71 Items Tagged

Pollution

Coal depot in the Kemerovo Oblast.

Why 3 Cities in Siberia Are Covered in Black Snow

The toxic flurries are a product of Russia's coal pits.

Jonathan Carey February 19, 2019

A relief at Ngọc Sơn Temple depicting the legendary turtle with a sword on its back.

The Life and Legacy of Vietnam's Sacred Giant Turtle

Hanoi's Hoàn Kiếm Lake was once home to both legendary and real chelonians.

Claire Voon January 10, 2019

Follow along with this orca by hydrophone.

You Can Now Eavesdrop on Orcas on Your Computer

Listen to the peaceful, and sometimes not-so-peaceful, sounds of the sea for the sake of science.

Matthew Taub November 12, 2018

The haze, captured on October 31, leaves northwest India virtually invisible next to the Himalayas.

See How Badly Crop Burning Is Fouling Northern India's Air

NASA photos show an impenetrable haze.

Matthew Taub November 6, 2018

View from the hilltop.

Brooks, Kentucky

Valley of the Drums

This calm grassy field was once a Superfund site full of thousands of nasty chemicals.

Sea stars in the Gulf of Mexico in 2017.

Found: The Last Traces of Unspoiled Ocean

They're few and far between.

Jessica Leigh Hester July 30, 2018

The Annie Maunder Astrographic Telescope (AMAT) at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.

London's Royal Observatory Once Again Gazes at the Sky

It's been 60 years since the city's smog shut it down.

Sofie Werthan June 28, 2018

Pieces of ceramic and glass that Atherton has found in the Thames, interspersed with more recent trash.

The Artist Making Tapestries Out of Aquatic Trash

Jo Atherton's colorful works turn our plastic crisis into a meditation on memory and time.

Cara Giaimo May 2, 2018

Directing water from a cave spring to drinking water containers in Corozal, Puerto Rico, in October 2017.

The Hidden Problems With Puerto Rico's Water Supply

Hurricane Maria exacerbated long-term issues, and researchers are only just starting to understand how.

Sarah Laskow March 5, 2018

In the summer of 2016, the artist Dan Borelli changed the colors of the streetlights in Ashland, Massachusetts, to reflect underground concentrations of toxic chemicals.

In Massachusetts, an Artist Explores an Old Dye Factory's Toxic Influence

The Ashland-Nyanza Project uses color to promote history and healing.

Cara Giaimo February 15, 2018

How Did a Lobster Get a Pepsi Logo on Its Claw?

A satisfying explanation is elusive.

Vittoria Traverso November 30, 2017

Kingsland Wildflowers.

Brooklyn, New York

Kingsland Wildflowers

Thriving meadows span a rooftop in one of Brooklyn's most heavily industrialized neighborhoods.

One of Zack Denfield's students whips smog into a meringue in Bangalore, India.

With Smog Meringues, You Can Taste Your City's Air Pollution

Artists whip up a way for your taste buds to go through what your lungs do every day.

Natasha Frost November 17, 2017

A postcard from the Garbage Patch State.

We're All Citizens of the Garbage Patch State

An Italian artist has created an imaginary homeland for all of our plastic waste.

Vittoria Traverso November 16, 2017

The short-snouted seahorse may now be resident in the River Thames.

Found: Rare Seahorses Living in the River Thames

A recent spike in seahorse sightings is more evidence of a river revival.

Vittoria Traverso November 16, 2017

Specimens from 1904 and 1966 look almost like different species of songbird.

What Sooty Feathers Tell Us About Air Pollution Over Time

Many of America's birds are far cleaner now than they were at the turn of the century.

Natasha Frost October 10, 2017

An Eel-Inspired Robot Is Scientists' Newest Pollution-Sniffer

It swims, it slithers, and it samples.

Kelsey Kennedy September 27, 2017

Poplar trees at the test site. The second and fourth rows (from the left) were inoculated with the probiotic bacteria.

Giving Trees Probiotics Can Help Clean Up Superfund Sites

Scientists have found bacteria that like gobbling up a common toxic chemical.

Kelsey Kennedy August 15, 2017