It’s hard to imagine a teensy mosquito taking down an animal as mighty as the killer whale. Yet that’s exactly what some folks suspect happened at two SeaWorld locations.

Representatives from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) say that orcas that died at SeaWorld parks in Orlando and San Antonio succumbed to encephalitis, a virus transmitted by mosquitoes.  WDCS argues that these deaths could have been avoided if whales weren’t kept in captivity.

You see, orcas in the wild love to swim and roam far from coastlines, making them virtually inaccessible to weak-flying mosquitoes. But when killer whales are housed in relatively small, shallow pools — like the enclosures at SeaWorld — they become one massive, black-and-white target for blood-thirsty insects.

Courtney Vail, campaigns manager for WDCS, says that killer whales in captivity are prone to spending too much time floating, or “logging”, due to the limitations of their enclosures. These unnatural restrictions, and the resulting coping behavior, make orcas in captivity more susceptible to insect bites and the threat of disease.

For now, only the two killer whales are believed to have died of mosquito-related diseases, but experts warn that the killing spree could continue: Dozens of orcas live in captivity throughout the world.

Encephalitis: Just one more reason to Free Willy.

One man’s trash is another man’s airplane fuel.

Adventure-seeker Andy Pag aims to obtain funding and become the first person to fly a trash-fueled plane from one end of the U.K. to the other. His aircraft, a microlight plane, will be powered by gasoline made from un-recyclable plastics like bags and packaging.

The fuel is made by a British company using Fischer–Tropsch synthesis–a process of making synthetic fuel that dates back to before WWII. Pag says the fuel is worth highlighting because it produces limited CO2, and reduces the volume of plastics that otherwise would go to landfills.

Pag isn’t just in it for sheer glory, either. He plans to stop every couple of hours, show off his sweet ride, and educate people about the need to cut back on fossil fuels.

Flying a microlight plane — plastic-based fuel or not — is certainly risky, but this isn’t Pag’s first foray into green travel. He’s previously traveled the world on donated vegetable oil, driven across the Sahara in a truck powered by chocolate, and organized a motor rally where vehicles run on restaurants’ waste oil. Now if Pag could just tackle a vehicle that runs on trash AND time travels, he would really give Doc Brown some competition.

Watch one episode of Mad Men and you’ll see just how shady the advertising biz can be. But apparently the red-headed stepchildren of the advertising industry — outdoor billboard companies — are taking douchebaggery to new lows. An investigative report from Fair Warning details how billboard agencies illegally chop down trees to ensure that potential viewers get unobstructed looks at their signage. Don Draper’s womanizing and debauchery isn’t looking so bad now, eh?

Take Robert J. Barnhart, a former employee of Lamar Advertising Company, the largest outdoor billboard company in America. When trees got in the way of the company’s Tallahassee, Fla., signs, Barnhart says his boss instructed him to kill them off using a mega-lethal herbicide. When Barnhart said he’d no longer act as a tree hit-man, Lamar gave him the axe. Barnhart’s allegations are backed up by his former supervisor, and they’re part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

And apparently Barnhart’s tale is just one in an industry that’s rife with illicit tree removal.

As long as there have been billboards, trees have been getting in the way. And billboard companies have been removing them — sometimes legally, sometimes not. News archives are replete with accounts of mysterious tree disappearances near billboard sites. Usually, no one gets caught, due to lack of evidence or to officials failing to aggressively pursue those responsible. Fewer trees means more viewing time for motorists, and more money for billboard operators. A 500-foot clearance in front of a sign creates more than five seconds of viewing time for a motorist going 60 mph.

Indeed, tree stumps have been spotted in suspiciously close proximity to billboards in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and many other states. Dan Freeman, an official with California’s Department of Transportation, says Southern California is the latest region to be slammed by illegal tree slayings.

“The billboard industry — well, my impression of them is they’re kind of lawless,” said Freeman, Caltrans’ deputy director of maintenance for Los Angeles and Ventura counties. “They pretty much do whatever they want.”

“We’ve been victim a number of times to people who come in the middle of the night, with a chainsaw, and just kind of clear cut the area immediately in front of one of these supergraphics or a large billboard.”

Hello, Lorax? We need you, buddy — otherwise ad agencies are going to continue going all Once-ler on America’s trees.

Most folks associate Six Flags’ Magic Mountain with water parks, games, and thrilling roller coasters. Turns out the amusement park produces more than just smiles and old fashioned family fun — a whole mess of water pollution.

A coalition of local environmental groups recently accused Magic Mountain of spewing pollutants and trash into the Santa Clara River, a waterway that flows 45 miles from the park before emptying into the ocean. The coalition says that if the amusement park doesn’t clean up its act within 60 days, they’ll sue — just in time for summer vacation season.

The groups took water samples of runoff flowing from the amusement park’s two storm water channels and a pipe leading from the facility. Three rounds of tests revealed excessive levels of copper, zinc, aluminum, iron, lead, and titanium and also showed the presence of mercury, oil and grease, bacteria and other effluent, the groups said. They say the park’s storm water monitoring reports show similar pollution dating back to at least 2007.

Not only that, but the park’s massive amounts of trash — everything from plastic bottles to rubber ball prizes — wind up in the Santa Clara, too.

It’s unclear where, exactly, all these dangerous pollutants are coming from, but there’s certainly no lack of options. Runoff from the park’s irrigation system; water used to hose down midways, bathrooms, and restaurants; parking lots; and overflow from water park ponds are all possibilities.

