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Researchers have found that aerosol particles in the atmosphere have a bigger impact on cloud cover than previously thought, despite a smaller effect on cloud brightness than expected.
By now, it is well known that the oceans swirl with plastic. More than 8m tonnes pour into the seas every year, spewed out via rivers, dumped along coastlines or abandoned by fishing vessels.
Companion animals are in close contact with human surroundings, and there is growing concern about the effects of harmful substances on the health of pet cats.
Lead has been detected in nesting native kākā chicks in Wellington, but unusually, the birds look to have developed a tolerance to the toxin, a study has found.
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.
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.
Technically, it has been around since bananas came with skin and coconuts with shells. More recently, it has become less good, though.
Plastic Free July has rolled around again and we'll all be hearing about reducing plastic use in our daily lives. Much of the messaging is targeted toward young people through school and youth-focused messaging.
The discovery came as a team of researchers were combing the shores of the Spanish island of Tenerife in the Canaries. Time and again, set against the sparkling waters that lapped the Playa Grande, they spotted clumps of hardened tar, dotted with tiny, colourful fragments of plastic.
Freezing rain is a typical weather disaster in winter and early spring over many regions of the world, even tropical areas. It develops as supercooled water (below 0 °C) in the air and freezes immediately after depositing on cold surfaces. In southern China, freezing rain mainly happens in the m ...
They may be tiny, but they pose a global problem for humans and the environment: microplastic particles. These are plastic particles with a diameter between one micron and five millimeters.
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.
With every passing week, it looks more like a cover-up. The repeated mass strandings of crabs and lobsters on the coast of north-east England, and the ever less plausible explanations provided by the government, are the outward signs of an undersea disaster and a grim new politics.
The Lancet Planetary Health released the report, “Pollution and health: A progress update,” on 17 May 2022. The report finds that pollution is responsible for approximately nine million deaths per year, corresponding to one in six deaths worldwide, making it the world’s largest environmental ris ...
The tobacco industry is a far greater threat than many realise as it is one of the world’s biggest polluters, from leaving mountains of waste to driving global warming, the WHO charged Tuesday.
Restrictions prohibiting the most-polluting vehicles from the centres of four Scottish cities have moved a step closer following the introduction of low emission zones.
Pollution is killing 9 million people a year, a review has found, making it responsible for one in six of all deaths. Toxic air and contaminated water and soil “is an existential threat to human health and planetary health, and jeopardises the sustainability of modern societies”, the review conc ...
Light pollution has decreased as a result of fears over soaring energy costs, a survey by the countryside charity CPRE has suggested.
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.
An international team of experts has called for the creation of an observation network to monitor the effect of airborne plastic pollution on oceans.
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 ...
Since time immemorial, Indigenous peoples worldwide have observed, tracked and memorised all the visible objects in the night sky.
In a recent study, the researchers estimated that there would be between 1 and 2 million people living in poverty. There would be 13 million to 2 million people.
Chemicals found in sunscreen lotions are accumulating in Mediterranean seagrass, a study has found.
We were whaling with cameras, joining a flotilla of a dozen other tourist boats from harbours all around the Salish Sea. It was one of my first trips to the area, in August 2001.
Aerosols are fine particulates that float in the atmosphere. Many are natural, but those haven’t increased or decreased much over the centuries. But human-caused aerosols — emitted from smokestacks, car exhausts, wildfires, and even clothes dryers — have increased rapidly, largely in step with g ...
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 ...
A highly toxic rat poison is killing increasing numbers of birds of prey, figures show, as wildlife campaigners call for its use to be banned outdoors.
Earthworms are a welcome sight for gardeners and farmers because the wriggling invertebrates recycle nutrients from soil, making them more accessible to plants. As worms burrow, they consume almost everything in their path, including microscopic plastic pollution.
Over one-fifth of all plastic produced worldwide is tossed into uncontrolled dumpsites, burned in open pits or leaked into the environment. In Australia, 1.1 million tonnes of plastic is placed in the market, yet just 16% (179,000 tonnes) is recovered.
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.
Plastic pollution is accumulating worldwide, on land and in the oceans. According to one widely cited estimate, by 2025, 100 million to 250 million metric tons of plastic waste could enter the ocean each year.
Water companies discharged raw sewage into English rivers 372,533 times last year, a slight reduction on the previous year.
At first, it was a simple question: what exactly did oil pollution do to gray seals off the coast of Norway?
Whether it’s mimicking venomous creatures, or shooting jets of water at aquarium light switches to turn them off, octopuses are nothing if not resourceful.
On any given weekday, the London Underground sees up to five million passengers hopping on and off its network. Its 11 lines serve 272 stations, and at peak times there can be over 500 trains hurtling around beneath the streets of London.
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.
