San Francisco Bans New Natural Gas Hookups
San Francisco has become the biggest American city yet to ban natural gas in new buildings. Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who wrote the legislation, says natural gas is responsible for 44%…
Pollution
It’s Time to Ban Cigarette Filters
We thought plastic straws were bad? Cigarette filters would like a word. Unlike the very obvious litter impact of single-use plastic straws, shopping bags, or bottles, cigarette butts seem unassuming.…
Unexpected Species Are Colonizing Rafts of Plastic Debris in the High Seas
It used to be that coastal species lived in coastal habitats. This makes sense. But now, a new study describes a surprising number of coastal marine invertebrate species thriving in…
With 100 Trillion Bits of Old Satellites Circling the Planet, Scientists Call for Action on Space Junk
Houston, we have a problem. The world generates 2.01 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste annually, with landfills groaning under the stress. We’ve delivered more than 170 trillion plastic particles…
Ocean Plastic Sees Staggering Increase Since 2005, Study Finds
The first study describing the discovery of marine plastic debris was published in the journal Science in 1972; the researchers reported that “plastic particles, in concentrations averaging 3500 pieces and…