Geography Of The World
What Happens If Lake Granby Is Drained To Save Lake Powell
Draining Lake Granby would lift Lake Powell about 8 feet at most, take at least a year and a half, and drop the lake well below its 2002 drought low.
The Year The Ohio River Flood Took Louisville
In January 1937, the Ohio River rose more than 30 feet above flood stage at Louisville, Kentucky, submerging about 70% of the city and forcing 175,000 to flee.
What Happens To Page If Lake Powell Hits Dead Pool
At dead pool, Page, Arizona, would lose its boat ramps, hydropower from Glen Canyon Dam and released water at Horseshoe Bend, but its taps would keep running.
Why The Edmund Fitzgerald Was Never Raised
The Edmund Fitzgerald lies in two pieces 530 feet down in Canadian waters, a protected grave where only its bell has been raised, at the families’ request.
Where Water Moccasins And Rattlesnakes Overlap
Cottonmouths meet rattlesnakes where swamps rise into ridges and bluffs, as at Illinois's Snake Road, closed to cars twice a year for migrating snakes.
The Longest Lakes In The United States
A length ranking of the longest lakes in the United States, from Lake Superior and the Great Lakes to Iliamna, Great Salt Lake, and Rainy Lake.
What Would Happen If The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Reached Shore
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch won't wash ashore as one mass, but its plastic already reaches Hawaii's beaches and reefs, endangering turtles and seabirds.
What Would Happen If Sea Level Rose 10 Feet On The East Coast
The Atlantic would reach far beyond the beach, flooding city streets, cutting off coastal roads, and pushing saltwater into local freshwater supplies.
The Most Snake Infested Rivers In New York
The Most Snake Infested Rivers In New York include the Hudson and Delaware, where water snakes bask on rocks and rare timber rattlers den on the ridges above.
The Difference Between A Tide And A Current
Tides set how high the water sits, and currents set where it flows. Alaska's Turnagain Arm and rip currents on Great Lakes beaches show why the two differ.
How Far North Asian Carp Have Reached
Asian carp have pushed north to North Dakota's James River and into Quebec, held back by a patchwork of dams, locks, and one electric barrier.
How A Great Lakes Freighter Gets Through The Soo Locks
A 1,013.5-foot freighter drops 21 feet in the Poe Lock at Sault Ste. Marie with 2.5 feet to spare per side, as gravity drains about 22 million gallons.
How A Great Lakes Freighter Compares To An Aircraft Carrier
A Ford-class carrier is 1,106 feet and runs 4,500 people. The Paul R. Tregurtha is 1,013 feet and runs 24. How a Great Lakes freighter compares.
How The Sierra Nevada Compares To The Rockies
The Sierra Nevada is one slab of granite. The Rockies are 3000 miles of folded rock. Both top 14400 feet, and almost everything else about them is different.
The US Coastal Highways Most At Risk From Rising Seas
The US Coastal Highways Most At Risk From Rising Seas include NC 12 on the Outer Banks, where the state finally moved the road out over the water.
The Year The Colorado Filled The Salton Sea By Accident
California's Salton Sea was created by accident in 1905, when the Colorado River broke through an irrigation canal and flooded a dry desert basin for two years.
The US Rivers With The Most Rattlesnakes Along Their Banks
Rattlesnakes share the banks of the Rio Grande in Big Bend, the Deschutes in Oregon, and the Mississippi in Minnesota, and the species changes by region.
How Crater Lake Holds More Water Than Lake Okeechobee Despite Being Smaller
Lake Okeechobee is about 36 times larger than Crater Lake, yet Oregon's Crater Lake holds nearly five times as much water. Here is why depth matters.
The Smallest Freighter Still Working The Great Lakes
MV Tamarack, a 403-foot cement carrier that entered service in 2025, is the shortest freighter on the Great Lakes, 116 feet shorter than the steamer Alpena.
