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The number of clean air zones across Europe has risen 40% since 2019, forcing older and more polluting vehicles off the road, according to new research based on EU data.
Hundreds of kilometres of mangroves and coral reefs, as well as humpback whale breeding grounds, are under threat from an oil spill that has polluted more than 2,400km of Brazil’s north-eastern coast in the last two months.
More than a month after Peru’s worst ever environmental disaster on its coastline there are few signs of reckoning for Repsol, the Spanish energy company that manages the refinery where more than 10,000 barrels of crude oil spewed into the Pacific Ocean after a routine tanker discharge went awry.
The enclosures stretch the length of an Olympic-size swimming pool, but from above they appear as floating dots scattered across the ocean. Inside, fish mill about as the submerged pens sway to the currents of the open sea.
In the first comprehensive report of its kind, experts describe how the impacts of ocean pollution are directly harmful to human health, and plastic is only part of the problem. The researchers found that toxic ocean pollution endangers the health and well-being of more than three billion people.
Long-lived banned industrial chemicals may be threatening the fertility of male porpoises living off the UK. Polychlorinated byphenyls (PCBs) were phased out decades ago, but can build up in whales, dolphins and porpoises.
Ocean pollution is widespread, worsening, and poses a clear and present danger to human health and wellbeing. But the extent of this danger has not been widely comprehended – until now. Our recent study provides the first comprehensive assessment of the impacts of ocean pollution on human health.
Billions of these tiny plastic pellets are floating in the ocean, causing as much damage as oil spills, yet they are still not classified as hazardous
Light pollution is hindering a starry view of the night sky for more than half of people across England, a census has found. Fifty-seven per cent of stargazers struggled to see more than 10 stars, while just 2% of participants said they experienced “truly dark skies” enabling them to count more ...
Generally, the word pollution conjures images of billowing smokestacks, oily water and trash-filled highway medians. But for whales, dolphins and porpoises, a subtler and perhaps more sinister source of pollution also poisons their realm: human-made sound.
The study presents a new line of research, since so far there have been very few studies that have focused on loud and intermittent noises of a recreational nature, as is the case of traditional festivals, and the effects they cause on urban fauna.
The coast off Baltimore in west Cork will serve as the scientific hotspot for a major project monitoring how noise impacts whales, dolphins, and porpoises.
When tractors laden with pesticides and other chemicals start spraying the vineyards that produce fruity Bordeaux wines, Marie-Lys Bibeyran's phone starts to ring.
Reports of a second breach at a wastewater reservoir in central Florida are “unsubstantiated”, a state agency said, as workers nonetheless battled to prevent hundreds of millions of gallons of contaminated water causing a catastrophic flood.
Microplastics from Africa and North America found airborne in French Pyrenees, 2,877 metres above sea level
Worldwide, eight million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year, despite greater awareness of recycling and the use of disposable plastic.
Over the last year, COVID-19 lockdowns brought blue skies to the most polluted regions of the globe, while wildfires exacerbated by a drier and hotter climate sent smoke to the normally clean skies of cities thousands of miles away. The conflicting events offer two visions of the future. The dif ...
Metal copper from agricultural runoff and marine paint leaching from boat hulls poses an emerging threat to soft coral sea fans in the waters around Puerto Rico.
Thousands more fish have died in a key river system in drought-hit eastern Australia just weeks after up to a million were killed, authorities and locals said Monday, sparking fears an ecological disaster is unfolding.
In the summer of 2021, a toxic, smoky haze stemming from Western wildfires wafted across large parts of the United States, while hurricanes wrought extensive flooding in the southern and eastern U.S. Air quality websites such as AirNow warned of hazardous conditions on the U.S. East Coast from W ...
Neonicotinoids are the most widely used group of insecticides globally, used in plant protection products to control harmful insects.
Climate change will force 45 per cent of the fish stocks that cross through two or more exclusive economic zones to shift significantly from their historical habitats and migration paths by 2100, a challenge that may lead to international conflict, according to a new UBC study.
A plant-based material may be the solution to replace single-use plastics, according to a team from the University of Cambridge, UK (1). The team has developed a new sustainable and scalable material, which is as strong as standard plastic.
Many countries have agreed to stronger limits on greenhouse gas emissions in the lead-up to international climate talks next week, a crucial step in avoiding catastrophic storms, floods and droughts.
In 2019, Ikea announced it had developed curtains that it claimed could “break down common indoor air pollutants”. The secret, it said, was the fabric’s special coating. “What if we could use textiles to clean the air?” asked Ikea’s product developer, Mauricio Affonso, in a promotional video for ...
