pollution

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Mutant Enzyme Munches Plastic
Mutant Enzyme 
Munches Plastic
Apr 17, 2018 5:52 AM CDT

Mutant Enzyme Munches Plastic

This could massively reduce waste, scientists say

(Newser) - Some rare good news in the fight against plastic pollution: Scientists working with a plastic-eating microbe discovered in Japan two years ago accidentally created a mutant enzyme that sounds like an environmentalist's dream, the Guardian reports. The enzyme breaks down the PET—polyethylene terephthalate—used in plastic bottles even...

Study Shows Depressing Scope of Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Mass of floating garbage is 'increasing exponentially'

(Newser) - Already the largest floating trash island in the world, researchers have found the mass of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is "increasing exponentially," the Washington Post reports. “I’ve been doing this research for a while, but it was depressing to see,” the Guardian quotes...

This Is What the Air in India's Capital Looks Like

Air pollution hit 'severe' level on air quality index in New Delhi

(Newser) - Over the past two years, New Delhi has earned the dubious distinction of being one of the world's most polluted cities, and that reputation doesn't seem to be changing. A thick gray haze enveloped India's capital on Tuesday as air pollution hit hazardous levels, prompting local officials...

World&#39;s Greatest Killer Isn&#39;t War or Hunger
This Kills More
People Than War,
AIDS, or Smoking
NEW STUDY
Oct 20, 2017 9:14 AM CDT

This Kills More People Than War, AIDS, or Smoking

Pollution, responsible for 9M premature deaths in 2015: study

(Newser) - Environmental pollution—from filthy air to contaminated water—is killing more people every year than all war and violence in the world. More than smoking, hunger, or natural disasters. More than AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined, reports the AP . One out of every six premature deaths in the world in...

The 10 Things Americans Fear the Most

Corruption and ... TrumpCare

(Newser) - 2017 marked "a pronounced shift" in American fears. Christopher Bader of Chapman University, which has released its fourth annual Survey of American Fears , notes "environmental fears" are prominent in the 10 biggest fears of Americans for the first time, per a release . For the third year in a...

Harvey's Environmental Effects Are 'Terrifying'

Toxins are leaching into floodwaters and spewing into the air

(Newser) - "This is going to be a travesty. The contamination could be going anywhere," says a Houston-area resident who lives a block away from an old wood-treating facility flooded by Hurricane Harvey. The New York Times reports the facility is one of two dozen Superfund sites potentially leaking lead,...

Gulf of Mexico's Dead Zone Is Now Bigger Than Ever

Heavy rains in Midwest increased agricultural runoff this year

(Newser) - In 2014, the "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico was found to have shrunk to the size of Connecticut. To the ire of environmentalists, it has since ballooned to its largest size since mapping began in 1985, says NOAA . Covering 8,776 square miles—that's the size...

Is It a Forest or a City? Actually, It's Both

Experimental 'Forest City' to be complete in China in 2020

(Newser) - A new city being built along the Liujiang River in China's Guangxi Province will include houses, recreational spaces, offices, hotels, schools, and a hospital—and yet it's "unlike any before," per Inhabitat . The Liuzhou Forest City, to be connected to the much larger city of Liuzhou...

The Island Is Uninhabited. It Still Looks Like This

Henderson Island has highest density of trash in nature: study

(Newser) - Henderson Island, a South Pacific island that has never been inhabited, is what a researcher calls "one of the most pristine islands left in the world," per Popular Science . It's also one of the most polluted, home to an estimated 37.7 million pieces of plastic waste...

&#39;Hotspot&#39; of Plastic Trash Found in the Arctic
'Hotspot' of Plastic Trash
Found in the Arctic
NEW STUDY
Apr 20, 2017 6:48 PM CDT

'Hotspot' of Plastic Trash Found in the Arctic

Scientists fear effects on animals already under threat

(Newser) - In a further sign that plastic is not-so-slowly taking over our oceans , scientists say they've found a "hotspot" of plastic pollution from bags, bottles, and toys in Arctic waters. And the amount of plastic amassing on the ocean surface, in sea ice, and possibly even on the ocean...

