Climate change: as mountain regions warm, hydroelectric power plants may be vulnerable

Dams built in an earlier age are suddenly vulnerable as the climate shifts.

Simon Cook, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Change, University of Dundee • conversation
June 29, 2021 • ~5 min

How to make sure Biden's infrastructure plan can hold up to climate change – and save money

With adaptive design, infrastructure is ready to be expanded in the future. It's working for the Dutch.

Jeremy Bricker, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan • conversation
March 30, 2021 • ~8 min

Reindeer: ancient migration routes disrupted by roads, dams – and now wind farms

The Arctic is particularly vulnerable to climate change, but efforts to tackle it risk alienating the people who live there.

Simone Abram, Professor in the Dept of Anthropology, Co-Director of Durham Energy Institute, Durham University • conversation
Feb. 8, 2021 • ~7 min

Culverts – the major threat to fish you've probably never heard of

Fish need to cross roads too. But the tunnels built to channel rivers under roads and railways can block their migrations.

Sayali Pawar, Research Fellow in GIS and Environmental Change, Swansea University • conversation
Aug. 6, 2020 • ~6 min

Iran: decades of unsustainable water use has dried up lakes and caused environmental destruction

Salt storms are an emerging threat, as Lake Urmia dries up and exposes huge salt marshes.

Georgia Destouni, Professor of Hydrology, Hydrogeology and Water Resources, Stockholm University • conversation
Aug. 3, 2020 • ~5 min

When dams cause more problems than they solve, removing them can pay off for people and nature

Thousands of dams across the US are aging and overdue for maintenance. Taking them down can revive rivers, restore fish runs and create new opportunities for tourism and outdoor activities.

Jon Honea, Assistant Professor of Science, Emerson College • conversation
May 29, 2020 • ~9 min

Mine waste dams threaten the environment, even when they don't fail

Dams built to hold enormous quantities of toxic mining waste have a long history of spills. Decisions in the Pacific Northwest threaten three free-flowing rivers there.

Julian D. Olden, Professor of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington • conversation
Feb. 24, 2020 • ~9 min

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