Pacific, are less than six feet above sea level — and few are more than a mile wide. For the Marshallese, the destructive power of the rising seas is already an inescapable part of daily life. Changing global trade winds have raised sea levels in the South Pacific about a foot over the past 30 years, faster than elsewhere. Scientists are studying whether those changing trade winds have anything to do with climate change. Via Ben Salve
brielle blais's curator insight,
April 26, 2018 11:45 AM
This post shows how climate change is currently impacting small island nations such as the Marshall Islands. Pacific Sea waters are rising and driving families out of their homes. It is changing the entire physical geography of the land. It is also changing the political climate between different nations as the battle over climate control continues and countries react in different ways to ideas and suggestions, or even laws stating nations like the United States would have to pay money to help those other countries being flooded.
David Stiger's curator insight,
December 7, 2018 11:00 AM
Catastrophic property destruction from sea level rising is (at this point in time) inevitable. A number of Islands that serve as homes for hundreds of thousands of people will be devastated and most likely destroyed. These spots will become uninhabitable and dangerous. The Marshall Islands is just one area that will suffer this fate. Trying to save the islands is a moot point. What is now needed is a discussion about ethics and fiscal responsibility. Industrialized and developed nations led the way in destroying parts of the planet and should be held accountable. To become wealthy, these affluent nations collectively sacrificed the world's fragile environment. With this understanding, people of the Marshall Islands should be given a new home and compensation for their losses. Fortunately, the United States has a deal with the Marshall Islands to allow people to immigrate to the U.S. While this is a good start, these people will require job training, education, homes, transportation, and funds to rebuild their lives. Instead of spending massive amounts of tax dollars on military and defense budgets, Congress needs to reassess its values and priorities. By committing to ethical and noble leadership, the U.S. will have more international prestige and leverage to build defense coalitions and negotiate through diplomatic means. An immense single-nation military-industrial complex will be less relevant. By reducing military spending, this country can address problems like the sinking Marshall Islands and our nation's energy needs. How would it look if the U.S. became a true champion of justice and a despotic nation like China attacked the U.S.? The world would be outraged. The U.N. would condemn the aggressor. Alliances could step forward, allowing America to step back as the world police officer which no one ever asked us to be. 
Stevie-Rae Wood's curator insight,
December 9, 2018 11:03 PM
Islands are already at a disadvantage of losing land for a few reasons. First the fact that the older the island gets the more corroding that takes place under the sea. Another reason is they are in the middle of no where so relocation is not easy, costly and not many countries these days are willing to take people in. The Marshall islands like I am sure many other islands are facing in recent years is global warming causing sea levels to rise. So know they have another reason to worry about losing lands. The global warming that takes place on earth never effects the contributors, it almost always effects the little guys who cannot doing anything to fight back. They just get to watch there homes be destroyed because of big time nations. More attention needs to be brought to the subject of global warming and everything and one who is negatively effected by it. What if we were in there shoes, we surely would change our ways then.
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Record heat, fading ice, and rising seas show how climate change is affecting us. But there’s new hope we can cool the planet. Here’s how.
Tony Hall's curator insight,
October 30, 2015 2:21 AM
This is a very good resource on climate change. Well worth having a look:) 
John Puchein's curator insight,
November 6, 2015 7:30 AM
This site is great to show evidence of climate change. It has various sites with videos and articles. The interactive is organized to answer these main questions: How do we know it’s happening?How do we fix it?How do we live with it?
Sarah Cannon's curator insight,
November 25, 2015 10:15 AM
There is too much talk about helping the climate and environment. All politicians do is talk about cleaning the environment and having less pollution. Even Al Gore is big talk. I've only heard of little change. I want to see a difference. I want to see people actually doing things to help the environment. Enough talk. What should happen is a world wide clean up. Jobs should be created where people should clean in their own community. Its a simple job. Get a trash bag, get off your lazy butts, get out of the house, get a group together (who would be paid by the state) to pick trash up off the streets, beaches, trails in the woods, baseball fields, parks. This isn't hard to do. Not just one person, but if a group of people can come together and be employed by their state to clean their community, at least four days a week. There should also be a group of people, even fisherman to clean the ocean, go out and get what ever trash you can find. Using nets, and if fish are caught, throw them back in the ocean. Also, Trash Island has to be eliminated. It boggles my mind that who ever passed the law on trash being dumped into the ocean an Okay to do. Are you kidding me?? What is wrong with you? Our Earth is dying because of humanity. Also the oil spill that happened in 2012, I believe, I saw a man on the news that created a way to capture the oil floating on the surface of the ocean with a blanket like material, sure it would take a lot of those "blankets" but at least it would be helping to rid the ocean from oil. What are people thinking?? that the oil will just disappear?? Are you serious? So many people really have to open their minds. Look at what's happening you ignorant selfish fools. I will finish my rant right here.
