Reduction in pollutant emissions slowing down in U.S. – “Air quality is better than it was decades ago, but now we’re starting to see the improvement slow down”

By Kasha Patel 31 May 2018 (NASA) – The air we breathe today in the United States is much cleaner than it was in the 1960s and 70s. But recent satellite data show that air quality is not improving as quickly as predicted by models.“Air quality is better than it was decades ago, but now […]

UN rights experts urge Kenya to protect activists testifying in lead pollution case – “These environmental defenders should not face threats, harassment, and intimidation”

30 May 2018 (UN News) – Cases of lead poisoning have been reported in the area near the factory, located in a poor area in the coastal city of Mombasa. The environmental defenders have been harassed and intimidated since an initial court hearing against the company which took place on 17 May 2018, and fear […]

Prime growing areas for Canada oysters contain alarmingly high concentrations of plastic microbeads

23 May 2018 (SFU) – British Columbia’s premier shellfish farming region is heavily contaminated with microplastics, according to a new SFU study.New research from SFU’s Ecotoxicology Research Group shows Lambert Channel and Baynes Sound off Denman Island are awash with microbeads and other microplastics including fragments and fibres.The area is also home to approximately 130 […]

Paving the way for Trump: Past presidential assaults on environmental health protection

By Jamie Lyons 1 May 2018 (EDGI) – The Trump administration, including Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Scott Pruitt, has undertaken an assault on environmental health protections. This assault includes deregulation, defunding, staff cuts, and the corrosion of science-based policy.This assault is severe, but is it unprecedented?Based on EDGI’s research, recently published in the American […]

Mussels off Seattle coast test positive for opioids – “There’s a lot of people taking oxycodone in the Puget Sound area”

By Christina Capatides 26 May 2018 (CBS News) – As more and more American communities grapple with opioid addiction, the human toll of the epidemic has grown in both scope and severity. And now, scientists at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife have found evidence that drug’s impact has literally flowed downstream to affect […]

Image of the Day: Light pollution from U.S. oil and natural gas fields

By Dipika Kadaba 21 May 2018 (The Revelator) – Humans increasingly live in a world of constant artificial lighting — so much so that it’s easy to forget about the environmental consequences of light pollution. “Light is a symbol of urbanity that changes the experience of any landscape from a human perspective,” says Travis Longcore, […]

Trump opens door to dangerous fracking in Northern Arizona – Plan to auction 4,200 acres sidesteps environmental review, threatens national park, groundwater, river

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona, 21 May 2018 (Center for Biological Diversity) – A new Trump administration plan proposes to auction off 4,200 acres of public land for oil and gas development in northern Arizona. The lands straddle the Little Colorado River, are within three miles of Petrified Forest National Park, and are near habitat for a federally […]

Emissions of ozone-destroying CFC-11 are rising again – “It is taking us away from timely recovery of the ozone layer”

16 May 2018 (NOAA) – Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, were once considered a triumph of modern chemistry. Stable and versatile, these chemicals were used in hundreds of products, from military systems to the ubiquitous can of hairspray.Then in 1987, NOAA scientists were part of an international team that proved this family of wonder chemicals was damaging […]

Weeks of extreme weather in India

By Kasha Patel 25 May 2018(NASA) – India has been hit by a streak of unusually intense thunderstorms, dust storms, and lightning so far in 2018. The events collapsed homes, destroyed crops, and claimed the lives of over a hundred people with even more casualties, calling for assistance by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.In late April, […]

White House, EPA blocked chemical pollution study showing widespread contamination of U.S. water supplies, citing “potential public relations nightmare”

By Annie Snider 14 May 2018 (Politico) – Scott Pruitt’s EPA and the White House sought to block publication of a federal health study on a nationwide water-contamination crisis, after one Trump administration aide warned it would cause a “public relations nightmare,” newly disclosed emails reveal. The intervention early this year — not previously disclosed […]

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