pollution

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Startup Is Turning Ocean Pollution Into Profits

Gravity Wave transforms recycled ghost nets into furniture and decor

(Newser) - Ocean cleanup, in this case, looks less like a charity drive and more like a full-fledged manufacturing business. As the New York Times reports, a Spanish start-up called Gravity Wave is pulling abandoned fishing nets off the seafloor and turning them into furniture, stadium seats, and other commercial products. Nonprofits,...

Forever Chemicals Found in Grand Canyon's Springs
Grand Canyon's
Springs Contain
Traces of Drugs, PFAS
NEW STUDY
Jan 17, 2026 11:30 AM CST

Grand Canyon's Springs Contain Traces of Drugs, PFAS

Study links contaminants to leaks from nearby South Rim wastewater treatment plant

(Newser) - Water flowing through one of America's most iconic landscapes is carrying traces of something decidedly un-grand: drug residue and so-called forever chemicals. A new study by the US Geological Survey and National Park Service found multiple contaminants in springs along the Grand Canyon's South Rim, including Bright Angel...

Turns Out NYC's Congestion Pricing Is Working Quite Well

Once-controversial toll has cut down on traffic, sped up buses, raised transit funds in its first year

(Newser) - New Yorkers grumbled when the fees arrived, but the numbers suggest they may be grumbling in faster traffic. A year into Manhattan's congestion pricing program—tolls of up to $9 for most vehicles driving on surface streets below 60th Street during peak travel windows—the New York Times reports...

Study of Donkey Poop Reveals a Microplastics Problem

Researchers say we need to better understand plastic's impact on land-based animals

(Newser) - It's a pretty crappy finding, quite literally. In a study to be published in Cambridge Prisms: Plastics , researchers note that while the impacts of plastic pollution on marine life have been well documented, the same can't be said for terrestrial creatures. They set out to change that by...

The Cost of Our Car Batteries: Lead-Poisoned Workers

US carmakers increasingly source toxic metal from loosely regulated Nigerian factories for batteries

(Newser) - A new investigation finds the US auto industry's reliance on cheap recycled lead from Nigeria is poisoning entire communities. With environmental regulations tightening in the US and elsewhere over the last 30 years, the auto industry has turned to recycled lead from countries with looser enforcement, including Nigeria, per...

EPA Wants to Strip Protections From 85% of Wetlands

Areas with intermittent and ephemeral streams could soon be open for development

(Newser) - The Trump administration on Monday proposed a sharp rollback of federal protections for wetlands, rivers, and other waterways, a move that could remove safeguards from most wetlands around the country and potentially affect drinking water sources for millions of Americans. The proposed rule would limit the Environmental Protection Agency's...

Experts: Gaza Is in the Midst of an 'Ecocide'

Toxic waste, rubble, pollution, and disease reshape daily life amid Israel-Hamas war

(Newser) - Gaza's environmental crisis is deepening at a pace that experts now describe as "above imagination," with a new report highlighting catastrophic pollution, collapsing infrastructure, and rising health threats after years of war. The Arava Institute, an Israeli research center, reports that Gaza is now buried under an...

Report: US 'E-Waste Brokers' Are Overwhelming SE Asia

American companies are shipping their electronic garbage overseas, causing a 'hidden tsunami'

(Newser) - Millions of tons of discarded electronics from the US are being shipped overseas, much of it to developing countries in Southeast Asia unprepared to safely handle hazardous waste, per a new report. Environmental watchdog Basel Action Network said a two-year investigation found at least 10 US companies exporting used electronics...

New Delhi Revelers Might Be Rethinking Those Firecrackers

Diwali celebrations cause air pollution to soar

(Newser) - Thick smog blanketed India's capital on Tuesday, a day after millions celebrated the Hindu festival of Diwali with fireworks that sent air pollution soaring to hazardous levels, per the AP . Revelers in New Delhi set off firecrackers late into Monday night, filling the air with smoke and fine particles...

Massive Fatberg Yanked From London Sewer

Blockage made of wipes and grease took a month to clear

(Newser) - A massive, foul fatberg weighing 110 tons—roughly the heft of eight double-decker buses—has been excavated from a sewer beneath west London. Thames Water engineers spent a month chiseling, blasting, and ultimately sucking out the greasy, wipe-laden clog that had settled 32 feet below Feltham, the Guardian reports....

