Maria Khoza collecting water from the City of Tshwane municipality after a short closure of the a treatment plant caused by a sewage leakage in 2019.
Phill Magakoe/AFP/GettyImages
Laboratory studies suggest sunscreen chemicals are dangerous to coral reefs. But in real world conditions, that’s not true. Bleaching must have another cause.
For the opening of the One Ocean Summit in Brest from February 9 to 11, 2022, France’s marine research institute looks at promising avenues of research to protect the planet’s largest ecosystem.
Wildfire smoke contains a mixture of toxic pollutants that can be harmful to both the lungs and the brain.
Bloomberg Creative/ Bloomberg Creative Photos via Getty Images
Pollution from more frequent floods and wildfires – exacerbated by the warming climate – is threatening human health and poses particular risks to the brain.
Oiled sand in Huntington Beach, Calif., after a 126,000-gallon spill from an offshore oil pipeline.
Nick Ut/Getty Images
Offshore oil drilling has a long history in California, but is highly unpopular today. The latest major spill is likely to fuel efforts to wind down oil and gas production statewide.
Environmental DNA is a promising tool for tracking species in freshwater ecosystems like Oregon’s Elkhorn Creek.
Greg Shine, BLM/Flickr
Rivers are among the most embattled ecosystems on Earth. Researchers are testing a new, inexpensive way to study river health by using eDNA to count the species that rivers harbor.
The remarkably resilient structure is in good health, for now. But work is needed to ensure it is preserved for future generations.
Organic vegetables at the Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens, Goleta, Calif.
Citizen of the Planet/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Four out of five Americans regularly buy some kind of organic food. An expert on the industry says more federal support could greatly expand organic farming and its environmental benefits.
The ocean moderates climate change by absorbing CO₂ emissions, hosts valuable biodiversity and provides food to millions, but all of these services are threatened by pollution and human activities.
New Zealanders pay the costs of poor environmental and infrastructural governance, but have little opportunity to influence policy in the first place. Here’s how that could change.
Deicing salts keep winter roads passable but do a lot of harm in the process.
Gregory Rec/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images
De-icing salts help us get around in winter, but they corrode cars, crack roads and contaminate rivers and lakes. Scientists are working to develop better options by imitating natural antifreezes.
Col de Port, in the French Pyrenees.
Author provided
We think of mountains as remote and little affected by human activity. Unfortunately, the negative impacts of what we do has important implications for nature, wildlife and human society.
Fluorescence images of Crocosphaera.
Mar Benavides
Mar Benavides, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD)
In the ocean, phytoplankton helped by diazotrophs play an outstanding role in withdrawing CO₂ from the atmosphere. But climate change is disturbing this delicate balance.
Salmon crowd a river in Washington State in the US as they swim upstream to spawn.
Danita Delimont/Shutterstock
A new study shows how toxic chemicals like benzene are leaching into water systems after nearby fires. The pipes don’t have to burn – they just have to heat up.