Dozens of birds have been killed through poisoning amid concerns that methods to eradicate a growing mouse plague in eastern Australia are hitting other wildlife.
Humans engaging in outdoor activities during the coronavirus pandemic are leaving a trail of trash in their wake, threatening Turkey's mountain ecosystems, a Turkish marine scientist and mountaineer warned Friday.
The global pipeline of new coal power plants has collapsed since the 2015 Paris climate agreement, according to research that suggests the end of the polluting energy source is in sight.
The Mohammed VI Foundation for the Environment has launched its 2019 beach cleaning campaign, under the hashtag “#b7arblaplastic” (“#beacheswithoutplastic”).
More than 1.56 billion face masks used in 2020 will make their way into our planet’s oceans, joining literal tonnes of other plastic pollution, according to an estimate by OceansAsia.
With the recent fracking boom causing low gas prices, fossil fuel companies are seeking other ways to bolster their profits—by making more plastic. Just as the world is starting to address its enormous plastic pollution problem, these companies are doubling down on plastic, with huge potential c ...
Plastics that are for one-time use are called Single Use plastics, like utensils, wrappers, and other items. Out of the 300 million tons of plastics that are produced yearly, there is 50% contributed by single-use plastics.
The damaging effect of plastic waste in the ocean is well-documented but new research shows this polluting material could also make soils significantly less fertile.
From the Great Pacific garbage patch to inland rivers, plastics are among the most widespread contaminants on Earth. Microplastics—particles of plastic smaller than five millimeters—are especially pervasive. As they build up in Earth's waters, microplastics are also becoming a permanent part of ...
Pollutants like microplastics may be causing growth defects in fish, including skeletal deformities, in the Cauvery River, a new study reveals. Published in the journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, the study was led by Upendra Nongthomba, Professor at the Department of Molecular Repro ...
Like the food particles that clump together in the middle of a kitchen sink, plastic debris is gathering in the deepest reaches of the ocean.
An extensive Nordic research project has looked at microplastics in marine bivalves from 100 sites spread throughout much of the Nordic waters. The study showed that microplastics were found in four of the five bivalve species investigated, and that there was a huge variation in the occurrence a ...
Microplastic pollution has been discovered lodged deep in the lungs of living people for the first time. The particles were found in almost all the samples analysed.
Microplastics flushed into the oceans are causing mussels to lose their grip, a new study warned. The tiny particles of plastic fragments are affecting the ability of mussels to attach themselves to their surroundings and triggering an immune response in the mollusc.
Microplastics are found in the most remote places on land and in the ocean as well as in our food. Now several studies around the world have confirmed they are also present in the air we breathe.
Nothing seems safe from plastic contamination. A new study by NSF-funded researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography suggests there could be a million times more pieces of plastic in the ocean than previously estimated.
Microplastic pollution spans the world, according to new studies showing contamination in the UK’s lake and rivers, in groundwater in the US and along the Yangtze river in China and the coast of Spain.
Microplastics pollution is causing disruption and behavioural changes among hermit crab populations, researchers have claimed. Academics from Queen’s University Belfast and Liverpool John Moores University authored the paper, which focused on the impact on the crabs, which require shells from sn ...
[SÃO PAULO] The harmful effects of microplastics on the marine environment are widely documented.
Microplastic pollution in the world’s oceans is a growing problem, and most studies of the issue have focused on land-based sources, such as discarded plastic bags or water bottles. Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology have linked microplastics in China’s Beibu G ...
Nearly 90 percent of the 200 cities beset by the world's highest levels of deadly micro-pollution are in China and India, with most of the rest in Pakistan and Indonesia, researchers reported Tuesday.
As the plastic particles can travel to the regions of the planet that are still largely untouched and remote could affect the surface climate and the health of the local ecosystem.
The Great Bubble Barrier is just that – a wall of bubbles. It gurgles across the water in a diagonal screen, pushing plastic to one side while allowing fish and other wildlife to pass unharmed.
Tiny mealworms may hold part of the solution to our giant plastics problem. Not only are they able to consume various forms of plastic, as previous Stanford research has shown, they can eat Styrofoam containing a common toxic chemical additive and still be safely used as protein-rich feedstock f ...
"From where we live, we could see that the MV Wakashio had run aground on the reefs," - 39-year-old Bimsen Beeharry.Life was going well for 39-year-old Mauritian fisherman Bimsen Beeharry when COVID-19 hit in early 2020, prompting authorities to impose a lockdown and suspend fishing. The COVID-1 ...