Science

U.S. Air Pollution Falling More Slowly Than EPA Data Suggests

U.S. Air Pollution Falling More Slowly Than EPA Data Suggests

U.S. air pollution isn’t declining as fast as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has claimed, a study published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed. To track the levels of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, two pollutants that contribute to smog formation, an international research team used satellite pollution measurements backed up […]

Join our newsletter

The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

    Did the Polio Vaccine Cause Cancer?

    Did the Polio Vaccine Cause Cancer?

    By Vanessa Schipani, FactCheck.org Q: Did people develop cancer because of the polio vaccine? A: There are no known cases, and it’s very unlikely. In the 1950s and 1960s, people did receive polio vaccines contaminated with a virus that causes cancer in rodents. But research suggests this virus doesn’t cause cancer in humans. Full Question […]

    ‘Nowhere Is Immune’: Researchers Find Record Levels of Microplastics in Arctic Sea Ice

    ‘Nowhere Is Immune’: Researchers Find Record Levels of Microplastics in Arctic Sea Ice

    Scientists found record levels of microplastics in Arctic sea ice, a study published Tuesday in Nature Communications revealed. Researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) sampled ice from five Arctic Ocean regions and found up to 12,000 microplastic particles per liter (approximately 1.06 liquid quarts) of ice, an […]

    Study Reveals Dangerous Antarctic Feedback Loop

    Study Reveals Dangerous Antarctic Feedback Loop

    A new study of the melting patterns of glaciers in Antarctica provides real-world evidence for one of the more troubling model-based climate change predictions, The Washington Post reported Monday. The study, published April 18 in Science Advances, found that fresh water melting off of glaciers in some regions of Antarctica caused a layer of cold, […]

    Will Scientists Develop a Zero-Waste Cell Phone?

    Will Scientists Develop a Zero-Waste Cell Phone?

    By Marlene Cimons How often do you swap out your old smartphone for a new one? Every two or three years? Every year? Today, phone companies make it easy with deals to trade in your old phone for the newest version. But those discarded phones are becoming a huge source of waste, with many components […]

    Honeybees Are Struggling to Get Enough Good Bacteria

    Honeybees Are Struggling to Get Enough Good Bacteria

    A study published in Ecology and Evolution Monday shows that the big changes humans make to the land can have important consequences for some tiny microorganisms honeybees rely on to stay healthy. Honeybees depend on a diverse mix of bacteria—called a microbiome—to turn fresh pollen into bee bread, which is stored in the hive as […]

    Scientists Accidentally Develop ‘Mutant’ Enzyme That Eats Plastic

    Scientists Accidentally Develop ‘Mutant’ Enzyme That Eats Plastic

    Researchers in the UK and the U.S. have inadvertently engineered an enzyme that eats up plastic. The enzyme is able to digest PET (polyethylene terephthalate)—the same material used in the ubiquitous plastic bottle that’s clogging up landfills, coastlines and oceans around the world. Amazingly, this discovery only happened by chance. Scientists from the University of […]

    Slow Motion Ocean: Why Are North Atlantic Currents Weakening?

    Slow Motion Ocean: Why Are North Atlantic Currents Weakening?

    By Alex Kirby The Gulf Stream is slowing, the North Atlantic is cooling. An international scientific study has found new and harder evidence that one of the planet’s key heat pumps, the currents which exchange warmth between the tropics and the Arctic, are weaker today than at any time in the last thousand years. The […]