Pollution

Environment

When measuring lead in water, check the temperature

Lead contamination in drinking water can be much higher during summer than winter, new research suggests.

Environment

U.S. oil and gas boom behind rising ethane levels

Oil and gas operations on North Dakota’s Bakken shale are largely to blame for a recent rise in global emissions of the greenhouse gas ethane, researchers conclude.

Climate

Wildfire shifts could dump more ice-melting soot in Arctic

Wildfires will emit more soot into the air in many regions by the end of the century, new simulations show.

Environment

EPA boosts estimate of U.S. methane emissions

A new report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revises the agency’s methane emission estimates upward by 3.4 million metric tons.

Environment

EPA underestimates methane emissions

Methane estimates by the Environmental Protection Agency fail to capture the full scope of U.S. emissions of the greenhouse gas, studies show.

Microbes

This microbe makes a meal of plastic

A newly identified bacterium can break down plastic waste.

Environment

Dome effect leaves Chinese megacities under thick haze

Airborne black carbon lowers an atmospheric boundary, trapping pollution around major cities and worsening air quality, researchers propose.

Oceans

Gulf oil spill could hasten corrosion of shipwrecks

Oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster could hasten the corrosion of historical shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico, new studies of marine microbes suggest.

Environment

Urban heat islands exist even in the Arctic

Arctic cities are a source of warming in the far north. Unlike midlatitude heat islands, poorly insulated buildings — not the sun — are a primary source.

Earth

Ocean’s plastics offer a floating fortress to a mess of microbes

Microbes take up residence on ocean plastics, potentially causing changes in ocean environments.

Environment

Converted milk proteins clean pollution, strike gold

A new membrane uses sticky amyloid proteins to trap contaminants in water.

Environment

PCB levels still high in Europe’s killer whales, smaller dolphins

PCBs banned for decades still show up at extremely high concentrations in Europe’s killer whales and other dolphins.