By Joshua Goodman and David Biller 5 October 2022 MIAMI (AP) – One of Brazil’s biggest gold refiners, which processes gold suspected of being mined illegally in the Amazon rainforest, has been stripped of an important industry seal of approval that global manufacturers from Apple to Tesla rely on to root out abuses in their […]
By Carly Cassella 10 October 2022 (Science Alert) – Without urgent and major interventions, America’s Great Salt Lake could experience ecosystem collapse in the next few years. In a worst-case scenario, according to findings presented at the Geological Society of America’s 2022 Connects Conference in Colorado this past weekend, the world-famous body of salt-water has […]
By Larissa Schneider, Colin Cooke, Nathan D Stansell, and Simon Haberle 29 January 2020 (The Conversation) – Climate change and bushfire may exacerbate recent mercury pollution and increase exposure to the poisonous neurotoxin, according to our study published in the Journal of Paleolimnology. Mercury stored in plants is released during bushfires, suggesting Australia is particularly at […]
Nairobi, 13 March 2019 (UN News) – Even if the world were to cut emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, winter temperatures in the Arctic would rise 3-5°C by 2050 and 5-9°C by 2080, devastating the region and unleashing sea level rises worldwide, finds a new report by UN Environment. Meanwhile, rapidly thawing permafrost […]
By Anna M. Phillips28 February 2019 (Los Angeles Times) – The Senate on Thursday confirmed Andrew Wheeler to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, handing the reins of the agency responsible for ensuring clean air and safe drinking water to a former coal industry lobbyist. The 52-to-47 vote removed the word “acting” from Wheeler’s title, installing […]
By Matthew Brown20 February 2019 RIMINI, Montana (AP) – Every day many millions of gallons of water loaded with arsenic, lead and other toxic metals flow from some of the most contaminated mining sites in the U.S. and into surrounding streams and ponds without being treated, The Associated Press has found. That torrent is poisoning […]
By Christopher Flavelle 29 August 2018 (Bloomberg Businessweek) – One morning in June, Douglas Yoder climbed into a white government SUV on the edge of Miami and headed northwest, away from the glittering coastline and into the maze of water infrastructure that makes this city possible. He drove past drainage canals that sever backyards and […]
Thiruvananthapuram, 13 September 2018 (PTI) – With mercury levels rising and abnormal drying up of rivers and wells reported in flood-hit Kerala, the state government has decided to conduct scientific studies on the post-flood phenomenon in the state. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has directed the State Council for Science, Technology and Environment to carry out […]
By Rosamaria Loures, Sue Branford, and Maurício Torres 31 May 2018 (Mongabay) – “The gold mining in our territory is bringing a lot of illness, a lot of malaria. It’s bringing alcohol into our communities. It’s bringing drugs into our territory,” said Maria Leusa, a Munduruku female warrior and a leading member of the Ipereg […]
WASHINGTON D.C., 5 February 2018 (AGU) – Researchers have discovered permafrost in the northern hemisphere stores massive amounts of natural mercury, a finding with significant implications for human health and ecosystems worldwide.In a new study, scientists measured mercury concentrations in permafrost cores from Alaska and estimated how much mercury has been trapped in permafrost north […]
