August 2026

Coral Tissue Reveals Hidden Pollution: Lessons for Caribbean Reef Monitoring Coral Tissue Reveals Hidden Pollution: Lessons for Caribbean Reef Monitoring A seawater sample offers a snapshot of conditions at one location and one moment. Coral tissue can reveal a longer and more complex story. Researchers studying reefs around Maui found 25 contaminants associated with agricultural,…

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Wildfire Emissions Below the Surface: Why Soil, Peat and Air Monitoring Must Work Together When a wildfire moves through a forest, attention naturally focuses on flames, smoke and burned vegetation. Yet some of the most consequential combustion may occur out of sight—in leaf litter, organic soil horizons and peat beneath the surface. A new study…

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Nanoplastics in Antarctic Soil: Why Environmental Testing Must Look Below the Visible Nanoplastics in Antarctic Soil: Why Environmental Testing Must Look Below the Visible Scientists have detected nanoplastics in soils from one of Antarctica’s most remote ice-free environments. The particles were found in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, where extremely cold, dry and nutrient-poor conditions have…

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Tyre Wear Pollution in Urban Dust: Why Air and Stormwater Monitoring Must Work Together Traffic pollution is often discussed in terms of exhaust gases, smoke and fine particulate matter. But every journey also produces non-exhaust emissions as tyres repeatedly contact and abrade against road surfaces. The resulting material does not simply disappear. Tyre wear particles…

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Pharmaceuticals and Pesticides in Coastal Waters: Why Sediment Monitoring Matters Finding a chemical in coastal water does not automatically mean that it is causing ecological damage. It does, however, identify an exposure pathway that may require closer investigation. That distinction is central to new research from South Africa’s False Bay. Scientists detected selected pharmaceuticals, herbicides…

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Drought Can Concentrate Disease Risk: Why Environmental Surveillance Must Track Water Stress Drought reduces water across a landscape, but it does not necessarily reduce every water-associated disease. Shrinking rivers, ponds and wetlands can eliminate some parasites and vectors. They can also force wildlife, livestock, insects and people to depend on fewer remaining water sources, increasing…

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Forest Nitrogen Cycling Under Rising CO₂: Why Soil Monitoring Matters Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide can stimulate photosynthesis, but extra CO₂ alone does not guarantee that forests will continue growing faster or storing more carbon. Trees also need nitrogen, phosphorus, water and other resources. Whether forests can obtain those resources—and how soil microorganisms respond—will strongly influence…

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From Industrial Waste to Low-Carbon Hydrogen: Why Carbon Mineralization Needs Environmental Testing Industrial waste carbon mineralization could help connect three major environmental priorities: managing difficult waste streams, permanently capturing carbon dioxide and producing lower-carbon hydrogen. Researchers at The Ohio State University have demonstrated an electrochemical process that uses the energy released during carbon mineralization to…

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