Pollution

The "dense garbage carpet" that is washing onto Montesinos Beach in Santo Domingo

Waves of Garbage Are Washing onto a Beach in the Dominican Republic

The trash was pushed onto Montesinos Beach by a recent storm, but environmentalists say the scene is becoming all the more common

A clear day at Acadia National Park in Maine.

National Parks Can Be Just as Smoggy as Major Cities

And it's scaring away visitors

Recyclable lids will be used on all Starbucks cold drinks except the Frappuccino.

Starbucks Vows to Ditch Plastic Straws by 2020. How Will the Oceans Change?

Straws make up a small portion of ocean waste, but banning straws can be an important first step to cutting down on other plastics

Whale Dies in Thailand With 80 Plastic Bags in Its Stomach

A five-day rescue effort could not save the animal, which started vomiting up pieces of plastic before it died

A denarius of Commodus

Greenland's Ice Provides a Year-By-Year Account of the Roman Empire's Economy

A new study finds that lead levels from Roman silver production rise and fall in relation to the Empire's political and economic changes

Plastic ice bag found by a NOAA expedition to the Marianas in 2016

Even the Deepest Parts of the Ocean Are Polluted With Startling Amounts of Plastic

A review of data from 5,010 ROV dives reveals and abundance of single-use plastics littering the seas

None

Experience Some of the World's Most Polluted Cities in This Exhibit

The art installation was recently on display in London

Salt Lake City, Utah, pictured here, ranks number eight for short-term particle pollution.

These Are the Cities With the Worst Air Pollution

More than 4 in 10 Americans live with unhealthy levels of air pollution, according to a new report

The body of a juvenile sperm whale was found on a beach in Spain's Murcia region.

Dead Sperm Whale Had 64 Pounds of Trash in Its Digestive System

The juvenile sperm whale was found in the Murcia region of Spain, and its death has spurred a local campaign to combat plastic pollution

Rafters on the South Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho

These Are America's Ten Most Endangered Rivers

Mining and flood control projects are the main threats to waterways, according to the new report

Debris recovered from the Garbage Patch

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Is Much Larger and Chunkier Than We Thought

A new study shows the patch is not just microplastics. Fishing gear and large pieces make up 92 percent of the trash

Books!

Turkish Garbage Collectors Curate Their Own Library

The sanitation workers have already amassed a collection of more than 6,000 books

Is SpaceX Being Environmentally Responsible?

Falcon Heavy’s flashy space car may not have been the best idea—for Mars

Billions of Pieces of Plastic Spread Disease in Coral Reefs

A new study has highlighted the scope of plastic 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

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

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

Page 15 of 22