Despite the alarming increase in environmental noise pollution, particularly road traffic noise, in developing countries, there seems to be no awareness regarding the long-term impacts of noise, specifically traffic noise, on the health outcomes of individuals exposed to excessive noise.
Deaths attributable to PM 2.5 pollution in India have increased by 2.5 times over the last two decades, according to a new report by the Centre for Science and Environment.
Years of artisanal mining along the Madre de Dios River and its tributaries have left their marks, both seen and unseen. Miners, swarming to the region in a modern-day goldrush, have cleared away pockets of this sliver of the Peruvian Amazon.
Pollution by toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in America’s aquifer system has led to widespread contamination of private and public drinking water wells, data from a new study by the US Geological Survey finds.
Whether it’s found in a cup of hot joe, a chunk of chocolate, or an energy drink, caffeine is one of our favorite tipples — but alas, all the mild psychostimulant contained in those daily “pick me ups” has to go somewhere.
Less than 10 percent of the plastic used across the world is recycled, the OECD said Tuesday, calling for "coordinated and global solutions" ahead of expected talks on an international plastics treaty.
Wanting to keep plastics in circulation is currently en vogue. According to Magdalena Klotz, however, high collection rates are of little use if recyclate only replaces virgin material to a limited extent.
There is limited data on the extent and impact of marine litter in the Western Indian Ocean region; Flipflopi and partners will map the extent of marine litter in the ocean and around the UNESCO heritage site of the Lamu archipelago; the baseline study will be used to inform potential interventi ...
From bags caught in hedgerows to bottles bobbing in the ocean, the visible signs of our single-use plastic addiction are everywhere. We all know that plastic pollution is a big problem. But what is less talked about is exactly how plastic contributes to global warming.
Scientists have warned that 14 million tonnes of plastic end up in oceans every year and only less 10 per cent of the world's plastic waste is recycled
People fishing along the banks of the White River as it winds through Indianapolis sometimes pass by ominous signs warning about eating the fish they catch.
Wood burning in homes produces more small particle pollution than all road traffic in the UK, according to revised government data.
Humanity’s drugs have polluted rivers across the entire world and pose “a global threat to environmental and human health”, according to the most comprehensive study to date.
Protecting ocean ecosystems from plastic pollution is one of the defining environmental imperatives of our time.
More than eight million tons of plastic end up in the oceans every year—a serious danger for the environment and health. Biodegradable bioplastics could provide an alternative.
When scientists found women in the remote Faroe Islands had unusually high concentrations of toxic industrial chemicals in their breast milk, it seemed a surprising discovery.
The clear blue skies of the first lockdown are being crisscrossed by contrails once again. These white lines are caused by ice crystals that form on the huge numbers of tiny, ultrafine particles that come from aircraft engines.
Amid the smog, butterflies, bees and other insects are having a hard time smelling the flowers they so dutifully pollinate.
The road meandering towards Gaza Valley is notorious for the stench of pollution choking the plant and animal life that once flourished in the Palestinian enclave's biggest wetland.
Aiming to get vendors and buyers accustomed to using an alternative to plastic, the Goa State Biodiversity Board (GSBB) has distibuted 15,000 cloth bags in different markets and traditional vegetabel sellers operating along highways across the state.
Often quickly disposed of but lasting in the environment for tens to hundreds of years, plastic litter pollutes our seas worldwide, creating a serious threat to wildlife and contributing to climate change as they break down.
Wildlife group WWF said on Tuesday that plastic has infiltrated all parts of the ocean, calling for urgent efforts to create an international treaty on plastics.
In this file photo taken on 21 January, 2020 a man paddles on a boat as plastic bags float on the surface of the Buriganga river in Dhaka. WWF sought to bolster the case for action in its latest report, which synthesises more than 2,000 separate scientific studies on the impacts of plastic pollu ...
Drinking water containing dangerously high levels of toxic chemicals has been pumped into the homes of more than 1,000 people, the Guardian can reveal.
PFAS are a family of thousands of human-made substances – nicknamed “forever chemicals” because they do not break down in the environment – that have been widely used since the 1940s in a huge range of everyday consumer products and industrial processes.
THE beauty of birds soaring and swooping across the sky signalled we were nearing an alien sight in nature - elephants feasting on deadly plastic at a landfill site.
Container ship accidents at sea should be considered the “oil spills of our time”, warned environmental organisations that found a toxic mix of metals, carcinogenic and other harmful chemicals on plastic washed up on Sri Lanka’s beaches after a cargo ship fire.
Dumping plastic in waterways is “criminal” and must end if humanity wants to save the planet for future generations, Pope Francis said in a television interview on Sunday.
The ice rinks that play host to figure skating and speedskating competitions at the Beijing Olympics will also be putting a major environmental problem on the world stage—the potent greenhouse gases often lurking in refrigerators, air conditioners and other cooling systems.
At the end of February, the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) will tackle a challenging task: the creation of a landmark treaty to control plastic pollution worldwide.