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A 16th century church has emerged from the receding waters of the Nezahualcoyotl reservoir in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. This is the second time water levels have dropped low enough to reveal the church since the reservoir was completed in 1966.
Tags: drought, Mexico, water, environment, religion, culture, Christianity, colonialism, architecture, landscape. Via Mike Busarello's Digital Storybooks
Kelsey McIntosh's curator insight,
February 13, 2018 9:13 PM
In the Chiapas, Mexico there is a 16th century church that has been revealed due to the decrease in a reservoirs water level. This brief article is accompanied by pictures of the church that was abandoned in the 1770's do to the plague. According to the article, this is the second time the place of worship has been seen since 2002.
Olivia Campanella's curator insight,
September 19, 2018 10:53 AM
This 16th century church first emerged from the waters of the Nezahualcoyotl reservoir in the Southern Mexican state of the Chiapas. And since the reservoir was completed in 1966 with the waters dropping low enough to reveal the church for the 2nd time. The waters have dropped low enough in 2002 for people to actually walk inside and stand on.
Kelvis Hernandez's curator insight,
September 29, 2018 11:53 PM
"You go in the cage, cage goes in the water, you go in the water. Churches in the water, our church." At least I am pretty sure that's how the line from Steven Speilberg's 1975 thriller "Churches". This 16th-century church just emerged from the nezahualcoyotl reservoir in Mexico which hasn't occurred since 2002. The temple of Santiago was built by monks who came to Mexico around the late 16th century, but it was ultimately abandoned after being hit by the plague in 1773-1776. The drought in the area caused the water level to drop 82 feet. This being the second time water levels have revealed the church, in 2002 visitors were able to walk into the temple itself. 1
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This interactive map documents where 443 million people around the world get there water (although the United States data is by far the most extensive). Most people can't answer this question. A recent poll by The Nature Conservancy discoverd that 77% of Americans (not on private well water) don't know where their water comes from, they just drink it. This link has videos, infographics and suggestions to promote cleaner water. This is also a fabulous example of an embedded map using ArcGIS Online to share geospatial data with a wider audience.
Tags: GIS, water, fluvial, environment, ESRI, pollution, development, consumption, resources, mapping, environment depend, cartography, geospatial. Via GTANSW & ACT
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"The tiny Pacific nation of Tuvalu – once thought to be under threat from rising sea levels – has grown the size of California's Disneyland over the past 40 years. It's mostly thanks to waves dumping extra sediment, sand and gravel on shore lines, according to research by Auckland University scientists. The study, published in the Nature Communications journal on Friday, was the first in-depth look at how much each of Tuvalu's 101 islands have changed over the decades."
Tags: Oceania, water, coastal, environment, physical, geomorphology, erosion, geology, landforms.
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Henderson Island is isolated and uninhabited—but its beaches are still covered in garbage.
Henderson Island (article or podcast) is about the most remote place you can visit without leaving the planet. It sits squarely in the middle of the South Pacific, 3,500 miles from New Zealand in one direction and another 3,500 miles from South America in the other. Henderson should be pristine. It is uninhabited. Tourists don’t go there. There’s no one around to drop any litter. The whole place was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations in 1988. The nearest settlement is 71 miles away, and has just 40 people on it. And yet, seafaring plastic has turned it into yet another of humanity’s scrapheaps.
Tags: pollution, Oceania, water, environment, sustainability, consumption.
Katie Kershaw's curator insight,
April 26, 2018 1:49 PM
If I had looked at this picture without the context, I would think it was somewhere where people had stayed for a while and then left the place trashed with their own garbage. In reality, this is an island that is 3500 miles away from the nearest major settlement and doesn’t have any human inhabitants. This really exemplifies that even though plastic waste may not be in one’s backyard, it never truly goes away. Plastic is a material that cannot be broken down, so when it is dumped it just moves around until it hits land. The article pointed out that plastic is incredibly difficult to clean up, particularly on places like Henderson Island. When it floats in the ocean for a long time, it becomes brittle and breaks into very small fragments. Those small fragments then mix with the sand and get buried, making it impossible to get rid of. Another fact about this island that was shocking is that 3,750 pieces of litter wash up everyday, which is 100,000 times than other islands. Henderson Island is not suitable for humans to live on, as there is no freshwater, frequent storms, and incredibly sharp terrain. It is interesting that an island that keeps humans away can’t defend itself against plastic. The reach of humans extends far beyond what they imagine and even uninhabitable land is infested with human waste. No matter how remote a place is, it will still be effected by people.
