Environmental Science · Water Science and Technology
A study of California’s Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins found that changing vegetation conditions improved simulations of mountain snow water equivalent, or the amount of water held in snow. Combining those data with finer weather inputs produced the best match to the available snow observations.
In the Khiav Chai River watershed in northwest Iran, annual precipitation increased from 1970 to 2022 while streamflow declined. Rainfall became more evenly distributed through the year, but river flow became more concentrated in particular periods, consistent with snow dynamics altering when water reaches the river.
Agricultural lime is generally counted as a source of carbon dioxide, but a study of the Mississippi River Basin finds that it acted as a net carbon sink over the past century. River records indicate that about 90% of the lime’s ideal carbon-removal potential was realized, equivalent to approximately 0.44 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide.
Researchers reconstructed how an upstream glacial lake’s outburst triggered the failure of a second lake, devastating Thame Village in Nepal on 16 August 2024. They estimate that the flood released about 600,000 cubic metres of water and reached the village within 22 to 32 minutes.
Rainfall-triggered landslides may become more common in part of southern Italy even as climate projections show generally drier soils. Modeling suggests that changes in rainfall intensity and the moisture left by earlier rain could outweigh the drying trend.
An open Zenodo working note tracks water use linked to 10 AI data-centre sites and provides code to reproduce its calculations. It finds that closed-loop cooling shifts roughly 92% to 95% of the modelled water footprint to the electricity grid, rather than removing it.
