NASA images show Carolina rivers polluting the ocean



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The floods caused by Hurricane Florence, which hit the Carolinas this month, are so severe that NASA has been able to see dark, contaminated rivers flowing into the Atlantic Ocean.

According to the Raleigh National Weather Service, nearly 8 trillion liters of rain fell on North Carolina during the storm. This deluge has had devastating consequences, rivers and floods of homes.

NASA satellite images released this week reveal how rivers and other rivers have become engorged and polluted.

An image, captured on September 19, indicates that "soils, sediments, decaying leaves, pollution and other debris have discolored the waters of rivers, bays, estuaries and coastal oceans," according to NASA. Discoloration is visible as dark blue and black tributaries flowing from the coast into disturbing plumes.

A second NASA Landsat 8 image combines visible and infrared imagery to plot the amount of "dissolved organic dissolved matter" (CDOM). The CDOM, which includes detritus such as leaves, roots and bark, has appeared at "high" concentrations, even in the ocean of Cape Lookout, North Carolina.

NASA also released an image of the Trent River, which peaked at 29 feet on Sept. 17, according to the National Weather Service. The river has more than doubled the "flood level" or the height at which a river overflows its banks and causes damage nearby.

Hurricane Florence crashed in the Carolinas on Sept. 14, breaking records of precipitation and causing "catastrophic floods" that left dozens of victims dead.

According to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, on September 18, sixteen rivers had passed their "flood stage."

Florence's inflated rivers have also spilled into industrial facilities such as coal ash dumps and manure pits in North Carolina, which has raised environmental concerns that the waters could spill pollution into the state. .

This week, lawmakers began to consider $ 1.7 billion in funding for post-storm recovery efforts.

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