Snake lovers hit southern Illinois for annual migrations
You don't have to be a herpetologist to savor the slice of this federal forest where a stunning array of reptiles and amphibians congregates beneath soaring limestone bluffs overlooking the Mississippi...
View ArticleEngineering a better future for the Mississippi Delta
River deltas, low-lying landforms that host critical and diverse ecosystems as well as high concentrations of human population, face an uncertain future. Even as some deltas experience decreased...
View ArticleAs the river rises: Cahokia's emergence and decline linked to Mississippi...
As with rivers, civilizations across the world rise and fall. Sometimes, the rise and fall of rivers has something to do with it.
View ArticleHow do scientists predict the size of an oceanic 'dead zone'?
Later this month, NOAA will announce its prediction for how big the hypoxic "dead zone" will be in the Gulf of Mexico. This year the forecast will be based on an ensemble that incorporates the results...
View ArticleNASA provides many views of Tropical Depression Bill
NASA provided four different views of Tropical Depression Bill as it continued traveling through the south-central U.S. and into the Ohio Valley. NASA's Aqua and Terra satellite provided infrared and...
View ArticleHead Start program played anti-segregation role in the Deep South
A federal preschool program did more than improve educational opportunities for poor children in Mississippi during the 1960s. The program also gave a political and economic boost to the state's civil...
View Article2015 Gulf of Mexico dead zone 'above average'
Scientists have found this year's Gulf of Mexico dead zone—an area of low to no oxygen that can kill fish and marine life—is, at 6,474 square miles, above average in size and larger than forecast by...
View ArticleOnce and future Katrinas
When hurricanes approached New Orleans in historical times, city dwellers generally did not worry about Katrina-like surge flooding; wind was usually their major concern. Nor did they evacuate the...
View ArticleESA image: Mississippi swampland
This Sentinel-2A 'colour vision' image captures part of the Mississippi swamps on the east and west banks of the Mississippi River, south of New Orleans and north of the Mississippi Delta.
View Article'Report card' gives Mississippi River basin a D+
A report card is out on the Mississippi River basin, and the grade is not good: a D+, with an aging transportation infrastructure topping the list of concerns.
View ArticleWild bee decline threatens US crop production
The first national study to map U.S. wild bees suggests they're disappearing in many of the country's most important farmlands—including California's Central Valley, the Midwest's corn belt, and the...
View ArticleSearch for more US flood victims as water stresses levees
Record flooding from the rain-swollen Mississippi River and its tributaries stressed dams and levees to the breaking point in parts of Illinois, one of several central US states reeling from winter...
View ArticleLevees among possible cause of more frequent flooding
The Mississippi River floods more often than it used to, and at higher levels. Richard Knaup thinks he knows why.
View ArticleRedirected flood waters lead to unintended consequences
An intricate system of basins, channels, and levees called the Headwaters Diversion carries water from the eastern Missouri Ozark Plateau to the Mississippi River south of Cape Girardeau. The system...
View ArticleVideo: NASA animation shows rainfall of Mississippi River flooding
A series of winter storms brought more than 20 inches of rainfall to the Midwest and southeastern United States in December 2015. Massive flooding followed throughout both the regions. An animation of...
View ArticleRecord Missouri flooding was manmade calamity, scientist says
At the end of December 2015, a huge storm named "Goliath" dumped 9-10 inches of rain in a belt across the central United States, centered just southwest of St. Louis, most of it in a three-day downpour.
View ArticleWorld's large river deltas continue to degrade from human activity
From the Yellow River in China to the Mississippi River in Louisiana, researchers are racing to better understand and mitigate the degradation of some of the world's most important river deltas,...
View ArticleFertilizer applied to fields today will pollute water for decades
Dangerous nitrate levels in drinking water could persist for decades, increasing the risk for blue baby syndrome and other serious health concerns, according to a new study published by researchers at...
View ArticleIllinois River water quality improvement linked to more efficient corn...
Good news - the quality of water in the Illinois River has improved in one important aspect. A new study from the University of Illinois reports that nitrate load in the Illinois River from 2010 to...
View ArticleTurtles may not be immune to old age, research suggests
Researchers at Iowa State University are rethinking the long-held conventional wisdom that turtles don't suffer some of the ravages of old age.
View Article