pollution

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'Tide' of Plastic Pellets Washes Up in Spain
Spain Faces 'Tide' of Nurdles

Spain Faces 'Tide' of Nurdles

The tiny plastic pellets spilled off of Portugal prompts environmental emergency

(Newser) - Volunteers on the northern coast of Spain are painstakingly picking up what could amount to hundreds of thousands of tiny plastic pellets after millions spilled from a cargo ship, raising concerns of an environmental disaster. Up to six containers carrying tires, tomato sauce, plastic wrap, and some 55,000 pounds...

12 Richest People Cause More Pollution Than 2M Homes

New Oxfam report points the finger at the 1% for more carbon emissions than poorest 2/3 of world

(Newser) - If you're feeling guilty that you haven't yet bought an EV or installed solar panels on your roof to cut down on your portion of greenhouse gases, you're (somewhat) off the hook—you can blame the 1% for a lot of that pollution. A new Oxfam International...

QR Codes Set to Replace Confusing Recycling Symbols

Recycling scans on packaging will give more detailed info by location

(Newser) - What you can recycle depends on where you live, making the labels on paper, glass, metal, and plastic confusing. The Consumer Brand's Association (CBA) aims to remedy that using pretty simple technology. Axios reports that the group is working with brands to add QR codes to their packaging that...

Earth Has Breached Its 'Safe Operating Space for Humanity'

Planet's climate, biodiversity, and other key measurments 'are all out of whack'

(Newser) - Earth is exceeding its "safe operating space for humanity" in six of nine key measurements of its health, and two of the remaining three are headed in the wrong direction, a new study said. Earth's climate, biodiversity, land, fresh water, nutrient pollution, and "novel" chemicals (human-made compounds...

Company Will Pay After Ship Sullies US Waters

The Star Maia dumped oily bilge water without properly processing it, lied about it

(Newser) - A foreign shipping company that sullied US waters will pay for doing so. US officials on Tuesday said the Germany- and Singapore-based Zeaborn Ship Management would pay a $2 million fine for dumping oily bilge water—which USA Today describes as "a mix of filthy water, lubricants, grease, cleaning...

They Grow Pot Illegally, Leave Behind an 'Eyesore'

Oregon Legislature passes bill to make landowners responsible for messy aftermath of illicit grows

(Newser) - Oregon has long been known as a mecca for high-quality marijuana, but that reputation has come with a downside: illegal growers who offer huge amounts of cash to lease or buy land, then leave behind pollution, garbage, and a drained water table. Now, a bill passed by the Oregon Legislature...

Mussels Excreting Microplastics May Help Clean the Ocean

The way some bivalves excrete substances could make it easier to clear them out

(Newser) - In fighting one of the most elusive pollutants in our oceans, scientists have found an unexpected ally: the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis). Science reports that this hungry little filter-feeding mollusk isn't just impervious to the trillions of microplastics littering the Earth's oceans; it may hold a solution to...

This Was Beijing on Friday
This Was Beijing on Friday

This Was Beijing on Friday

Chinese capital all but disappears amid a dust storm and heavy pollution

(Newser) - Skyscrapers in Beijing disappeared into the haze and air quality plummeted as China’s capital was enveloped in a dust storm and heavy pollution on Friday. Concentrations of the tiny PM2.5 particles that can reach deep into the lungs and bloodstream entered a dangerous range on air quality monitoring...

Famous 'Crying Indian' Ad Is Being Retired

Anti-pollution spot from 1970s has been acquired by Native American group

(Newser) - Since its debut in 1971, an anti-pollution ad showing a man in Native American attire shed a single tear at the sight of smokestacks and litter taking over a once unblemished landscape has become an indelible piece of TV pop culture. It's been referenced over the decades since on...

This Whale Sucks In an Astounding Amount of Microplastics

Blue whales, as well as other baleens, are ingesting millions of the tiny particles daily

(Newser) - Baleen whales —which include blue whales and humpbacks—are a type of whale that uses special filters instead of teeth to collect and eat small prey like krill and fish. Now, in a research first, scientists examining the consumption habits of these marine mammals have found they're...

