Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Environment”
Garbage patches in the ocean are sobering reminders of humanity’s collective plastic pollution problem. Measuring up to thousands of kilometers across, the patches have been confirmed to exist in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, but not in the Indian—a surprise, given that more plastic waste enters the Indian Ocean than anywhere else on Earth.
Some damage caused by plastic waste is dramatic and well known: every year, plastic is an accomplice in the deaths of millions of marine birds, mammals, turtles, and fish. But as new research suggests, plastic pollution may soon have far more insidious effects. A study led by Renjith VishnuRadhan, a postdoctoral researcher at the … Read the rest
As I descend into dark waters, my blue flashlights reveal a spectacular display of fluorescent colors shining out from some of the corals and marine creatures below. Normally hard to detect with the naked eye, this secret, colorful light show gleams as brightly as an ’80s disco within the beam of my lights.
Fluorescence on … Read the rest
Customs and Border Protection has opened an investigation into the posting of racist and xenophobic messages by current and former Border Patrol agents on a private Facebook group. More than 9,500 people are part of the group, which was exposed by ProPublica on Monday. The Facebook group is filled with racist, homophobic, anti-immigrant and misogynistic … Read the rest
Several hundred people shut down a busy intersection Tuesday in San Francisco, calling on the Trump administration to close detention facilities along the southern border where hundreds of children are being detained.
The rally was part of a national day of action called, “#Closethecamps.” Events were planned in Walnut Creek, Santa Rosa, Las Vegas, El … Read the rest
Traces of potent pot were identified in 2,500-year-old wooden artifacts buried with people who lived along the Silk Road in China.
The earliest direct evidence for human consumption of cannabis as a drug has been discovered in a 2,500-year-old cemetery in Central Asia, according to a research paper published today in in the journal Science
By Ellen Gray, NASA’s Earth Science News Team,
and Jessica Merzdorf, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
This article is part of a series that explores areas of NASA research into Earth’s freshwater and surveys how those advances help people solve real world problems. Learn more.
NASA satellites are a prominent tool for accounting for water, … Read the rest
The severed head of a wolf that lived in Siberia roughly 40,000 years ago has been recovered in an astonishingly intact state, according to the Siberian Times.
Because the head was buried in permafrost, a layer of frozen soil that is ideal for preserving soft tissues, the wolf’s fur, muscles, fangs, and brain remain in … Read the rest
The world is full of many stunning and surreal destinations. There are a number of places on this earth where you have to stop and pinch yourself when you visit. However, there are some places in particular that make you feel that you’ve left the planet entirely. Here are 25 of the most beautiful places
Whale sightings in New York City have seen an incredible rise over this decade, starting at just five in 2011 to a total of 272 this year. Experts say the increased sightings are mostly attributable to an improvement in water quality after legislation such as the Clean Water Act, which restricted