Geospatial scientists have found a way to detect plastic waste on remote beaches that are not visible in conventional satellite images, bringing us closer to global monitoring options.
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.
COVID-19 showed that the world was unprepared to cope with a surge in medical waste — but it also presents an opportunity to fix a problem that has huge implications for mitigating climate change, fighting pollution, and creating resilient health systems.
Peruvians are racing to save animals caught up in a devastating oil spill that has been blamed on a volcanic explosion near Tonga. Environment Minister Ruben Ramirez has said that some 6,000 barrels of oil were spilled in the incident, which has left oil on 21 beaches.
When Adnan Sheikh took his family on holiday to Sri Lanka last October, he booked them into a hotel for two weeks in Sarakkuwa beach, just off the coast from where the X-Press Pearl cargo ship caught fire and sank five months previously.
Air pollution is causing problems for insects by preventing them from sniffing out the crops and wildflowers that depend on them, new research suggests.
Decades-old polar ice contains significant amounts of nanoscale plastic particles. Studying ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica, an international team of scientists have identified several types of nanoplastic particles, including particles that originate from tires.
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.
The Pampilla Refinery, part of the Spanish company Repsol, said there had been a "limited spill" of oil off the coast of Callao and Ventanilla districts near Lima Saturday due to the violent waves produced by the eruption on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.
The cocktail of chemical pollution that pervades the planet now threatens the stability of global ecosystems upon which humanity depends, scientists have said.
Emergency use of a product containing the chemical thiamethoxam has been authorised in England because of a virus which affects sugar beets.
Stuffed garbage bags float gently down the Bisnumati River in the western part of Kathmandu. The river, sacred to Nepal’s Hindu and Buddhist populations, is one of the main waterways running through the Kathmandu Valley. Brownish water empties from pipes directly into the river: unfiltered sewag ...
Londoners should avoid strenuous physical activity on Friday due to “very high” levels of pollution, experts have warned. The poor air quality is the result of an intense area of high pressure covering western Europe. The associated lack of air movement means emissions from vehicles and other po ...
Sri Lanka (AP) — Conservationists and veterinarians are warning that plastic waste in an open landfill in eastern Sri Lanka is killing elephants in the region, after two more were found dead over the weekend.
Raw sewage, microplastics and slurry are coursing through all of England's rivers, putting health and nature at risk, a parliamentary report concludes.
A single tumble dryer could be responsible for releasing 120m micro plastic fibres into the air each year, a study has found. Tumble dryers are one of the main sources of microfibre pollution in the atmosphere, according to research by Prof Kenneth Leung, director of the State Key Laboratory of ...
Outside a small brick house shared by four families, Daniela Prada, who is heavily pregnant, gathers guava leaves to make a tea for her two-year-old son.
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.
In a viral video from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, wildlife conservationists are seen examining wild elephant dung to study the gentle giant’s diet and health.
A team of researchers affiliated with a host of institutions in the U.S. has found that an increase in wildfires in western parts of the United States has led to increases in two kinds of air pollutants in areas both near to the fires and far away.
Anti-fogging sprays and cloths often used to prevent condensation on eyeglasses from wearing a mask or on face shields may contain high levels of potentially toxic PFAS “forever chemicals”, according to a new study led by Duke University.
Microplastics from Africa and North America found airborne in French Pyrenees, 2,877 metres above sea level
Three conservation groups have filed formal notice of their intent to sue the Environmental Protection Agency if it doesn't take steps to protect manatees from water pollution in Florida
United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP’s) report shows that plastic pollution leakage into aquatic ecosystems has grown sharply in recent years and is projected to more than double by 2030, with dire consequences for human health, the global economy, biodiversity and the climate.
Surprising discovery shows scale of plastic pollution and reveals enzymes that could boost recycling
As poorer nations pay the price for wealthy countries’ pollution, fighting climate injustice is a moral obligation.
Termed “neopelagic communities”, these colonies are thriving in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and going where the current flows
The scourge of unsightly images of plastic refuse littering our beaches and oceans always receives much attention. But a new report by the FAO suggests that the land we use to grow our food is contaminated with far larger quantities of plastic pollution, posing an even greater threat to food sec ...
Participants discussed how plastic trade is affecting communities and the environment, as well as the role of trade policy in tackling the crisis.
Agricultural soils may receive greater quantities of microplastics than oceans, indicates a recent research by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Disposable plastic is terrible for the environment. Alternatives are needed – and they do exist. Plastic that’s more sustainable is being developed in Germany. The result is biodegradable packaging that decomposes without polluting nature.
Different ideas have been floated for how to deal with this environmental disaster. Now, scientists are starting to realise that a raft of coastal species, typically strangers to the open ocean, are beginning to colonize this new, plastic habitat.
At 42m metric tons of plastic waste a year, the US generates more waste than all EU countries combined