HS-ESS3-4
Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
- Environment
Washing your jeans too much might pose risks to the environment
Jeans shed thousands of denim fibers in every wash. Those fibers, and the chemicals used to treat them, now are showing up in even the Arctic Ocean.
- Climate
Changing climates can take cooling tips from warm regions
When summer heat waves hit northern cities, people might look to keep cool using tropical building strategies — and forgotten architectural wisdom.
- Chemistry
How to recycle ‘nonrecyclable’ plastics
A new process can convert some nonrecyclable plastics into a type that now can be reused. That could greatly cut down on wastes sent to landfills.
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A dirty and growing problem: Too few toilets
As the famous book says, everybody poops. That’s 7.8 billion people, worldwide. For the 2.4 billion with no toilet, the process can be complicated.
- Animals
Whale blowholes don’t keep out seawater
Whales’ blowholes aren’t as protective as scientists had thought. They not only can let in water but also pollutants.
- Chemistry
New solution for carbon dioxide: Turn it into ‘green’ fuel
Chemists have created a new way to convert carbon dioxide into ethanol. It might one day help remove excess CO2 — a greenhouse gas — from the air.
- Ecosystems
Soggy coastal soils? Here’s why ecologists love them
Coastal wetlands can protect our shores from erosion, flooding and rising sea levels.
- Animals
Are coyotes moving into your neighborhood?
How do coyotes survive in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago? Researchers and citizen scientists are working together to find answers.
- Agriculture
Pesticides contaminate most food of western U.S. monarchs
Monarch caterpillars eat only milkweeds. A new study finds widespread pesticide use has tainted these plants across the insect’s western U.S. breeding grounds.
- Earth
Fossil fuels appear to release far more methane than we thought
Ice cores reveal less methane than expected. This suggests today’s fossil fuel industry is responsible for nearly all of the methane emissions from natural sources today.
- Environment
CO2 emissions have nosedived as COVID-19 keeps people home
The COVID-19 pandemic restricted travel that can pollute the air. By April, travel-related daily emissions of greenhouse gases was back to 2006 levels.
- Environment
This ‘living’ concrete slurps up a greenhouse gas
Microbes help harden a mix of sand and gelatin into a living concrete that could interact with people and the environment in great new ways.
