water pollution

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A Major Scourge in Our Oceans: &#39;Ghost Gear&#39;
There's a 'Zombie'
in Our Oceans
new report
Nov 6, 2019 9:25 AM CST

There's a 'Zombie' in Our Oceans

Greenpeace report finds dumped fishing gear is a leading plastic polluter

(Newser) - Try to comprehend just how much 55,000 double-decker buses weigh. It's a whole heck of a lot—more than a billion pounds. That's how much commercial fishing gear is abandoned in our oceans each year, according to a new report from Greenpeace on "ghost gear."...

EPA Mandate to City: Hand Out Bottled Water ASAP

In Newark, NJ, filters to keep lead out didn't work, leading to recommendation for bottled water

(Newser) - In what the New York Times calls "an echo of Flint," a New Jersey city that's handed out nearly 40,000 filters to help protect residents whose water flows through old lead pipes now says those filters might not be working and is moving to Plan B....

DOJ: Carnival Re-Polluted, Then Tried to 'Drown Its Deceit'

Cruise company ordered to pay $20M on top of previous $40M for pollution violations, cover-up

(Newser) - Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice—still shame on you, and you're going to pay big for it. That's essentially the Justice Department's message to Carnival Corporation, which just got busted, again, for its ships polluting the waters they sail in, and for trying...

Every Shrimp Tested Had Traces of Cocaine
Study of Shrimp Has
an Unwelcome Surprise
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
May 5, 2019 1:45 PM CDT

Study of Shrimp Has an Unwelcome Surprise

Every one tested in UK study had traces of cocaine

(Newser) - How's this for an unwelcome surprise in a study of freshwater shrimp: Every one tested in a study of 15 different sites in Britain's rural Suffolk County had traces of cocaine, reports the Guardian . Oh, and traces of the drug ketamine were widespread. Also showing up: a long-banned...

Philippines Horror: 'Most Plastic We Have Ever Seen in a Whale'

88 pounds of plastic found in dead whale that washed up on beach

(Newser) - A dead whale washed up on a Philippine beach was distressing enough, but museum workers have deemed what they found inside the creature's gut "disgusting." The BBC reports that the Cuvier's beaked whale turned up on the shoreline east of Davao City on Saturday, and when...

UN Environment Report Names Our 2 Most Pressing Problems

Report uses word 'risk' 561 times in 740 pages

(Newser) - Earth is sick with multiple and worsening environmental ills killing millions of people yearly, a new UN report says. Climate change, a global major extinction of animals and plants, a human population soaring toward 10 billion, degraded land, polluted air, and plastics, pesticides, and hormone-changing chemicals in the water are...

'People Would Be Outraged' by Teen's Find Off Calif. Coast

Alex Weber has pulled out more than 50K golf balls over the last two years

(Newser) - Two years ago, a central California teen began what NPR calls a "Sisyphean task"—hauling hundreds of pounds of golf balls off the ocean floor, only to have them reenter the sea as golfers from five nearby golf courses (including Pebble Beach) hit them right back in. Alex...

Coast Guard to Oil Firm: Clean Up Your 14-Year-Old Mess
Coast Guard Says No More to
14-Year-Old Oil Leak in Gulf
in case you missed it
Nov 25, 2018 11:40 AM CST

Coast Guard Says No More to 14-Year-Old Oil Leak in Gulf

Taylor Energy has to start cleaning up mess that started in 2004 or risk fine of up to $40K per day

(Newser) - A massive cleanup effort has been ordered on a quietly devastating oil spill that's been contaminating the Gulf of Mexico for 14 years. The Washington Post reports the US Coast Guard has mandated Taylor Energy "institute a … system to capture, contain, or remove oil" from the affected...

Check Out This 82-Foot-Long Whale Made of Trash

It's to raise awareness about ocean pollution

(Newser) - Artists are putting the finishing touches on an 82-foot-long blue whale made from discarded plastic that will be on display near San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge to raise awareness about ocean pollution, the AP reports. The Monterey Bay Aquarium said Friday a blue whale can weigh 300,000 pounds—...

Cocaine Now Wreaking Havoc on ... Eels
Cocaine Now Wreaking
Havoc on ... Eels
NEW STUDY
Jun 21, 2018 9:07 PM CDT

Cocaine Now Wreaking Havoc on ... Eels

Study shows muscle damage that could affect migration

(Newser) - Humans aren't alone in a battle with illicit drugs, which have penetrated waterways worldwide via wastewater and other means. European eels are feeling the effects, and probably other animals, too, say researchers at Italy's University of Naples Federico II. After previously finding cocaine in eel flesh, the team...

