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Pollution

Runaway Sprinkles from the Museum of Ice Cream Create ‘Environmental Hazard’ in Miami Beach

Here’s the scoop: officials are worried that the museum’s fake sprinkles will get washed into oceans and eaten by marine creatures

New Research

Air Pollution May Diminish the Benefits of Exercise

You might want to rethink that walk along the smoggy roadway

An apiarist tends to beehives at Hastings Urban Farm in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Can Honeybees Monitor Pollution?

The tiny pollinators are useful sentinels of what’s going on in an ecosystem, and might just be environmentalists’ best asset

Hundreds of Sea Turtles Found Dead Off the Coast of El Salvador

Authorities aren’t sure what caused the die-off, but a prime suspect is a toxic algal bloom

A coral polyp chowing down on a flake of white plastic

New Research

Corals Seem to Like the “Taste” of Plastic

Corals are attracted to the material not for its coloring, but for one of its many chemicals

Smog and other types of pollution were linked to nine million deaths in 2015 by a new report

One in Six Global Deaths Linked to Pollution

A new report suggests that pollution led to the deaths of nine million people in 2015

Older, soot-covered horned larks on the left and cleaner specimens on the right

New Research

Sooty Bird Feathers Reveal a Century of Coal Emissions History

A story of pollution hides in the grime of museums’ birds specimens

The cloud was first reported at Birling Gap, located about 70 miles from central London.

A Mysterious Chemical Cloud Descended on the British Coast

150 people were treated for stinging eyes, irritated throats and vomiting

Trending Today

What Should You Do With Your Used Eclipse Glasses?

There are several options, including recycling, upcycling and donating them to children in the path of the next eclipse

Humpback whales sounding in Windham Bay, Alaska.

What Humpback Whales Can Teach Us About Compassion

Are these orca-fighting, seal-saving good Samaritans really just in it for themselves?

An unlit church in Sweden

New Research

Lights Are Driving Bats From Their Belfries

The trend of pointing floodlights at churches in Sweden has driven some long-eared bat colonies out of their historic roosts

The algal scrubber in action.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Smithsonian Scientists Are Using Algae to Revitalize America’s Waterways

Walter Adey’s algal turf scrubber filters pollutants to clean water

Angelenos wearing smog masks at a banquet, circa 1954.

This 1943 “Hellish Cloud” Was the Most Vivid Warning of LA’s Smog Problems to Come

Southern California–and LA in particular–continue to struggle with smog

Of the 9 billion tons of plastic the world has produced, only nine percent is recycled.

Humans Have Produced Nine Billion Tons of Plastic and Counting

Over half of that material was created in the last decade

Thousands of Mysterious Yellow “Sponges” Wash Up On French Beaches

Though experts were initially stumped, the substance has now been identified

Coral reefs, like this one off the coast of South Africa, are rich both in hue and aquatic sounds.

Coral Reefs Sound Like Popcorn, and That’s a Good Thing

The oceans boast a vibrant soundscape, but we may be slowly silencing their symphonies

Trending Today

Art Installation Recreates the Smell of Cities Around the World

The Pollution Pod project emphasizes the unequal air quality divide between rich and poor cities

Trapped inside this ice core is evidence that suggests humans have been polluting the atmosphere with lead for thousands of years.

New Research

Humans Polluted the Air Much Earlier Than Previously Thought

Ice cores suggest that humans have been polluting the air with lead for at least 2,000 years

Henderson Island, world's garbage can.

New Research

This Remote Island Is Covered with 37 Million Pieces of Your Trash

Immaculate no more, the island now looks more like a dump than a pristine paradise

A woman wears a mask to protect against air pollution in Anyang. New research shows that Northeastern China could get more polluted when there is lest dust in the air.

New Research

Dust May Help, Not Harm, Air Pollution in China

When it comes to some of Earth’s smoggiest cities, less dust isn’t necessarily better

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