Environment & Pollution Articles

Ozone hits a new low

By Stephen Ornes / October 19, 2011
Ozone

Scientists discover a major thinning in the protective atmosphere over Arctic

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Cleaning clothes dirties oceans

By Stephen Ornes / October 5, 2011
coast

Washing polyester fabrics sends plastics to sea

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Swirling seas of plastic trash

By Amanda Rose Martinez / June 22, 2011
The ocean dumps literally tons of plastic trash on Hawaii’s Kamilo Beach each year. Credit: Amanda Rose Martinez

Long-lasting oceanic garbage threatens marine life

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Life beneath the ‘berg

By Stephen Ornes / June 1, 2011
Icebergs support thriving communities of living organisms above and below the water’s surface.

Scientists find Antarctic icebergs play a new and bigger role in the climate cycle

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Busy bacteria leave big mark

By Stephen Ornes / May 4, 2011
Under Untersee: A diver collects specimens from stromatolites, cone-shaped mounds built by bacteria, on the floor of Antarctica’s Lake Untersee. © 2011 Dale T. Andersen - http://daleandersen.seti.org

Earth’s earliest life-forms built mounds on an Antarctic lake bottom

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Floor of Gulf got slimed

By Stephen Ornes / April 7, 2011
Last year, scientists discovered a kind of oil-eating bacteria, shown in this picture, in the plumes of oil rising from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil from BP spill was likely dragged down by bacterial goo

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Planting seeds for better plastic

By Emily Sohn / February 9, 2011

Scientists are working to put the bio in plastics

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Underwater Racket

By Emily Sohn / February 2, 2011
As more ships traverse the oceans, the volume of sound traveling underwater is increasing. This change can affect humpback whales and other residents who use sound in their daily lives. (miblue5/iStock)

The oceans are getting louder, and scientists want to know what that means for marine residents

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Lakes, too, feel global warming

By Stephen Ornes / December 6, 2010

There’s no doubt: In the last few decades, the average temperature on Earth has been higher than it’s been in hundreds of years. Around the world, people are starting to measure the effects of global warming — and trying to …

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What’s in your receipt?

By Stephen Ornes / November 29, 2010

Here’s one way to avoid BPA this holiday season

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