Pollution
- Environment
Pollution killed 9 million people in 2015
First global look estimates the massive human and financial toll caused by pollution-related health problems.
- Environment
Radioactive material from Fukushima disaster turns up in a surprising place
Radioactive cesium is reaching the ocean through salty groundwater.
- Environment
The list of diseases linked to air pollution is growing
Air pollution levels have come down since the 1970s, but smog is being linked with a growing list of diseases, including dementia, obesity, diabetes and even Parkinson’s.
- Environment
Air pollution takes a toll on solar energy
Dust and other tiny air pollutants can reduce solar energy output by as much as 25 percent in parts of the world.
- Environment
New material could filter water contaminants that others miss
A new polymer offers a better way to pull fluorine-containing pollutants out of drinking water.
- Environment
When it’s hot, plants become a surprisingly large source of air pollution
During a heat wave, trees and shrubs can sharply raise ozone levels, a new study shows.
- Environment
Peace and quiet is becoming more elusive in U.S. wild areas
Human noise stretches into the wilderness.
- Environment
‘Fossil’ groundwater is not immune to modern-day pollution
Ancient groundwater that is thousands of years old is still susceptible to modern pollution, new research suggests.
- Climate
Plot twist in methane mystery blames chemistry, not emissions, for recent rise
The recent rise in atmospheric methane concentrations may have been caused by changes in atmospheric chemistry, not increased emissions from human activities, two new studies suggest.
- Oceans
The Arctic is a final garbage dump for ocean plastic
Ocean currents dump plastic garbage from the North Atlantic into previously pristine Arctic waters, new research shows.
- Oceans
Climate change may boost toxic mercury levels in sea life
Increased runoff to the ocean due to climate change could raise neurotoxic mercury in coastal sea life by disrupting the base of the food web.
- Environment
Humans’ stuff vastly outweighs humans
The human-made technosphere weighs 30 trillion tons and surpasses the natural biosphere in mass and diversity, researchers estimate.