The Rivers Where Striped Bass Run Farthest Upstream
Striped bass leave the sea each spring and run far up the Delaware, Hudson, Roanoke, and Potomac rivers, some reaching dams over 200 river miles inland.
How Lake Nicaragua Compares To The Great Lakes
Lake Nicaragua loses to every Great Lake on every measurement. It wins exactly one category and it is the one people care about, because it has sharks.
The US Lakes Where Piranhas Have Been Caught
A single piranha in an American lake could lead to a drastic response, but the catches raise an even stranger question about how those fish got there.
How Tall Hoover Dam Is Compared To The Empire State Building
Hoover Dam is 726 feet tall. The Empire State Building is 1,454. One is almost exactly half the other, and both built by men out of work in the same decade.
The Most Polluted Bay In America
A factory that made Agent Orange dumped dioxin into the river roughly every other week. Forty years and 1.3 billion dollars later Newark Bay is still a Superfund site.
Why Some Rivers Cut Straight Through Mountains
Rivers are a powerful force which essentially never ceases. Over time, they can carve massive channels through seemingly solid rock.
The Largest Bay In The United States
Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the US at 4,480 square miles and the answer most people mean by the largest bay, though Alaska’s Cook Inlet is bigger by area.
The American Mountains With The Most Copperheads
Copperheads in Virginia's Blue Ridge, the Smokies, Missouri's Ozarks, New York's Hudson Highlands, and Connecticut favor rocky slopes and woodland edges.
Most Alligator Filled Rivers In Georgia
The Altamaha, Satilla, St. Marys, Suwannee and Ogeechee all run through Georgia gator country, and each has a park or trail where you can watch from dry land.
Why Some American Rivers Have No Mouth
In the American West's Great Basin, rivers such as the Humboldt and Amargosa never reach an ocean, vanishing into desert sinks, dry air, and volcanic rock.
Why Great Lakes Freighters Have Their Bridge At The Front
Great Lakes freighters kept the pilothouse at the bow from the 1869 R.J. Hackett to the last laker in 1974, a layout still preserved at lakeside museums.
How Big Lake Erie Is Compared To Wales
Lake Erie covers about 9,910 square miles, roughly 24% bigger than all of Wales. Why the shallowest, smallest Great Lake still swallows a whole country.
The US Rivers Where River Otters Have Come Back
The US Rivers Where River Otters Have Come Back include Colorado’s Gunnison, site of the nation’s first otter release, and Pennsylvania’s Youghiogheny.
Where Bull Sharks Go In The Winter
In winter, bull sharks gather in warm coastal waters from the Gulf of Mexico and Florida to Mexico's Sea of Cortez and the coast of Mozambique.
The American Mountains Where Snakebites Happen Most Often
The American Mountains Where Snakebites Happen Most Often include North Carolina’s Blue Ridge, where well-hidden copperheads cause most of the state’s bites.
What Happens To Palm Springs If Lake Mead Hits Dead Pool
Palm Springs draws its tap water from wells refilled with Lake Mead water. At dead pool, its Whitewater recharge basins and Coachella Canal would feel it first.
The Last Major Undammed River In The Lower 48
The Yellowstone River runs 671 mi from Wyoming to the Missouri with no big dam on its main channel, yet a diversion dam in eastern Montana still blocks fish.
Where Great Lakes Freighters Spend The Winter
When the Soo Locks close in January, Great Lakes freighters spend winter at shipyards and docks from Sturgeon Bay to Sarnia. Here is where the lakers lay up.
Where Water Moccasins Go In The Winter
Water moccasins spend winter in animal burrows, stump holes, and bluff crevices, and in southern Illinois they cross Snake Road to reach shelter.
Where Frogs Go When Ponds Freeze
As ponds freeze and the croaking stops, frogs survive in unexpected ways, breathing beneath the ice or enduring winter with their hearts stopped.
How Big Lake Michigan Is Compared To Switzerland
Lake Michigan covers about 22,400 square miles, making it roughly 40% bigger than all of Switzerland. You could sink the whole country in it with room to spare.