December 2025

What’s Happening to Our Food: Seafood Safety, Contaminants, and Human Health A UC San Diego magazine feature explores how ocean pollutants and biological threats are affecting marine food webs and human health. Scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography are studying how toxic contaminants like mercury and pervasive parasites move through ecosystems, end up in…

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Deepwater Horizon Monitoring Reveals Slow Recovery of Deep-Sea Coral Communities Fifteen years after the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill, researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa are continuing long-term monitoring of deep-sea coral communities off the Gulf of Mexico. Their observations highlight both the resilience and lingering vulnerability of these fragile ecosystems. ([turn0news0] Long-Term…

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Rutgers Scientists Engineer Programmable Plastics That Break Down Naturally. Rutgers University researchers have developed a new class of synthetic plastics that can break down naturally under everyday conditions without heat or harsh chemicals — a chemistry-based advance that could help tackle global plastic pollution. Their approach draws inspiration from how nature builds polymers that serve…

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Hawaiʻi Researcher Tracks Microplastics Across Island Waterways Hope Kanoa, now a graduate student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, is expanding an ambitious research project to map microplastic contamination throughout Hawaiʻi’s coastal, riverine, and ocean environments. Her work was launched while she completed an undergraduate degree in Environmental Earth Science and has evolved into…

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Why Small Ponds Can Emit Big Greenhouse Gas Bursts: Insights from Mud and Texas Hollow Ponds New research from Cornell University reveals that even small, shallow ponds can be biogeochemical hotspots for greenhouse gas emissions — with carbon dioxide and methane released in surprising patterns driven by subtle differences in depth, stratification, light penetration, and…

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Satellite Boom Creates New Atmospheric Pollution Risks Above Earth The rapid expansion of satellite fleets — from communication constellations to Earth-observation platforms — may be altering Earth’s upper atmosphere in ways that are poorly understood and potentially harmful. A recent Yale Environment 360 investigation highlights concerns about emissions from rocket launches and fragments that burn…

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Nitrogen Dioxide from Gas & Propane Stoves Poses Hidden Health Risks — Switching to Electric Cuts Exposure A new Stanford University study finds that gas and propane stoves emit significant nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) indoors — often at levels that exceed outdoor safety benchmarks. Indoor exposure from cooking can contribute to respiratory and cardiovascular health risks,…

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The Invisible Cost of E-Waste Recycling: Health and Environmental Hazards in Ghana’s Agbogbloshie A new University of Michigan study highlights a dangerous paradox in informal electronic waste (e-waste) recycling in Ghana: what provides income for vulnerable communities also exposes people and ecosystems to severe toxic pollution. This sheds light on how global supply chains and…

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