Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Pollution

Microplastics have been found throughout the human body.

Microplastics Have Been Linked With Myriad Human Health Problems. Scientists May Have Finally Figured Out How They Harm the Body

Lab experiments suggest that tiny bits of plastic can react with water inside us to produce highly reactive molecules. They can lead to damaging oxidative stress and inflammation

A Bubble Barrier creates a diagonal line of whiter water in Amsterdam's Westerdok.

Could This Dutch Invention Help Tackle Plastic Pollution in America’s Waterways?

The Netherlands has had success with the Bubble Barrier, which pumps air bubbles from the bottom of a canal or river to direct plastic to the surface. Now, Lansing, Michigan, is looking to be the first to install the technology stateside

These visualizations show how the Antarctic ozone hole grew from August 1, 2026 to September 12, 2026. 

September’s Ozone Hole Was the Biggest It Has Been in 25 Years

The size of the hole in the stratosphere’s ozone layer fluctuates every year, but last month’s, measuring 10.6 million square miles, was especially large

Members of the public are invited to vote for their favorite name for the otter: Nessie, Ruthie or Morgan. The selections are a nod to community changemakers who have made a positive impact on the river and the Bronx more broadly.

An Otter Just Returned to New York City’s Bronx River for the First Time in a Century. Now, You Can Help Name It

A trail camera photographed the animal earlier this summer, offering a hopeful sign that the once-polluted urban waterway is recovering after decades of restoration work

Smoke from massive wildfires in Canada engulfed the New York City skyline, reducing visibility and casting an orange haze over city on July 16, 2026.

From 22,000 Miles Up, This Satellite Tracks Airborne Health Threats Almost in Real Time

The new instrument, called TEMPO, captures hourly snapshots of the pollutants swirling in the daytime atmosphere over North America—“chemical weather” reports that are helpful to public health researchers and government officials

Pygmy raccoons live only on Mexico's Cozumel Island.

These Adorable, Critically Endangered Pygmy Raccoons in Cozumel Are Teaching One Another to Turn Trash Into Toy Balls

The observations offer rare evidence of a skill being passed among raccoons. But the work also highlights the effects of human pollution at the popular tourist destination

A µBites cookie, which is pronounced "microbites"

Would You Eat a Cookie Made From Upcycled Plastic? Scientists Propose a New Way to Deal With Waste and Provide Food in Extreme Environments

A team of researchers programmed yeast to turn broken-down plastic and agricultural waste into sweet treats called µBites. They might come in handy during deep-space missions or in disaster zones, although some critics say the food is impractical

Scientists reconstructed the ancient forest canopy using fragments of fossilized leaves.

Forests Didn’t Fare Well During an Ancient Global Warming Event, Offering a ‘Cautionary’ Tale About Today’s Climate Change

An intense global warming event 56 million years ago caused a forest in modern-day Wyoming to lose around 60 percent of its canopy cover, and it took more than 100,000 years to bounce back, a study suggests

An estimated one million to two million petroglyphs are spread across the Burrup Peninsula and the Dampier Archipelago, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Historical Pollution, Not Current Industrial Emissions, Damaged the World’s Largest and Oldest Collection of Ancient Rock Art, Study Suggests

Researchers say that past exposure to sulfur dioxide is likely to blame for the increased porosity of the Murujuga rock art created by the Ngarda-Ngarli people tens of thousands of years ago

With Eco Purge, Arya Satheesh won the European category of the 2026 Earth Prize, the largest environmental competition in the world for young students. She was awarded $12,500 to continue to develop her prototype.

This High Schooler Invented a Plant-Based Plastic That Removes Microplastics From the Environment as It Biodegrades

Eighteen-year-old Arya Satheesh created her award-winning Eco Purge to help address the global problem of plastic pollution

A catfish with melanoma, a kind of skin cancer

A Strange, Never-Before-Seen Cancer Seems to Be Spreading Among Catfish in a New England Lake

More than a decade ago, fishers and biologists noticed jet-black tumors on the skin of brown bullhead catfish in Lake Memphremagog. Genetic testing hints that they are caused by the first contagious cancer ever documented in fish

Strange, metallic-looking spheres recently washed ashore in Queensland, Australia.

Strange Spheres Washed Ashore on an Australian Beach. Authorities Say They’re Probably ‘Space Balls’—Empty Fuel Vessels From a Rocket

The shiny objects—each roughly twice the size of a basketball—began to appear on July 3. Authorities initially worried that they were hazardous but have since determined that they’re likely safe bits of space junk

A city-dwelling male bowerbird near the structure that it built to woo mates, called a bower.

Male Bowerbirds in Australian Cities Are Turning Human Trash Into Treasure to Impress Potential Mates

Even rural birds prefer human-made objects, such as colored glass and wire, when given the choice between them and natural decorations, like leaves and shells, according to a new study

Microplastics are particles smaller than five millimeters in length, or narrower than a pencil-tip eraser. 

Microplastics Are Swirling Around in the Atmosphere, Where They Might Be Contributing to Climate Change

Airborne plastic particles, particularly colorful ones, absorb more sunlight than they reflect, which can heat the surrounding air, according to a new study

Cattle are a major driver of methane emissions.

Why Do Cows Burp Up So Much Planet-Warming Methane? A Newly Discovered Structure in Their Gut Microbes Could Be a Culprit

The “hydrogenobody” is an organelle inside certain microorganisms that live in a special stomach chamber in cattle, sheep and goats, according to a new study

Western monarch butterflies bask in the sun on a eucalyptus branch at Lighthouse Field State Beach. In December 2025, researchers placed ultralight radio tags on some monarchs at this site, hoping to track their movements and identify areas to prioritize for the species’ conservation.

Butterflies Are in Dramatic Decline Across North America. A Close Look at the Western Monarch Shows Why

Pesticides, habitat loss and climate change have taken their toll on the beloved insects. But the experts working with them still find hope for their future

In experiments, juvenile Atlantic salmon that were exposed to cocaine’s primary metabolite swam more and dispersed farther than their sober peers.

Cocaine Pollution Seems to Make Salmon Swim Farther Than Usual. Scientists Don’t Know the Long-Term Consequences

The illegal drug’s main byproduct, benzoylecgonine, caused more robust effects than cocaine itself. Wastewater treatment plants often don’t fully process such metabolites, so they are frequently found in bodies of water at higher concentrations than their parent drugs

More than 95 percent of the world’s bergamot oil production is concentrated in Southern Italy’s Calabria region. But harsh conditions driven by climate change threaten that supply.

Earth’s Smells Are Disappearing Because of Climate Change, and It’s a Vast Cultural Loss

A triple threat of pollution, extinction and warming temperatures is altering the way the planet smells. Scientists are only beginning to understand the stakes for humans

Sharks in the Bahamas, including the Caribbean reef sharks, are ingesting drugs, a new study suggests.

Sharks in the Bahamas Test Positive for Drugs, Including Cocaine and Painkillers, in a New Study

Around one-third of the studied sharks had detectable levels of the analyzed drugs in their blood

Microplastics pose a growing global concern as they infiltrate not just the environment but also humans and animals.

This High School Student Invented a Filter That Eliminates 96 Percent of Microplastics From Drinking Water

Virginia teenager Mia Heller’s filtration system harnesses the power of ferrofluid, a magnetic oil that binds to microplastics in flowing water

Page 1 of 25