Model My Watershed is a watershed-modeling web app that enables citizens, conservation practitioners, municipal decision-makers, educators, and students to analyze real land use and soil data in their neighborhoods and watersheds, model stormwater runoff and water-quality impacts using professional-grade models, and compare how different conservation or development scenarios could modify runoff and water quality.

Outrage over last month's sprawling Mississippi River nurdle spill in New Orleans and the lax government response to it has inspired a bill in Congress to prevent similar incidents. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., had already introduced a wide-ranging bill to reduce plastic pollution, and last week he drafted a new one aimed specifically at prohibiting the discharge of plastic pellets, called nurdles, into rivers and oceans.

Two Mississippi River diversions created to reduce salinity levels in Breton Sound and the Barataria Basin, and a crevasse that cut through the river's east bank levee in Plaquemines Parish, actually caused the loss of more wetlands than they helped build, according to a new study led by LSU researchers.

Inspired by the growing public interest for marine micro-plastics and by the lack of specific teaching activities in our country (Italy), we developed a vertically articulated curriculum on micro-plastics for students aged 5-15 years. Our proposal is based on a number of practical activities realized with different language and communication styles to be suitable for different age groups.

The effects of global environmental change, including coastal flooding, reduced rainfall in drylands and water scarcity, will almost certainly alter patterns of human migration. Conventional narratives usually cast these displacements in a negative light, with many millions of people forced to move, and tension and conflict the result. Our study suggests that the picture is not so one-sided. The study, the UK government's Foresight report on migration and global environmental change, examines the likely movement of people within and between countries over the next 50 years.

Rudy Simoneaux, engineering manager for the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority explains the concept behind the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion Project to be located near Myrtle Grove, Louisiana.

Dive into the world of microplastics with the NOAA Marine Debris Program! Learn about what microplastics are, the different types, the impacts associated with microplastic marine debris, and future research needs.

Microplastics, defined as plastic particles smaller than 5mm, are a well-known marine pollutant. An estimated 93,000 to 236,000 metric tons of microplastics litter the world's oceans, according to a 2015 study. Recent evidence suggests that they also contaminate freshwater environments, the food we eat, and even the air we breathe. Yet the consequences for human health are largely unknown.

Microplastics are the miniscule plastic fragments (smaller than 0.04 inch) that fall off of decomposing plastic bottles and bags, and are intentionally manufactured into some toothpastes and lotions. Scientists have found microplastics nearly everywhere, particularly in lakes, rivers, and aquatic animals... U.S.

The map below is the result of a U.S. Gulf-wide microplastic sampling project. The Gulf of Mexico Alliance Gulf Star Program provided funding for this citizen science project. Citizen scientists collected and counted microplastics in sediment and water samples across the US Gulf coast. The numbers of microplastics displayed are from 1-liter water samples and 0.25 square meter sediment samples.