Smoke from wildfires burning in the western United States carries harmful pollutants across the country.
pollution
Posted inNews
New Sensor Aids Rare Earth Extraction from Acid Mine Drainage
Rare earth elements appear in more than 200 consumer products. The race is on to source these elements from abundant and environmentally damaging mining waste.
Posted inNews
How the “Best Accidental Climate Treaty” Stopped Runaway Climate Change
The Montreal Protocol halted the destruction of the ozone layer. In the process, it saved one of Earth’s most important carbon sinks.
Posted inNews
Index Suggests That Half of Nitrogen Applied to Crops Is Lost
Food production is becoming less efficient at using nitrogen fertilizer, according to a review of global values. Excess nitrogen damages the environment and the climate.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Satellite Sensor EPIC Detects Aerosols in Earth’s Atmosphere
Aerosol observations from EPIC—a sensor aboard a satellite—align well with ground- and aircraft-based data, including measurements of smoke plumes produced by recent megafires.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Roadside Ditches Are Effective at Nitrogen Removal
Researchers compared the nitrogen removal potential by microbes in ditches that drained forested, urban, and agricultural lands and discovered that roadside ditches are important areas for removing nutrients.
Posted inOpinions
Microplastics’ Hidden Contribution to Snow Melting
Microplastic particles, present everywhere on the planet, may complicate assessments of black carbon’s role in the melting of snow and of its contributions to Earth’s radiative balance.
Posted inNews
To Make Better Hurricane Models, Consider Air Pollution
New research uses Hurricane Harvey as a case study to demonstrate the devastating power of aerosols to supercharge tropical storms.
Posted inNews
Will Rising Temperatures Make Rice Too Toxic?
Greenhouse experiments reveal how higher temperatures act to elevate arsenic levels in rice and may help focus efforts to solve a crisis threatening food systems around the world.