These plastics can easily be disassembled to chemical building blocks. Recycling sounds great in principle (because it is), but a frustrating number of devils lurk in the details. For example, while some materials like aluminum can readily be melted down and turned right back into new aluminum cans, recovered plastics tend to be lower quality […]

A colony in Halley Bay lost more than 10,000 chicks in 2016 and hasn’t recovered. Some adults have relocated. The Antarctic’s second-largest colony of emperor penguins collapsed in 2016, with more than 10,000 chicks lost, and the population has not recovered, according to a new study. Many of the adults relocated nearby, satellite imagery shows, […]

We often feel forced to choose between the environment and the economy. Public debates can leave us thinking we have to decide whether to take action on climate change or support rural economies, and that we can’t possibly do both. Or, can we? What if we took a clear-eyed look at the choices in front […]

Microplastics have been found in some of the most remote aquatic ecosystems on earth, including in the deepest parts of the ocean. Now, scientists have discovered that these tiny pieces of plastic can also be carried by the wind into secluded terrestrial regions, such as the French Pyrenees. The research, led by scientists at the […]

In January 2013, a suffocating, poisonous haze hung over Beijing for four days. The record high levels of fine particulate matter in the air caused airports to close and thousands of coughing, choking citizens to seek hospital care. Although the particulate matter that filled the winter skies resulted from both human and natural emissions, a […]

Hawaiian lawmakers are taking proactive measures to tackle the effects of climate change before it’s too late in a new bid to redevelop Honolulu’s famous Waikiki Beach to protect residents from projected future flooding. Hawaii has seen over half a foot (15 centimeters) rise in sea level over the last few decades and that rises […]

Washington blocked a coal terminal under the Clean Water Act. New rules could subvert that authority. At nearly 17 million acres, the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska is part of the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world. Meanwhile, about a thousand miles south in Longview, Washington, on the banks of the Columbia River, […]

Understand the purpose and importance of national parks and its impact on the environment. The National Park Day reminds us to stop and reflect on the importance of national parks in our day to day lives. National parks are a great source of entertainment for kids and adults alike today. That said, they serve a […]

Forty-three percent of Americans live in places where they’re breathing unsafe air, according to American Lung Association An increasing number of Americans live in places with unhealthy levels of smog or particulate air pollution – both of which are being made worse by climate change, according to a new report. Air quality in the US […]

Yesterday, New York governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags. It is estimated that New York uses 23 billion plastic bags every year with 50 percent of those plastic bags ending up in landfills and around the city and waterways. Governor Cuomo signed the legislation on Earth Day, which […]