Pollution

Plastic, plastic everywhere – airborne microplastics are settling into the most remote corners of the globe

By Elvis Genbo Xu and Xiaoyu Duan | – Little pieces of plastic can now be found everywhere: from table salt, drinking water and food, to the deep seas, far deserts and most remote mountains. While it’s not surprising to find plastics and microplastics in urban environments where they’re used every day, their appearance in […]

Climate Crisis

Coral reefs are dying as climate change decimates ocean ecosystems vital to fish and humans

Juan Cole

By Sam Purkis | – The Chagos Archipelago is one of the most remote, seemingly idyllic places on Earth. Coconut-covered sandy beaches with incredible bird life rim tropical islands in the Indian Ocean, hundreds of miles from any continent. Just below the waves, coral reefs stretch for miles along an underwater mountain chain. It’s a […]

Climate Crisis

California’s latest offshore oil spill could fuel pressure to end oil production statewide

The Conversation

By Charles Lester | – An oil spill first reported on Oct. 2, 2021, has released thousands of gallons of crude oil into southern California coastal waters. The source is believed to be a leak in an underwater pipeline connected to an oil drilling platform 17.5 miles offshore. Oil has washed ashore in Huntington Beach […]

CO2

Ecological Disaster at Huntington Beach as Oil Spill Threatens Marine Life, Wetlands, Tourism Industry

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Drilling for oil in the ocean off California’s pristine beaches is about the stupidest and most evil human activity you can think of. Oil is leaky and gets spilled into the ocean, harming the environment. But if it gets delivered without incident to the refinery and is made into gasoline […]

Climate Crisis

Israeli Youth Protest Israel-UAE Oil Pipeline that Endangers Climate, Key Coral Reefs: The Dark Side of “Abraham Accords”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The so-called Abraham Accords, which take the patriarch’s name in vain, were about many things, but genuine peace was not one of them. The were a series of bilateral horse trades with no implication for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Now it turns out that they were in part a plot against the […]

Mass Extinction

Human Activity is Threatening 1/3 of Tree Species with Extinction

The Conversation

By Adrian Newton | One in three of the world’s tree species are at risk of becoming extinct, according to a recent report by the Global Tree Assessment – the first attempt to estimate the conservation status of all of Earth’s trees. Well-known species, including magnolias, oaks and maples are among those at risk. More […]

al-Qaeda

9/11 survivors’ exposure to toxic dust and the chronic health conditions that followed offer lessons that are still too often unheeded

The Conversation

By Roberto Lucchini | – ( The Conversation) – The 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York resulted in the loss of 2,753 people in the Twin Towers and surrounding area. After the attack, more than 100,000 responders and recovery workers from every U.S. state – along with some 400,000 residents […]

Climate Crisis

Top 5 Ways Coal and Gasoline-Driven Ocean Change can Threaten Human Health

The Conversation

By Tiff-Annie Kenny, Malaya Bishop and Mélanie Lemire | – Humans have a deep and complex relationship with the sea. It provides food and essential nutrients, medicine and renewable energy. People swim, surf and scuba dive in this “blue gym.” It’s even an important part of therapeutic recreation, like surf therapy for war veterans and […]

Acidification of Oceans

Coral reef scientists raise alarm as climate change decimates ocean ecosystems vital to fish and humans

The Conversation

By Sam Purkis | ( The Conversation) – The Chagos Archipelago is one of the most remote, seemingly idyllic places on Earth. Coconut-covered sandy beaches with incredible bird life rim tropical islands in the Indian Ocean, hundreds of miles from any continent. Just below the waves, coral reefs stretch for miles along an underwater mountain […]