Underwater seagrass in coastal areas appear to trap plastic pollution in natural bundles of fiber known as “Neptune balls,” researchers have found. The Guardian reports: With no help from humans, the swaying plants — anchored to shallow seabeds — may collect nearly 900 million plastic items in the Mediterranean alone every year, a study reported in the journal Scientific Reports said….
Tag: pollution
New study finds polyester fibers throughout the Arctic Ocean
A new study has found that pollution from microplastics is widespread in the Arctic Ocean, and 92% of those particles are minuscule synthetic fibers from our clothes. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/polyester-fibers-arctic-ocean-microplastic-pollution…
2020 tied for warmest year on record
2020 was Earth’s hottest year in the 140-year record, effectively tying 2016, the previous record-holder. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/2020-tied-for-warmest-global-year-on-record…
Microplastics found across the Arctic may be fibres from laundry
Polyester fibres, probably from textile manufacturing and laundry, make up the majority of microplastic pollution in the Arctic Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2264585-microplastics-found-across-the-arctic-may-be-fibres-from-laundry/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
We’ve already blown past the warming targets set by the Paris climate agreement, study finds
A new study shows that due to pollution already released, Earth will eventually blow past Paris goals. But that doesn’t mean all is lost. Source: https://www.livescience.com/already-too-late-to-meet-paris-agreement-climate-goals.html
Air pollution from chemical plants made Hurricane Harvey worse
Much of the devastating flooding caused by 2017’s Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas may have been triggered by aerosol pollution released from nearby petrochemical plants Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2264015-air-pollution-from-chemical-plants-made-hurricane-harvey-worse/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Rosamund Kissi-Debrah: Clean air ‘Ella’s law’ would honour her memory
New Scientist spoke with Rosamund Kissi-Debrah to hear what she thought of the inquest that found air pollution had contributed to her daughter Ella’s death, and what should happen next Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2263428-rosamund-kissi-debrah-clean-air-ellas-law-would-honour-her-memory/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
The First Person In the UK To Have Air Pollution Listed As a Cause of Death
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: A nine-year-old girl who died following an asthma attack has become the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death. Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, who lived near the South Circular Road in Lewisham, south-east London, died in 2013. Southwark Coroner’s Court found that air pollution “made a…
Landmark ruling says air pollution contributed to death of 9-year-old
A court has ruled that dirty air contributed to the death of Ella Kissi-Debrah, an asthmatic 9-year-old girl in south London, in a significant ruling marking the first time a person in the UK has had air pollution listed as a cause of death Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2263165-landmark-ruling-says-air-pollution-contributed-to-death-of-9-year-old/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
How the Nature Conservancy, the World’s Biggest Environmental Group, Became a Dealer of Meaningless Carbon Offsets
An anonymous reader shares a report: At first glance, big corporations appear to be protecting great swaths of U.S. forests in the fight against climate change. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has paid almost $1 million to preserve forestland in eastern Pennsylvania. Forty miles away, Walt Disney has spent hundreds of thousands to keep the city of Bethlehem, Pa., from aggressively harvesting…