Andrew Wheeler, former aide to climate change denier Sen. James Inhofe, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee staff director, and more recently fossil-fuel lobbyist, is now temporarily in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency following the resignation of scandal-plagued former administrator Scott…
Rivers and streams cover much more of the planet than geologists previously estimated, according to a new study published in Science. In total, this new estimate shows that, excluding land with glaciers, Earth is covered by just under 300,000 square miles (773,000 square kilometers) of rivers and streams. That’s more…
Scott Pruitt, Donald Trump’s scandal-mired EPA chief and a man so committed to destroying his own agency that he’s willing to have dinner with accused child predators that also don’t believe in climate change, somehow managed to be even dumber and lazier about stacking the EPA with cronies and energy industry shills…
The first paper straw factory in the “last several decades” in Britain is planning to launch in Wales as fast-food chains prepare for a planned ban on single-use plastic products throughout the UK, the Guardian reported, with some chains already preparing their own plans to phase out plastic in favor of paper.
Smoking has been banned in most public indoor spaces within the US for years now—and for the better—but that doesn’t necessarily mean nonsmokers are free from toxic cigarette chemicals. New research published Wednesday in Science Advances suggests that not only can the chemical residue left behind by cigarette smoking…
Hawaii legislators approved a bill on Tuesday that would ban the sunscreen containing the ingredients oxybenzone and octinoxate, an ingredient in 3,500+ of the world’s most popular brands that has been linked to the death of coral reefs.
A couple of years ago, scientists discovered an enzyme in a waste recycling center in Japan that digests plastic. During a recent experiment to understand how this enzyme works, scientists accidentally created a mutated version that breaks down plastic even better than the one found in nature. The discovery could go a…
Days after Donald Trump’s chief of staff, John Kelly, allegedly warned Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt to knock it off with all these goddamn scandals, the Associated Press reports that the full bill for the first year of Pruitt’s unprecedented travel and security expenses are now in the neighborhood…
For years, scientists have been tracking a large accumulation of floating trash, mostly bits of plastic, in the north Pacific ocean called the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” or the “trash vortex.” This region, according to the latest research, has more lost and discarded plastic inside it than previous surveys…
Testing of 259 plastic water bottles from nine counties revealed microplastic particles in water from 242 of the bottles, according to a new report. The test has prompted the World Health Organization to review the issue, though there is no firm evidence that the presence of microplastics would make bottled water…
You’re familiar with the food chain: little fish eats plankton, bigger fish eats the little fish, then a seal eats the bigger fish, thus consuming the energy from all three smaller animals. But what if the little fish had also eaten an indigestible piece of plastic? New evidence demonstrates the plastic could make it…
At least four defectors from North Korea’s Kilju County, the location of the pariah government’s notorious Punggye-ri nuclear test site, have tested positive for symptoms of radiation exposure, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.
Australia’s finally done it! A new NDEVR Environmental analysis shows Australia has never been emitting more greenhouse gas when unreliable estimates for land use-related emissions are excluded, the Guardian reported on Sunday. Over the past year, Australia released an estimated 138.78 metric tons of carbon dioxide…
By analyzing sooty birds housed in museum collections, scientists have been able to track patterns of US air pollution over the last 135 years. As the new study shows, air at the turn of the 20th century was even dirtier than we thought—a finding that will now be used to improve our climate models.
A new and unexpected source of radioactive material left over from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster has been found up to 60 miles away along coastlines near the beleaguered plant. The discovery shows that damaged nuclear reactors are capable of spreading radiation far from the meltdown site, and in some surprising…
The Department of Homeland Security has moved to waive a stunning list of environmental regulations for the construction of Donald Trump’s stupid border wall. You know, the same one which depending on how lit the president happens to be at any given moment, he has promised would be between anywhere from 30 to 65 feet…
A so-called “fatberg”—a tightly congealed mass of fat, wet wipes, diapers, and condoms—is blocking a section of London’s Victorian-era sewage network. It could take weeks for utility crews to remove the horrific mass, which, if not removed, could cause raw sewage to spill onto London’s streets.
On Saturday, Associated Press journalists Jason Dearen and Michael Biesecker reported at least five toxic, Houston-area Superfund sites in the path of Hurricane Harvey had been deluged with floodwater, potentially distributing the assorted nasty things contained within across a much larger geographical area. The AP…
All stories about dogs should be Good Stories, which is why the situation in Taloja, India is especially heartbreaking. Recently, photos and videos of blue pooches in the industrial town have cropped up online, raising the obvious question: What the hell happened?
