After making worldwide headlines with the story of the Pacific “garbage island”, researchers were sent a photo of the same beach, white sand free of litter, as recently as 1992.
Reusing and recycling of plastic waste makes more sense for Kenya than a ban.
Reuters/Luc Gnago
Tiny fibres from washing machines are being eaten by a multitude of marine species.
Scientists know that many toxins, such as those found in cigarettes, cause most lung cancers, whose cells are depicted here. But isolating causes for other cancers is an ongoing effort.
Raj Creationzs/Shutterstock
What causes cancer? A scary truth might be that we have created an environment for it. An anthropologist’s search for answers to her own diagnosis raises questions for all of us.
Your recycling doesn’t have to be sparkling clean.
Monticello/Shutterstock.com
Many people are confused about what they can and can’t recycle, and whether they need to clean everything before it goes in the bin. The best plan is to check the details with your local council.
Heavy gray smog blankets northeastern China, including Beijing and Tianjin, on Dec. 18, 2016 during a five-day air pollution ‘red alert.’
NASA Earth Observatory
New research shows that importing goods from low-wage countries has helped US manufacturers shift production to less-polluting industries, produce less waste and spend less on pollution control.
The researchers found nearly 38 million pieces of plastic rubbish on Henderson Island, in one of the remotest parts of the ocean.
Jennifer Lavers
Plastics pose a major threat to seabirds and other animals, and most don’t ever break down - they just break up. Every piece of petrochemical-derived plastic ever made still exists on the planet.
Disruption of the thyroid hormones can prevent tadpoles from becoming frogs.
Coffee/Pixabay
Research shows thyroid hormone, which is required for brain development in all vertebrates, is severely affected by chemicals present in our everyday cleaning products, clothing and cookware.
Lee Blaney, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Ingredients from shampoo, sunscreens and other personal care products are turning up in water supplies. Some are toxic or cause hormonal damage to aquatic life, and could threaten human health.
A new documentary highlights the plight of marine animals living among the estimated 5 trillion pieces of plastic rubbish generated by humans.
Popular tourist destination Kuta beach in Bali, Indonesia, is regularly covered in waste, most of it plastic that washes ashore during the rainy season. This picture was taken on February 15, 2016.
Wira Suryantala/Antara/Reuters
Marine plastic pollution is a global problem. Bali’s beaches present prime examples and an opportunity to study the socio-economic effects this has on coastal communities.
Microplastics are a major ecological concern causing damage to marine life.
Shutterstock
Microfibres and microplastics are a massive problem for marine life. Once ingested, they
severely affect marine animals ability to eat. There’s also concerns about their toxicity.
A family catches Mardi Gras beads during the Krewe of Thoth parade down St. Charles Avenue in 2000.
Reuters
Each Mardi Gras, 25 million pounds of beads hit the streets of New Orleans. One researcher went to the Chinese factories that make them – and spoke to the workers who believe the beads will be given to royalty.
A trench amphipod, Hirondellea gigas, from the deepest place on Earth: Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench (10,890m).
Alan Jamieson, Newcastle University
Up to 236,000 tonnes of microplastic enter our oceans each year.
Many seabird species, including the blue petrel (Halobaena caerulea), consume plastic at sea because algae on the plastic produce an odor that resembles their food sources.
J.J. Harrison
Thousands of seabirds die every year from consuming plastic trash in the oceans. But why do they eat plastic? New research shows that it produces odors that help some species find prey.
Around 94% of litter on South African beaches is made of plastic, of which 77% is packaging.
Peter Ryan