David Stiger's curator insight,
December 5, 2018 12:08 PM
Although a remote place like Henderson Island is uninhabited, the amount of trash that blankets its shores should still be alarming to humans. It is highly visual evidence of the damage that human waste is having on the earth as a whole. If this much trash if landing on the shores of an island, which is surely degrading the environmental quality and ecosystem, then how much trash lies underneath the waves of our blue planet? This means that coral reefs, the source of fish, and ocean water that transforms into water vapor forming clouds is all contaminated. If something ends up in the oceans, it will eventually end up in our food chain. The marred beaches of Henderson Island illustrate what is happening to nature's cycles.
While human behavior is the driving force, we can also discern that another main culprit is a global culture of plastic. Humans use way too much plastic and its constant disposal is creating a toxic environment in which people live. It is not enough to say this is a tragic situation and forget about it. It is also not enough to examine one's own life and decide to reduce their personal plastic consumption. No, this is a systemic problem that runs deep in our modern societies. This requires mass political action. The photos and morbid stories serve as devices to inform people and have them feel something. It is up to people to demand policies and laws from both governments and corporations to change our ways. As the article stated, a cleanup of the island (and other islands) will be futile. The only thing to do is to mitigate the worst effects by cutting the problem at its source - the production of plastic. And, it has to be done on a global scale. Shifting away from plastic to a more environmentally friendly material will be difficult but not impossible. In this case, if there is a will there is a way. 
Corey Rogers's curator insight,
December 15, 2018 8:36 PM
It is sickening to see how a uninhabited island can still be ruined by human products. People need to realize that they are hurting more and more islands and need to open their eyes. With people so far away we can still effect ecosystems terribly.
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Hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled South Sudan to escape the civil war. When they arrive in Uganda, water is what they need most. Without it, they will die. Via GTANSW & ACT
Ivan Ius's curator insight,
April 8, 2017 11:49 PM
Geographic Thinking Concepts: Interrelationships; Geographic Perspective;
Seth Dixon's curator insight,
June 5, 2017 12:15 PM
Next to nothing in this video will make you happy about the way things operate for refugees in Northern Uganda who have fled from South Sudan. We all know the about the dire conditions that refugees face, but knowing about the specifics, and hearing stories from the refugees about their lives and living conditions is powerful. A huge influx of refugees can tax local resources, especially water. Food can be shipped in, but water a much more locally variable resource. The UN refugee camps recommend at least 15 liters of water per person be made available each day, but often it is more like 4-8 liters in these camps. Dedicated wells (or boreholes) are more effective, but costly. Trucking in water from the Nile River is the preferred method to simply keep these drowning people’s heads above water.
Questions to Ponder: Consider how much water you drink, use for cooking, bathing, etc. per day in your household. How difficult would it be to live on 4 liters of water a day? What about your lifestyle would be changed?
Tags: Africa, development, Uganda, South Sudan, migration, refugees, environment, water, environment depend, sustainability, resources.
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A costly plan to build floating islands shows how climate change is pushing the search for innovative solutions, but some critics ask who will ultimately benefit.
Ivan Ius's curator insight,
February 14, 2017 7:49 PM
Geographic Thinking Concepts: Patterns and Trends, Interrelationships, Geographic Perspective.
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"Watch salmon race across the road on their way to spawn; for more footage, watch this extended version."
GTANSW & ACT's curator insight,
December 17, 2016 11:45 PM
Sometimes the natural world finds ways to adapt to human environmental changes. Useful when studying inland water / rivers for the option study.
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Workers, including children, labor in harsh and dangerous conditions to meet the world’s soaring demand for cobalt, a mineral essential to powering electric vehicles, laptops, and smartphones, according to an investigation by The Washington Post. Via GTANSW & ACT
David G Tibbs's curator insight,
March 29, 2018 3:36 PM
We take the luxuries that we have for granite and forget where it comes from, or who pays the physical price for us to have them. One example is electronics and the Congo. The Congo is a country filled with Colbolt which is critical to lithium batteries which powers majority of products that are rechargeable. The price they pay is unsafe mining conditions, indecent wages, and environmental hazards to local communities. 60 percent of the cobalt used today comes from the Congo, and while some companies track it to make sure its "clean" some companies do not check its origins. In 2010 there was a push to add cobalt to a list of resources that come from the Congo to be from a militia free mine. Individual companies have started to be stricter about where they get their Cobalt it's still not mandatory under international law. However with the demand for cobalt is increasing due to more electric power styling for vehicles and other products. In order to meet these demands the cobalt will continue to come from abused people until companies or international law limits and outlines how to deal with the cobalt question. 2 
Douglas Vance's curator insight,
April 21, 2018 2:10 PM
Given the absurd amount of minerals present in the country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo should be basking in immeasurable wealth. However, as shown by this inetractive and enormously in-depth piece by the Washington Post, the country constantly struggles with child labor, water pollution, and widespread dangerous working condition because of the global demand for minerals like cobalt and copper.
