Environment

Environment

Triclosan may spoil wastewater treatment

Common antimicrobial could make microbes more drug resistant and less efficient at breaking down sewage sludge in municipal treatment plants.

Environment

E-cigarettes may inflame lungs as much as cigarettes do

Acute lung impacts of e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes are nearly identical, new study finds.

Earth

Rock made of plastic turns up on Hawaii beach

A new type of rock made from trash could mark human's impact on Earth in the future rock record.

Agriculture

Fertilizer produces far more greenhouse gas than expected

Farmers’ overuse of nitrogen-based fertilizers may explain previously puzzling high emissions of nitrous oxide.

Health & Medicine

Health risks of e-cigarettes emerge

Research uncovers a growing list of chemicals that end up in an e-cigarette user’s lungs, and one study finds that an e-cigarette’s vapors can increase the virulence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Environment

Carbon dioxide levels hit landmark in Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere experienced the first full month with the greenhouse gas at or above the symbolic 400 parts per million level.

Environment

Fukushima contamination affects butterfly larvae

Butterfly larvae fed leaves with radioactive cesium from the Fukushima nuclear disaster had a higher rate of death and development abnormalities than larvae that got leaves from a location farther from the accident.

Oceans

Deepwater Horizon methane lingered longer than thought

Microbes may not have consumed methane from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill as fast as previously thought.

Environment

BP oil spill may have killed hundreds of thousands of birds

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill may have killed 600,000 to 800,000 coastal birds, new simulations suggest.

Climate

Crop nutrients may drop as carbon dioxide rises

Many staple grains and legumes pack 5 to 10 percent less iron, zinc and protein when grown at carbon dioxide levels expected midcentury.

Animals

Some birds adapt to Chernobyl’s radiation

Some birds seem to fare well in and near the Chernobyl exclusion zone, but overall the nuclear disaster has been bad news for the region’s bird populations.

Environment

Prestige oil spill linked to drop in seabird chicks

European shag in colonies affected by the 2002 Prestige oil tanker spill produced fewer chicks than birds in oil-free colonies.