Background Articles

Microplastics from the breakdown of plastics and from microbeads used in toothpaste and exfoliants, are so small, they are able to travel in the atmosphere.

“Whenever a seismic boat goes past and we drop our gear, the fish aren’t there. Any fisherman, or fisherman worth their salt, will tell you there’s an impact. They’ve seen it first-hand.”

Stop land damage and change food production to halt climate crisis, United Nations scientists warn in second IPCC report

Bees, butterflies, and other insects are under attack by the very plants they feed on as U.S. agriculture continues to use chemicals known to kill.

The glowing algae is suffocating sea life.

Much goes to indicate that such toxins may cause damages to children’s central nervous system. Scientists in Tromsø, Norway have long worked to map the extent of environmental toxins in the Arctic populations, and the result is frightening.

Debris on Cocos (Keeling) Islands was mostly bottles, cutlery, bags and straws, but also included 977,000 shoes, study says

Watch where you step.

I knew that those Japanese currents would come to our waters, and so that’s why I volunteered to do the testing,” Eddie Ungott, a resident of Gambell.

Since 2014 St. Lawrence Islanders have been collecting sea water samples, knowing that the radiation would eventually show up. Now the signature of Fukushima has finally been identified, the northern most sample evidence of the plume. Fortunately the levels are low.

President Moon hopes collaboration with China will improve air quality in the country.

Alex Weber discovered more than 50,000 balls in the ocean near coastal California golf courses. When golf balls degrade, as these were doing, they release plastic particles and toxic chemicals.

The California overwintering population has been reduced to less than 0.5% of its historical size, and has declined by 86% compared to 2017.

Western Lake Erie's annual summer algal blooms are triggered, at least in part, by cyanobacteria cells that survive the winter in lake-bottom sediments, then emerge in the spring to "seed" the next year's bloom, according to a research team led by University of Michigan scientists.

Bacteria living more than 4,000 meters (2 miles) below the surface of the Pacific Ocean are absorbing an estimated 10 percent of the carbon dioxide that oc

Leptospirosis infections, caused by Leptospira bacteria, occur in people and animals around the world, but different strains of the bacteria may vary in their ability to cause disease and to jump between species. Now, researchers have for the first time described the characteristics of the Leptospira variants that infect cattle in Uruguay.

Zarantonelli et al. 2018. Isolation of pathogenic Leptospira strains from naturally infected cattle in Uruguay reveals high serovar diversity, and uncovers a relevant risk for human leptospirosis. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 12 (9): e0006694 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0006694

EUMETSAT satellite shows blue-green algae bloom covering Lake Okeechobee.

From floods to fires, drought to coastal erosion, climate change is already having an impact on Canada's communities, landscapes and wildlife

An increase in carbon emissions are showing up not only in the air, but also in water. Now researchers and shellfish farmers are teaming up to see how marine plants can help stave off the effects of ocean acidification. Special correspondent Jes Burns of Oregon Public Broadcasting reports.