Our Plastic Problem Is Likely Worse Than You Think
Solution to Plastic Pollution
Isn't a 'Sexy' One
longform
May 17, 2018 10:00 AM CDT

Solution to Plastic Pollution Isn't a 'Sexy' One

'We need to just collect the trash,' says one resource economist

(Newser) - You want big picture? National Geographic provides it on the issue of plastic choking the world's waterways. Invented in the late 19th century, plastic didn't truly take off in terms of production until around 1950, when scientists began making it out of petroleum in earnest. Now, we have...

World&#39;s Greatest Killer Isn&#39;t War or Hunger
This Kills More
People Than War,
AIDS, or Smoking
NEW STUDY
Oct 20, 2017 9:14 AM CDT

This Kills More People Than War, AIDS, or Smoking

Pollution, responsible for 9M premature deaths in 2015: study

(Newser) - Environmental pollution—from filthy air to contaminated water—is killing more people every year than all war and violence in the world. More than smoking, hunger, or natural disasters. More than AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined, reports the AP . One out of every six premature deaths in the world in...

Report: Harvey Caused 145K Gallons of Fuel to Spill

Now all eyes are on Florida's petroleum storage facilities as Irma bears down

(Newser) - More than two dozen storage tanks holding crude oil, gasoline, and other contaminants ruptured or otherwise failed when Harvey slammed into the Texas coast, spilling at least 145,000 gallons of fuel and spewing toxic pollutants into the air, per an AP analysis of pollution reports submitted to state and...

Indian Court Takes Unusual Step to Protect Ganges

Judges grant it same rights as a human

(Newser) - A court in northern India has granted the same legal rights as a human to the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, considered sacred by nearly a billion Indians, per the AP . Uttarakhand state's High Court ruled Monday that the two rivers be accorded the status of living human entities, meaning...

In Deepest Part of Ocean, &#39;Sky High&#39; Pollution
In Deepest
Part of Ocean,
'Sky High' Pollution
NEW STUDY
Feb 14, 2017 9:17 AM CST

In Deepest Part of Ocean, 'Sky High' Pollution

Toxic chemicals reach 6 miles deep in ocean: study

(Newser) - At the deepest spot in the ocean, scientists have found beer cans, plastic bags, a tin of Spam, and now tiny crustaceans contaminated with toxic chemicals banned nearly 50 years ago. The "extraordinary levels" of pollution in the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean and the Kermadec Trench...

Corpus Christi: Water Is All Clear After Chemical Spill

City ends 4-day ban after worries that asphalt plant contaminated water supply

(Newser) - A nearly four-day ban on drinking the water in Corpus Christi, Texas, was lifted on Sunday after test results showed no contamination due to a chemical leak, reports the AP . Mayor Dan McQueen said residents could resume using the city's water supply for drinking, bathing, and cooking. "It...

This Might Be World's First Polluted River

Researchers find riverbed with copper pollution from 7,000 years ago

(Newser) - It's no surprise that humans pollute their waterways, but now it appears we've been doing it a lot longer than thought. In a study published this month in Science of the Total Environment , researchers say they've found evidence of a polluted river from 7,000 years ago....

Red River in Russia Is Freaking Everyone Out

Some are pointing the finger at pollution possibly caused by local nickel factory

(Newser) - Russian officials are looking into a phenomenon that's been documented by a flurry of pictures on social media: one of the country's northernmost rivers turning a bloodlike bright red. CNN reports that the Daldykan River shifted to a rouge hue on Tuesday, and while some are saying the...

Baltimore Streams Tainted by Meth
Baltimore Streams
Tainted by Amphetamines
new study
Aug 26, 2016 9:57 AM CDT

Baltimore Streams Tainted by Amphetamines

Aquatic life threatened by drugs flushed down the toilet, scientists say

(Newser) - Are the nation’s streams tainted with hard drugs? If they're near urban areas, the answer is likely yes based on a new study that found amphetamine polluting water sources in Baltimore, CNN reports. Researchers who tested samples from six streams around the Maryland city found them tainted with...

Pro Tip for Rio Travelers: 'Don't Put Your Head Underwater'

AP study finds waters in Olympic city are still dangerously contaminated

(Newser) - Just days ahead of the Olympic Games, Rio waterways are as filthy as ever, contaminated with raw human sewage teeming with dangerous viruses and bacteria, according to a 16-month-long study commissioned by the AP . Not only are some 1,400 athletes at risk of getting violently ill in water competitions,...

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