Water & Oceans

"An international organization of democracies chastised the US on Thursday for its outsize contribution to marine plastic litter."

"The chemical and manufacturing giant 3M reached a $10.3 billion settlement on Thursday with U.S. cities and towns over their claims that the company contaminated drinking water with so-called forever chemicals used in everything from firefighting foam to nonstick coatings."

"The U.S. Supreme Court said the United States is not required “to take affirmative steps to secure water for the Tribe” because that provision is not explicitly stated in the Navajo Treaty of 1868, according to its ruling in a 5-4 vote in Arizona v. Navajo Nation, released Thursday."

"The EPA will likely need to revise its rationale for protecting Alaska’s Bristol Bay from the proposed Pebble Mine following the Supreme Court’s June ruling in a pivotal Clean Water Act case, but the mine is still unlikely to proceed, legal experts say."

"Glaciers are melting at unprecedented rates across the Hindu Kush Himalayan mountain ranges and could lose up to 80% of their volume this century if greenhouse gas emissions aren’t sharply reduced, according to a report."

"Opponents of offshore wind energy projects in New Jersey are gathering force legally and politically as they seek to snuff out the nascent industry."

"Brazilian authorities said on Monday they had seized 28.7 metric tonnes of illegally obtained shark fins that would be exported to Asia, in what they called the world's largest confiscation of its kind at the origin."

"The National Hurricane Center declared Tropical Storm Bret formed at 5 p.m. Eastern Monday, the second of the young Atlantic season. Located about halfway between the coast of Africa and the eastern Caribbean Sea, the system is likely to intensify, and it could approach or impact the Lesser Antilles as a hurricane by the weekend."

"As the federal government starts negotiations on long-term plans for the overtapped Colorado River, leaders of tribes are pushing for more involvement in the talks, saying they want to be at the table in high-level discussions among the seven states that rely on the river."

"NEW YORK - The U.N. has adopted the world's first treaty to protect the high seas and preserve marine biodiversity in international waters, marking a milestone after nearly 20 years of effort, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced Monday.

The adoption followed an agreement reached in March by more than 100 countries on the of text of the High Seas Treaty, also known as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction treaty, after more than 15 years of discussions and five rounds of U.N.-led negotiations.