Do environmental regulations help or hurt the economy? Democrats and Republicans sharply disagree. Six of our experts consider whether we have too much or too little regulation.
The digital revolution is great, until it’s time to upgrade.
E-waste image from www.shutterstock.com
The oceans are filled with sounds produced by animals. However, a recent study shows that ocean sounds are diminishing due to nutrient pollution and ocean acidification.
An expert panel has announced that we truly are living in the geological era defined by humanity’s fingerprint. But is it as simple as that, and does it leave “Anthropocene science” open to attack?
Artisanal small-scale mining in Africa competes for resources with farming.
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Without careful policy consideration the rise of artisanal and small-scale mining in resource rich African countries stands to disturb agricultural activity and associated livelihoods.
News about the sewage and pollution in Guanabara Bay in Rio have caused health concerns among Olympic athletes.
Ricardo Moraes/Reuters
Wastewater treatment systems around the world are hamstrung by outdated tests that don’t identify a growing array of pathogens or identify the sources of pollutants.
A mountaintop removal site in Kentucky photographed in 2012.
docsearls/flickr
Africa has largely been ignored when it comes to official global air quality programmes. Yet low-income countries like many of those in Africa are particularly affected by air pollution.
Clean water can help to break the link between poor hygiene and eye diseases such as trachoma.
Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA)
As Australia joins a New York summit to discuss the UN Sustainable Development Goals, it still faces questions over whether it is meeting water standards at home.
Coal dust can harm marine environments.
AAP Image/Dan Peled
Coal dust and oil can spread toxic chemicals hundreds of kilometres out to sea. But Australia’s monitoring guidelines do not meet the standards used in countries such as the United States.
You’ve heard of cap-and-trade schemes for greenhouse gases. Perhaps we also need one to limit the amount of fertiliser runoff onto the Great Barrier Reef.
Nice to see you: parrotfishes prey on seaweed, which consume seaweeds that can outcompete, smother or even poison corals.
Corinne Fuchs
A combination of factors – pollution, disease and overfishing – is harming corals but scientists have found clues to effective treatment by studying corals’ microbiome.
The city of Phalodi has set a temperature record for India, hitting 51°C. Until now, India’s smog problem has curbed extreme temperatures. But that could be about to change.