Geography Of The World
The Largest Lakes In The Desert Southwest
Salton Sea, Lake Powell, and Lake Mead lead the Desert Southwest's biggest lakes by surface area. Ten lakes and reservoirs ranked by federal figures.
The American Mountains With Roads To The Summit
Six US mountains, from Colorado's Pikes Peak to New Hampshire's Mt Washington, where a paved road and a toll booth replace the multi-day hike to the summit.
How Much Lithium Is Under The Salton Sea
The Salton Sea holds 4.1 million metric tons of measured lithium and possibly 18 million. Why the two figures differ, and whether any of it comes out.
The Most Venomous Creatures In The Sea
Some of the sea’s most dangerous creatures hide their worst weapon in plain sight, delivering venom through spines, stingers, and bites.
The Steepest Mountain In The United States
A sheer 3,000-foot granite wall, an unclimbed 6,500-foot face, and a desert cliff second only to El Cap. See which peak is truly the steepest in the US.
The Lakes Being Deliberately Refilled In The American West
Across the American West, lakes like Mead, Mono, and the Great Salt Lake are gaining water as agencies buy rights and curb diversions to steer flows back.
The Only City Outside The Great Lakes Basin Allowed To Drink Its Water
Waukesha, Wisconsin is the only city entirely outside the Great Lakes Basin allowed to drink the lakes' water. How it won a rare exception, and why Chicago differs.
The American Mountains With The Most Black Bears
The Cascades hold the most black bears, the southern Appalachians hold the densest, and Alaska has a third of them all. Where American mountain bears concentrate.
The US Dams Rated Highest Hazard By Federal Inspectors
Six dams in Texas, Kansas, and California had the highest modeled overtopping odds among 33 US dams in a 2025 study, upstream of towns home to 274,000 people.
The Most Treacherous Passages For Ships On The Great Lakes
The Great Lakes' deadliest water sits in narrow channels: Death's Door, Grays Reef, Livingstone Channel, and other passages where ships lose their margin.
What Happens When A River Changes Course
When a river changes course, old channels can vanish, new ones cut across the floodplain, and whole stretches of land can change with the flow.
The Strongest Ocean Current Off The American Coast
The Gulf Stream is the strongest current off the American coast, carrying warm water north while the cold California Current feeds Pacific kelp forests.
The Lakes Open To Fishing Year-Round
Year-round fishing has its fine print on these lakes, where winter casts are legal but species limits, state lines, and local rules still matter.
How Big Lake Superior Is Compared To Entire States
Lake Superior spans 31,700 square miles, larger than 10 US states by total area and nearly the size of South Carolina, plus a 2,726-mile shoreline.
What Happens To The Boundary Waters If The Mine Opens
Congress lifted the Boundary Waters mining ban in 2026 and Minnesota blocked the permits months later. What the mine would mean, and where the fight actually stands.
What Happens If Louisiana Keeps Losing Coast At This Rate
A football field of Louisiana disappears every 100 minutes. What that adds up to, what the projections say, and what changed in 2025.
Why Lake Michigan Is The Deadliest Great Lake
Nearly half of all Great Lakes drownings happen in Lake Michigan. The shape of the basin, the wind direction, and the statistic that reframes the whole subject.
The Great Lakes Species Found Nowhere Else On Earth
Great Lakes dunes, limestone shores, and cold streams hold species with tiny world ranges, from Lake Superior's deep-dwelling kiyi to an Isle Royale ragwort.
Why Mono Lake Almost Disappeared
Exported south by aqueduct for over forty years, the lake lost nearly half its volume and doubled in salinity before a landmark court ruling forced change.
The Ocean Trenches Inside US Territory
Miles below US waters sit three of the deepest scars on Earth, where pressure crushes submarines, plates grind, and improbable creatures still survive.
How Much Water Lake Powell Loses Into The Canyon Walls
One side says Lake Powell loses 860,000 acre-feet a year into rock and air. A technical review says draining it would save 40,000. How much really goes into the walls
How The Dead Sea Compares To The Great Lakes
The Dead Sea vs the Great Lakes: one's 10x saltier than the ocean and the lowest point on Earth, the others hold a fifth of its fresh water. How they compare.
Why The Appalachians Are Older Than The Rockies
Collision built one range and a sinking ocean plate built the other, and that difference is why the Appalachians are far older than the younger Rockies.
The Saltiest River In The United States
Meet the Pecos, the saltiest river in the US, plus the Red River's crab-filled spring and Arizona's honestly named Salt River. Why some rivers run briny.
How Lake Vostok Compares To The Great Lakes
Nobody has ever seen Lake Vostok. It is smaller than every Great Lake, deeper than all of them, and holds more water than four. How Antarctica's buried giant compares.
What Happens If Lake Roosevelt Drops Below Grand Coulee's Power Intakes
Lake Roosevelt is drawn down every year on purpose and the Columbia refills it. What happens when levels fall at America's largest power station, and the real constraint.
What Happens To Lake Havasu If Lake Mead Hits Dead Pool
Lake Havasu holds about 83 days of its own outflow and is legally required to stay full. What happens to it if Lake Mead hits dead pool, and why it looks fine either way.
The Foggiest Lakes In America
Discover why some American lakes disappear beneath thick fog and how temperature, moisture, and terrain create these dramatic conditions.
The American Mountains With The Most Rattlesnakes
Rattlesnakes in American mountains, from the Guadalupes and Superstitions to Rocky Mountain foothills and the timber rattlers of the southern Appalachians.
The Native Fish Species That Depend On American Reservoirs
Reservoirs once disrupted native fish habitat. Now some of those same waters sustain species in one of conservation’s stranger reversals.
The Single Canal That Carries The Most Colorado River Water
The All-American Canal moves 3.1 million acre-feet a year, more than the Central Arizona Project and Colorado River Aqueduct combined, without a single pump.
The Oldest River In The United States
The oldest river in the US is ironically named the New River, older than the Appalachians and the dinosaurs. Why this ancient river flows north, and its age debate.
What Happens If A Major Dam Fails In The American West
The flood is only the first hour. A major Western dam holds back power, drinking water, farm irrigation, and flood storage, each failing on its own clock.
The Busiest Shipping Routes On The Great Lakes
The heaviest freight on North America's inland seas funnels through a handful of locks, rivers, and canals. Here is where the tonnage piles up.
The Great Lakes Ranked By Number Of Beaches
Lake Michigan leads the Great Lakes with 535 monitored US beaches, while Lake Ontario has 55, showing that shoreline length does not predict beach counts.
How Great Slave Lake Compares To The Great Lakes
Great Slave Lake is deeper than every Great Lake, bigger than two of them, and almost nobody has heard of it. How Canada's deepest lake stacks up against the famous five.
Why Lake Powell Keeps Dropping Through The Fall
Lake Powell rises for ten weeks a year and falls for the other forty-two. Why it keeps dropping through the fall, and why the bottom does not come until spring.
The Parts Of The Ocean Where Almost Nothing Lives
The ocean has places so hostile that fish disappear, microbes barely function, and life survives only at the edge of what seems possible
Why The Rockies Are Still Rising
Long after the mountains finished forming, the Rockies keep climbing. Hot mantle, a slow-tearing rift, and steady erosion are quietly lifting them.
Why King Tides Flood Coastal Towns Every Fall
King tides are not getting bigger. The baseline under them is rising, so a tide that cleared the seawall fifty years ago now arrives in the street.