Geography Of The World
The Clearest Spring In America
At Rainbow Springs, underwater visibility can exceed 250 feet, and passengers once watched fish through viewing windows set below the waterline of boats.
What Happens If Lake Okeechobee’s Dike Fails
The 1928 hurricane broke Lake Okeechobee's levee, killing more than 2,500 people. Here is what a failure of today's Herbert Hoover Dike in Florida could mean
Lake Powell and Lake Mead See Dramatic Rebound After Floods
Lake Powell is up 22 feet since late September. Lake Mead is up 2.7. Both are still lower than a year ago, and only snow changes that.
Why Fish Don’t Freeze In A Frozen Lake
Fish in frozen lakes survive winter in liquid water beneath the ice, where deeper water stays near 39°F and a slower metabolism helps them conserve energy.
Why The Gulf Of Mexico Is So Warm
The Gulf of Mexico gets its warmth from subtropical sunlight, shallow shelves, and the Loop Current, and its surface warmed about 1.8°F between 1970 and 2020.
How Much Fuel A Great Lakes Freighter Burns In A Season
U.S. lakers average about 1.9 million gallons of fuel a season between the Soo Locks opening in March and closing in January; a gallon moves a ton 610 miles.
How The Great Salt Lake Compares To The Great Lakes
Lake Erie’s average depth is nearly twice the Great Salt Lake’s deepest point. It loses on area, loses by 640 times on volume, and is not even fresh water
The Most Crooked Coastline In America
Alaska has America's longest and most intricate coastline, shaped by glaciers, fjords, islands, volcanic activity, and coastal erosion.
The Great Lakes Freighters That Sank With All Hands
The Charles S. Price, Kamloops and Edmund Fitzgerald sank with no survivors, so what is known came from lifebelts, a bottle note and wrecks found years later.
Where Manatees Go When The Water Gets Cold
When winter temperatures drop, Florida manatees seek warm-water refuges in natural springs and power plant canals across the state.
The Day Lake Peigneur Disappeared
Louisiana's Lake Peigneur drained into the salt mine beneath it in 1980. How salt domes give way, and where similar collapses opened in Texas and Russia.
The Columbia River Carries Ten Times What The Colorado Does
The Columbia is fourth on the list of American rivers by discharge. The Colorado is thirty-eighth. The basins are nearly the same size.
Where Alligators Live In Mobile Bay
Mobile Bay alligators crowd the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, bask by Causeway restaurant decks, and turn up at Gator Lake and in the surf on Dauphin Island.
What Would Happen If Sea Level Rose 10 Feet In California
Ten feet of sea-level rise would reach SFO, Alviso, the Delta’s below-sea-level farm islands, and Long Beach, where older port piers sit on former marsh.
How Much A Great Lakes Freighter Costs To Build Today
The Mark W. Barker’s price was never disclosed, but a 1973 thousand-footer cost $35 million, about $254 million in 2025 dollars, built under Jones Act rules.
Why The Great Lakes Almost Never Freeze Over Completely
The Great Lakes, so large that they are often mistaken for inland oceans, almost never completely freeze over. Here's why.
The Highest Mountain Range In The Lower 48
The Sierra Nevada runs about 400 miles through eastern California, climbing more than two miles above the Owens Valley and topping the Rockies and Cascades.
Why Great Lakes Freighters Stop Sailing In January
Each January, Great Lakes freighters tie up for the winter as the Soo Locks close for repairs, ice spreads on the lakes, and shipyards take over the fleet.
How Snapping Turtles Survive Under A Frozen Lake
Beneath a frozen lake, snapping turtles go months without breathing. Metabolic shutdown and shell chemistry are what keep them alive until spring.
Where Leeches Go In The Winter
When lakes freeze, leeches survive beneath the ice. Learn where they shelter, how they endure winter, and when they become active again.
The Highest Waterfall On A Major American River
The Highest Waterfall On A Major American River is the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone, which plunges nearly twice as far as Niagara into a colorful canyon.
How Much Iron Ore Gets Stockpiled Before The Soo Locks Close
The Lake Superior ore docks hold 15 million tons. Federal analysis says the mills need 15.5 to survive the Soo Locks closure. The system runs with no margin.
Where Bass Go In The Winter
Most bass winter close to home, but Mississippi River smallmouth swim up to 17 mi to slack water, and striped bass winter up to 30 miles off North Carolina.
The 10 Tallest Mountains In New Mexico
New Mexico's 10 tallest major mountains include Wheeler Peak, Truchas Peak, and remote summits with restricted hiking access.
The American Mountains With The Most Venomous Snakes
Rattlesnakes and copperheads live in the mountains of New York, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Arizona, denning on rocky slopes and even along hiking trails.
The American Mountains With A Lake On The Summit
Crater Lake fills a collapsed Oregon volcano, Lake Waiau sits in a cinder cone on Mauna Kea, and Rainier’s lakes lie in ice caves under its summit craters.
What Happens To Boulder City If Lake Mead Hits Dead Pool
A Lake Mead dead pool would reach Boulder City, Nevada, through its tap water, its share of Hoover Dam power, its boat ramps, and the visitors it depends on.
The Most Snake Infested Rivers In Washington
Washington's snake-filled rivers feature rocky rattlesnake habitats, riverside garter snakes, and wild canyons across the state.
The Single District That Holds The Most Colorado River Water In America
The Imperial Irrigation District holds the single largest Colorado River entitlement in the US, about 3.1 million acre-feet, more than Arizona and Nevada combined.
The Largest Valley In The United States
California’s Central Valley is the largest US valley ringed by mountains. It grows a quarter of US food, and pumping sank land near Mendota nearly 30 feet.
The 7 Tallest Mountains In The Appalachians
The tallest mountains in the Appalachians rise above North Carolina and Tennessee, with towering summits shaped by geology and conservation.
7 Most Alligator Filled Rivers In South Carolina
The rice harvests ended long ago, but old flooded fields now shelter alligators beside South Carolina's rivers, where some stretches hold hundreds.
The Rivers Where Carp Grow Largest
From common carp in the Charles and Potomac to invasive giants in the Illinois and Osage, these 7 US rivers produce some of the biggest carp in the country.
The US Rivers Where Eels Still Migrate
The US Rivers Where Eels Still Migrate include the Hudson and the dam-free Delaware, where tiny glass eels arrive every spring from the distant Sargasso Sea.
The US Lakes That Turn Deadly In Winter
Lake Erie, Lake Superior, Green Bay, Saginaw Bay, and Mille Lacs draw ice anglers every winter, yet each has logged deadly falls or mass ice rescues.
The Most Remote Peak In The Appalachians
The most remote peak in the Appalachians may be Maine's White Cap Mountain in the 100-Mile Wilderness, while Mount Mitchell is the most isolated by height.
The Largest Lakes In New England
New England may be small on the map, but its largest lakes stretch over 100 miles, cross borders, and fill valleys broad enough to swallow entire towns.
How Lake Toba Compares To The Great Lakes
Lake Toba is 23 times smaller than Erie and 99 metres deeper than Superior. The hole is considerably bigger than the thing filling it.
The Difference Between A Bay And A Harbor
Bays and harbors may look alike, but their definitions differ. Learn how geography, shelter, and engineering distinguish these waterways.
The US Rivers With The Most Freshwater Mussels
The US Rivers With The Most Freshwater Mussels include Tennessee’s Duck and Virginia’s Clinch, which hold more mussel species than all of Europe combined.