David Stiger's curator insight,
November 10, 2018 4:05 PM
The Congo, like Venezuela, is another example of a post-colonial country rich in valuable natural resources whose people, ironically, live in abject poverty. The Congo is a victim of its own geographical blessings as the industrialized world's bottomless need for Congo's cobalt, copper, and other minerals has put this former colony of Belgium on the map. The Congo reportedly supplies half of the world's cobalt. With few other options for mineral sources, lithium-ion battery manufacturers turn a blind eye as Congolese "diggers" endure inhumane, dangerous, and unfair conditions to produce cheap cobalt. Companies have not reacted to this injustice because of a desire to maximize their profits. With Western consumers acting as indirect accomplices, China leads the pack of this neo-colonial process of exploiting the Congo for its valuable underground minerals. The Chinese companies offer so little money for the cobalt that workers are forced to put up with hazardous conditions and unbelievably low pay for their labor.
The problem lacks an easy solution because it is highly complicated by the forces of globalization and geographical factors. Congolese diggers obtain the raw materials, who sell it to Asian middlemen, who then sell it to big Chinese manufacturers. These manufactures produce rechargeable batteries to sell to Western companies like Apple and Samsung. These products are then sold all over the world. The long supply chain makes it difficult for consumers to feel and see how their actions are impacting the lives of other people. The companies who should be held accountable justify their business decisions because there are not sources of cobalt to turn to. If there were other sources, companies like Huayou Cobalt could turn to other sources that treat their workers better, forcing Congolese suppliers to raise their labor standards. A short-term remedy, it seems, would be to classify Congolese-based cobalt as a conflict mineral. Western countries should fine and punish companies that are linked to the unjust cobalt trade, forcing these companies to raise their standards.
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Unlike the many maps we have seen that show what Florida, Boston, or some other coastal location would look like with higher sea levels, the figure above compares the iconic outline of Louisiana with the present-day outline of its dry land. An important caveat is that some of the removed areas are wetlands, meaning they are not under water all the time, but those lands are not available for most human uses (aside from fishing), so this outline warrants attention.
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"In Northeast India just north of Bangladesh is the province of Meghalaya."
Tanya Townsend's curator insight,
November 20, 2015 4:16 PM
I think these bridges are of great value to the world... Nature provides us with such amazing natural resources. There is really no need to do half the damage we do to it. what a beautiful way to keep the environment's natural beauty intacted
Douglas Vance's curator insight,
April 21, 2018 12:58 PM
These living bridges are an ingenious way to construct long lasting and incredibly durable bridges in a region of the world that is enormously flood-prone during the monsoon season. These bridges are ideal because they do not crumble like concrete is prone to do and they cannot rust. This is a prime example of people working with the materials available to them to stay connected.
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Benjamin Jackson's curator insight,
November 9, 2015 5:40 PM
The impact of the Three Gorges Dam on the residents upstream is amazing. I cannot imagine anything like this happening in the US, mostly because of the impact on the people both upstream and downstream. Ecological damage from this dam may not phase the Chinese government, but I think any North American or European government would shudder at the thought of the backlash among their citizens this would create. 
Matt Ramsdell's curator insight,
December 14, 2015 9:27 PM
Three Gorges damn in China is the largest dam ever constructed. This was created to save on power by creating hydroelectric power for the people of the land. One of the issues with this was the the flooding of the land up streams displacing millions of people. It created a larger up stream area and very small down stream. A lot of the people that lived up stream had to be relocated further inland and faced changing climatif weather. The banks of the river are carved out between what seems like mountainous regions so as you move more uphill the weather and temperature will be a whole new category of life (Depending on how far you relocated).
Stevie-Rae Wood's curator insight,
December 9, 2018 6:09 PM
From the animation that NASA has created of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam it is apparent that land has been lost. The Three Gorges Dam was created to generate more energy for Chinas growing economy. It is known as the largest hydroelectric project ever costing around 40 billion dollars and requiring 20,000 workers. There is a good and bad side to the creation of this dam. It has helped Chinas economy grow however to the expense of the people that were displaced because the dam took away land as we can see In the animation. It also effected people downstream negatively as we can see as well because there water supply was depleted. Like most things that take place today the people that benefit from something usually live far away from the problem while those that live closest pay the more costly price.
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While researching a book on ‘Why the Dutch are Different’, Ben Coates realised that an amazingly large number of the things which an outsider might think of as ‘typically Dutch’ could be explained at least in part by a single factor: water. Via Mike Busarello's Digital Storybooks
asli telli's curator insight,
October 15, 2015 1:37 AM
What is "typically" #Dutch? #sea #saltwater #sailing #trade #ancient #heritage
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Hidden beneath the 245,000 square miles that make up the Great Plains, resides a lake that’s one of our greatest water assets: The Ogallala Aquifer. Haven’t heard of it? Farming the plains would be unprofitable at best without it, as shown by the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. At the time, the aquifer’s existence was known, but the technology to tap into it wasn’t.
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