Environment

Earth

Explainer: What are aerosols?

We may not see them, but tiny particles and droplets cloud the air, affecting its properties. Some may be pollutants, others all-natural products.

Climate

Can wildfires cool the climate?

Severe wildfires are becoming more common. Science is showing that the tiny particles they release into the air can alter Earth’s temperature — sometimes cooling it.

Climate

Analyze This: 2020 ties with 2016 for hottest year on record

Last year capped the warmest decade on record. It coincided with a growing increase of warming greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere.

Environment

Unmasking the pandemic’s pollution problem

Discarding all the materials people use to protect themselves from COVID-19 has created a growing environmental problem.

Animals

Camels have been dying after mistaking plastic for food

Plastic waste has been building up in the guts of some camels. It may now be killing off one percent of them in the United Arab Emirates each year.

Earth

Analyze this: Microplastics are showing up in Mount Everest’s snow

Microplastics have made their way to the snow on Earth’s tallest peak. Most of the plastic likely comes from climbers’ equipment and clothes.

Animals

Utah mink is first known case of the coronavirus in a wild animal

A wild mink appears to have picked up the novel coronavirus from farmed animals. Such spread in the wild does not appear common.

Environment

Why today’s ‘fast fashions’ can be bad for the planet

The constant buy-wear-toss cycle of fast fashion isn’t sustainable. It hurts the environment and takes a toll on our wallets, too.

Environment

Old clothes soon may be recycled, not trashed

One day, clothes may be recycled almost as much as plastics and glass are now. See how chemists are moving us in that direction.

Chemistry

Here’s how to make flip-flops biodegradable

Innovative flip-flops made from an algae-based plastic decompose in soil or compost. The comfy shoes also avoid use of fossil fuels.

Ecosystems

Analyze This: Shipwrecks provide a home for bottom-dwelling fish

Fish have found a habitat in a submarine and freighter that sunk to the seafloor during World War II.

Climate

Surprising long-haul dust and tar are melting high glaciers

Dust and tar blown onto high mountains, like the Himalayas, boost the melting of snow and ice far more than scientists had realized. Here’s why.