Tiny Plastic Pollution Might Be Creeping Into Your Bones

New study links plastic particles to bone loss

(Newser) - Tiny plastic fragments floating through our environment may be doing more than polluting oceans, they could also be quietly undermining your bones. Wired reports that researchers are now warning that microplastics could be a hidden culprit behind rising rates of osteoporosis because these particles appear to interfere with the...

Al Gore Turns His Focus to Soot
Al Gore Turns
His Focus to Soot
Sep 28, 2025 5:30 AM CDT

Al Gore Turns His Focus to Soot

His satellite and AI system is now tracking sources of deadly soot pollution

(Newser) - Particle pollution kills millions of people worldwide each year—and tens of thousands in the United States—according to scientific studies and reports. Soon people will be able to use satellite technology and artificial intelligence to track these tiny particles, often referred to as soot, in their neighborhoods—as well...

600M Rely on River Facing Unprecedented Drying
600M Rely on River Facing
Unprecedented Drying
NEW STUDY
Sep 24, 2025 3:20 PM CDT

600M Rely on River Facing Unprecedented Drying

Researchers link Ganges crisis to weakened monsoon and human-caused pollution

(Newser) - Once mighty and life-giving, India's Ganges River is facing its worst crisis in over a millennium, with human activity at the heart of the problem. A new study finds the river, relied on by about 600 million people, is drying up faster than at any point in the...

The River Was 'Untouchable.' Now Hundreds Dive In

After cleanup, Chicago hosts first group swim since 1927

(Newser) - For the first time in nearly a century, hundreds of swimmers dove into the Chicago River for an organized swim Sunday, marking a striking reversal for a waterway long synonymous with pollution. Around 300 participants, some in wetsuits, braved the cold for a mile-long swim, a feat organizers say...

Wildfire Smoke Poised to Be Top Climate Health Threat

Study notes tens of thousands of annual deaths from smoke exposure, with more harm expected

(Newser) - A new study forecasts that wildfire smoke will become the leading climate-related health hazard in the United States, eclipsing risks like extreme heat by midcentury. The analysis estimates that smoke is already responsible for upward of 41,000 excess deaths annually—a figure more than double previous estimates. Researchers...

How Pandemic Face Masks Are Polluting Land and Water
All Those COVID Masks
Are Leaching Chemicals
in case you missed it
Sep 13, 2025 6:00 AM CDT

All Those COVID Masks Are Leaching Chemicals

Microplastics and hormone disruptors included, research finds

(Newser) - Millions of discarded face masks from the COVID-19 pandemic are now breaking down, creating an environmental hazard that could linger for generations, a study warns. Researchers from Coventry University found that the billions of plastic-based masks used globally, which were meant to protect people from the virus, are now...

Will 6th Time Be the Charm to Tackle Plastic Pollution?

Global summit in Geneva aims to tackle waste, chemicals, recycling costs

(Newser) - As the world drowns in hundreds of trillions of pieces of plastic, representatives from more than 170 countries converge in Geneva this week, aiming to finally strike a deal to tackle the escalating crisis that threatens both the planet and human health. Despite a 2022 agreement to create a...

Tiny Plastics in North Atlantic Outweigh All Land Mammals

Study finds 27M metric tons of nanoplastics, a 'shocking' amount

(Newser) - Trillions of invisible plastic fragments—each smaller than a single bacterium—are polluting one section of ocean in volumes greater than all wild land mammals combined, according to a new study. Researchers estimate at least 27 million metric tons of nanoplastics, plastic fragments tinier than one micrometer, linger in...

New Mexico Sues Air Force Over 'Forever Chemicals'

State says toxic firefighting foam has contaminated water, farmland

(Newser) - For years, toxic "forever chemicals" from a US Air Force base in New Mexico have contaminated local water and farmland—now, the state is taking the US military to court for refusing to clean up the mess. The state is suing over continued PFAS pollution stemming from Cannon...

Cannes Makes 'Drastic' Move on Visiting Cruise Ships

Resort town to ban vessels with more than 1K people starting Jan. 1, in effort to fight overtourism

(Newser) - The French Riviera resort of Cannes is imposing what its city council calls "drastic regulation" on cruise ships, banning any vessels carrying more than 1,000 people from its harbor starting next year. The home of the world's premier film festival is joining a growing global backlash against...

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