This Is a 'Wake-Up Call' on Danger of Air Pollution
This Is a 'Wake-Up Call'
on Danger of Air Pollution
NEW STUDY

This Is a 'Wake-Up Call' on Danger of Air Pollution

Researchers discover how fine particulate matter triggers gene mutations to form lung cancer

(Newser) - For some of us, cells in our lungs mutate with age. These mutations seem perfectly healthy—until they come up against air pollution. The result is rapid changes in the cells that turn them cancerous, which could explain why people who've never smoked still develop lung cancer, according to...

Some Elephants Are Pooping Out Plastic Forks
Some Elephants Are
Turning Into Plastic Polluters
new study

Some Elephants Are Turning Into Plastic Polluters

Some consume plastic in dumps then excrete it in forests, study finds

(Newser) - Much has been written about humans' consumption of microplastics . Ditto on the impacts of plastic waste on our oceans . Now comes a report on the plastics—items a heck of a lot bigger than microplastics—that elephants eat and how deep into otherwise unspoiled forests they end up depositing it....

Plastic Recycling Is a Hoax
Plastic Recycling Is a Hoax
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Plastic Recycling Is a Hoax

Environmental groups say the plastics industry has been lying all along

(Newser) - Last year, Americans recycled at most 6% of their plastic waste, according to a report released Wednesday by a pair of environmental groups. It's a number that's even worse than it used to be. Every American produced an average 218 pounds of plastic waste in 2018, per Reuters,...

There's a Lot Less Trash in Lake Tahoe Now

It won't alter systemic problems in the lake, but it sure doesn't hurt

(Newser) - Lake Tahoe is now home to 25,000 fewer pounds of trash, thanks to Clean Up the Lake, a California nonprofit that recently finished clearing garbage to a depth of 25 feet along all 72 miles of the lake’s shores, per the Guardian. Over the course of a year,...

Not the Loch Ness Monster in Detroit, but Something Else Amazing

What may be first river otter seen in 100 years in Detroit River shows water pollution is decreasing

(Newser) - "As a PhD student in marine ecology, Eric Ste Marie knew what he saw was rare." That sighting in the Detroit River last month, as described by WXYZ , is now making headlines, and it may be the first of its kind in a century. Ste Marie, a 27-year-old...

Awful-Smelling Foam Is Invading This City

Toxic foam from polluted river has become the bane of Mosquera, a suburb of Bogota, Colombia

(Newser) - Playing in foam is usually fun—think bubble baths when you were a kid. But in the streets of one suburb of Bogota, Colombia, residents flee toxic clouds of the stuff wafting over from a nearby polluted river, bringing an unpleasant odor and suspected to be the cause of a...

Amid War in Ukraine, a New Looming Concern

Contamination of nation's water, air, and soil could take years to assess and clean up, experts warn

(Newser) - Death and destruction isn't all that's been left in the wake of Russia's unrelenting war on Ukraine. Contamination of the nation's water, air, and soil are also now a concern, and it's an issue that could take years to remedy. Fires, explosions, building collapses, and...

Blame for World's Plastic 'Deluge' Lands Squarely on US

We're the biggest contributor to the waste problem, per new NAS analysis commissioned by Congress

(Newser) - There's a "deluge" of plastic mucking up the Earth's oceans, with the United States serving as the biggest contributor to it. That's according to a new National Academy of Sciences report ordered by Congress that's imploring the US to come up with a plan to...

Manatees' Die-Off Continues in Florida
Manatee Record in Florida
Is a Grim One
UPDATED

Manatee Record in Florida Is a Grim One

Annual death toll for the marine creatures tops 1K, highest number since at least the '70s

(Newser) - Update: The manatee die-off continues in the Sunshine State, with a grim new record: For the first time, annual deaths of the marine mammal have exceeded 1,000. Per the AP , the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reported on Wednesday that 1,003 manatees have died this year so...

That Foam Is Toxic. They Entered It Anyway

Hindus flocked to India's Yamuna River for a religious festival this week

(Newser) - It sounds innocuous enough: traveling to a tributary of India's Ganges to bathe as part of a Hindu ritual. But as CNN reports, some sections of the Yamuna River were far from ripe for bathing in this week. What's being described as white toxic foam currently cover portions...

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