#WaterYear 261
Today is Juneteenth & June is Black Music Month. As the Smithsonian @si_africanart podcast says: "All music is Black music" - & that is certainly true of rock.

A 🧵on the Black music roots of rock - and the role of a river flood

@rockhall on L. Erie in CLE, OH 2/ When the Levees Broke: the flood that made rock and roll.

In 1927, an epic flood on the Mississippi River killed hundreds & wreaked massive property damage. But in its wake of destruction, that flood created rock ‘n’ roll.

(🧵adapted from this essay) grist.org/article/2011-0…

#WaterYear 124
1/10

Today is birthday of 2 great writers of powerful reflections on rivers:
Langston Hughes (1901 - 1967)
Jason Isbell (b. 1979)

A thread on their words on rivers, including "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" (1921) and "River" 99 years later

(photo: Irrawaddy 2016) 2/10
Hughes wrote "A Negro Speaks of Rivers" when he was 17 after he crossed the Mississippi while traveling from his home in Cleveland OH to visit his father who was living in Mexico. Published in 1921 in The Crisis, it marks start of his literary career

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Negro…

#WaterYear 123
1/5

Rafts, rainbow, & dark clouds looming, Colorado River, 2009

Due to decades of historic drought, Lakes Mead & Powell, 2 largest reservoirs in US, are approx 3/4 empty. Fed gov't gave deadline of today for 7 states that depend on Colorado 💧 to reach consensus 2/5
...on substantial cuts to their water use;

"Federal officials in June called for the seven states to come up with plans to drastically reduce water diversions by 2 million to 4 million acre-feet per year, a reduction of roughly 15% to 25%."

latimes.com/environment/st….

#WaterYear 122

1/10
Luca @ an ice wall near Chagrin River in 2008. Just rocks today at end of January, 2023

"Enjoy the weather but worry for the climate"

A short thread on this warm winter, from no ice on Lake Erie to no snow in NYC

(weather/climate quote frm @JesseJenkins) 2/10
New York City just broke record for latest measurable snowfall (previous record was January 29, 1973) and will soon break record for longest stretch without snow (332 days, set in Dec. 2020) - and no snow in 10-day forecast...

nytimes.com/2023/01/29/nyr…

Want to save rivers, lakes & wetlands?

Stop overlooking them in global goals, or lumping them in with ‘land.’

A short thread on why this matters, and how the post-2020 global framework can correct this.

With figures...and memes! 1/19 @WWFLeadWater

link.medium.com/S49p5GR63ib The first detailed draft of the new post-2020 global biodiversity framework was released by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in July, calling for protection of “at least 30% of land and sea areas globally.” 2/19
@david_tickner @MicheleThieme
cbd.int/article/draft-…

1/7

Though origins of SARS-CoV-2 remain uncertain, all previous pandemics of past century involve zoonotic diseases. Activities bringing people, domestic & wild animals into close contact, in new ways, increase spillover risk @WWFscience @WWFLeadWater
forbes.com/sites/jeffoppe… 2/7

These activities include deforestation, intensified livestock operations on cleared land, + wildlife hunting & trade. In figure, green symbols represent drivers (including ways that we manage the environment) that increase the risk of spillover.

forbes.com/sites/jeffoppe…

A thread on the Emergency Recovery Plan for #freshwater #biodiversity, just published by @BioScienceAIBS

6 actions to Bend the Curve on freshwater biodiversity loss

#1 Implement environmental flows, such as below Three Gorges Dam on Yangtze River

academic.oup.com/bioscience/adv… #2 To bend the curve on freshwater biodiversity, improve water quality.

The Cuyahoga River (below in @CVNPNPS) once was biologically dead from pollution. Actions-local to federal-tackled pollution & bent the curve for Cuyahoga; sections which lacked fish now have > 40 species.