10 US Cities With the Worst Air Pollution

Six are in California

(Newser) - Despite California’s imposing environmental laws, the state has some of the worst air pollution in the country, reports USA Today via the American Lung Association's annual State of the Air report , out Wednesday. While the report names Visala/Hanford, Calif., as having the worst overall year-round pollution, it also...

America&#39;s 7 Most Endangered Rivers
America's 7 Most
Endangered Rivers
Apr 11, 2017 10:12 AM CDT

America's 7 Most Endangered Rivers

Lower Colorado River tops American Rivers' list

(Newser) - "If we don't protect and restore our rivers, we won't have reliable clean drinking water supplies," says a rep for American Rivers , a conservation group out with its annual list of the most endangered rivers in the US. Each river included on the list has regional...

Yoga Pants May Be Key Source of Sea Pollution

Microfibers from comfy clothes could contaminate seafood

(Newser) - Comfortable clothes are emerging as a source of plastic that's increasingly ending up in the oceans and potentially contaminating seafood, according to Gulf Coast researchers. Yoga pants, fleece jackets, sweat-wicking athletic wear, and other garments made from synthetic materials shed microscopic plastic fibers—called "microfibers"—when laundered,...

Arsenic-Spewing Smokestack Plagues Town Decades Later

Residents say EPA botched cleanup of contaminated soil, water

(Newser) - In Montana, there's a smokestack preserved as a state park that nobody can visit because of pollution at the site. Residents rallied to keep the stack, which can be seen from a viewing area about a mile away, as part of the legacy of southwestern Montana's mining days,...

China Has Deadliest Air Pollution? Maybe Not
China Has Deadliest
Air Pollution? Maybe Not
NEW STUDY
Feb 14, 2017 4:15 PM CST

China Has Deadliest Air Pollution? Maybe Not

India's air pollution is just as bad: study

(Newser) - China has long been the world's worst when it comes to air pollution, but a new study suggests that India's trouble is now on par with China's and poised to exceed it. The study from the Health Effects Institute and Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation finds...

In Deepest Part of Ocean, &#39;Sky High&#39; Pollution
In Deepest
Part of Ocean,
'Sky High' Pollution
NEW STUDY
Feb 14, 2017 9:17 AM CST

In Deepest Part of Ocean, 'Sky High' Pollution

Toxic chemicals reach 6 miles deep in ocean: study

(Newser) - At the deepest spot in the ocean, scientists have found beer cans, plastic bags, a tin of Spam, and now tiny crustaceans contaminated with toxic chemicals banned nearly 50 years ago. The "extraordinary levels" of pollution in the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean and the Kermadec Trench...

One 2-Ton Whale Was No Match for 30 Plastic Bags

Bags, other waste found in stomach of euthanized whale in Norway

(Newser) - Norwegian zoologists have found about 30 plastic bags and other plastic waste in the stomach of a beaked whale that had beached on a southwestern Norway coast, the AP reports. The visibly sick, 2-ton goose-beaked whale was euthanized, Terje Lislevand of Bergen University said Friday. "The [whale's] stomach...

Army's New Push: Ammo That Grows Plants

It wants biodegradable bullets for training grounds

(Newser) - At US military training facilities, spent shell casings are scattered across proving grounds, many buried several inches below ground. What if they were biodegradable and contained seeds that would sprout into beneficial plants over time? It may sound a bit utopian, but the US Department of Defense has just released...

Beijing Advises Umbrellas to Shield Against Its Gross Snow

Meteorological Bureau warning means snow days aren't really fun

(Newser) - "The snow is very dirty! The snow is very dirty! The snow is very dirty!" This thrice-emphasized warning from Beijing's Meteorological Bureau appeared on Chinese social media site Weibo on Thursday after the country's Ministry of Environmental Protection announced the city's average air-quality index for...

This Might Be World's First Polluted River

Researchers find riverbed with copper pollution from 7,000 years ago

(Newser) - It's no surprise that humans pollute their waterways, but now it appears we've been doing it a lot longer than thought. In a study published this month in Science of the Total Environment , researchers say they've found evidence of a polluted river from 7,000 years ago....

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