But if potentially poisoning swimmers and aquatic wildlife isn’t enough of a reason for Magic Mountain to stop spewing noxious substances, perhaps losing a major amount of dough will serve as motivation. The environmental coalition seeks $37,500 for every day that the park is in violation of the federal Clean Water Act.

The Discovery Channel isn’t a climate change denier, but it’s certainly shaping up to be an equally formidable foe — a climate change avoider.

Media outlets and activists are lambasting the network for failing to adequately address climate change in its recent series, Frozen Planet. The seven-part series, which was jointly produced with the BBC, explores life in the North and South poles. The series’ final episode, “On Thin Ice,” depicts how decreasing ice cover impacts polar habitat and wildlife, but fails to acknowledge the fact that human activities are spurring global warming.

Strangely missing from the narration, however, is any mention of the causes of climate change, even presented as theory. An April 20 story in the New York Times revealed that the producers made a deliberate choice not to present this material, anticipating criticism from the small minority of viewers who do not accept scientific opinion about human causes of global warming.

Series producer Vanessa Berlowitz told the New York Times that including the scientific theories “would have undermined the strength of an objective documentary, and would then have become utilized by people with political agendas.”

And this isn’t the first time the network has been accused of dodging climate change coverage. According to media reports, Discovery initially planned not to air Frozen Planet’s seventh episode, due to a “scheduling conflict.” The network later changed its tune and said it would air the climate change episode.

Discovery may think it’s being diplomatic here, but the network exists to cover science and nature. It’s understandable that critics view the network’s total lack of coverage of climate change’s causes as, well, a GIANT, gaping oversight.

One organization, Forecast the Facts, recently launched a campaign urging Discovery to acknowledge the scientific consensus on human-made global warming. You can sign the group’s online petition here.

Today marks the 26th anniversary of the Chernobyl explosion, the worst nuclear disaster the world has ever seen. Ukraine officials are gifting the nuclear site with an odd sort of birthday hat — a massive containment cap, or “Chernobyl sarcophagus.”

An international drive has raised funds from governments towards building a new permanent covering to slide over a temporary concrete-and-steel shelter that was hastily erected after the disaster and is now dangerously crumbling.

The 20,000-tonne arched structure, known as the New Safe Confinement, is designed to last for a century and spans 257 meters.

The shell, which will cost about 1.5 billion euros (nearly $2 billion), is absolutely massive: It’s big enough to cover all of New York’s Statue of Liberty.

Construction is expected to be completed in 2015, but let’s hope the structure is put up lickety split — even 26 years later, Chernobyl is still a veritable pool of noxious contaminants.

Electric vehicles are great and all, but they’re not exactly practical for everyone. Like, how’s a farmer in rural China going to a) afford a pricey green car and b) get enough access to electrical outlets and vehicle charging stations?

Well, if he’s Tang Zhengping from Beijing’s Tangzhou Wanji Yongle Town, he’ll build his own – and it’ll be AWESOME.

Fifty-five-year-old Zhengping recently constructed a totally emissions-free vehicle powered by wind and solar. The ride — which comes in a lovely shade of robin’s egg blue — is no jalopy, either: It has a range of 90 miles.

His creation, roughly the size of a box-car, is powered by batteries and two sets of electric generators. A large fan installed in the front and a pair of solar panels in the back help supply power by charging either the battery or generator, depending on which isn’t being used at the time. Altogether, the project cost Zhengping the Chinese equivalent of around 1,600 dollars.

Zhengping only needed three months to build this amazeballs vehicle. Hello, GM? We’ve got your next recruit.

Update: This post originally said Zhengping’s car could travel at 90 mph. D’oh! Miles per hour and range are totally different — we’ve corrected the post to show that the electric vehicle has a range of 90 miles.

Scotland’s plan to build offshore wind turbines would curb climate change, reduce the country’s reliance on foreign oil, and create thousands of jobs. But Donald Trump don’t give a f***.

Trump appeared before the Scottish Parliament’s economy, energy, and tourism committee today to speak out against the country’s plan to build offshore wind turbines. His argument? Eleven wind turbines — located a full 1.5 miles from land — will “ruin Scotland’s tourism.”

Trump’s testimony is more of the same hot air he’s been blowing for months. You see, the Donald bought a 1,400-acre piece of property in Scotland back in 2006. He’s already built a luxury golf course and plans to construct a resort and homes. A handful of turbines way out in the ocean will destroy the views his upscale clients pay to see — I mean, er, ruin tourism for the ENTIRE country.

Trump — who is a climate change denier, by the way — went into several crazy-person rants during his testimony, including calling First Minister Alex Salmond a liar. But when Trump was asked to provide evidence that wind turbines would negatively impact Scotland’s tourism, his response was especially ridiculous. “I am the evidence,” he said. “I am considered a world-class expert in tourism.” Classic.

Camera company GoPro recently got all up in Northern Lights, producing the first-ever photos and video from right inside them. The misty flourescence paired with groovy tunes from the Trey Anastasio Band results in one trippy experience — without the need for illicit substances.

To achieve this Herculean feat, GoPro launched cameras on helium weather balloons, capturing images from 100,000 feet above Alaska. The filming took place earlier this month on April 11 and 12.

While the images are crazy beautiful, this project wasn’t solely for art’s sake. GoPro partnered with a team of rocket scientists and school teachers to learn more about Aurora Borealis. The helium weather balloons also held scientific instruments to measure certain features of the light show.

There’s good news and bad news about U.S. air pollution. We’ll hit you with the good news first.

The American Lung Association released its State of the Air 2012 report today, and the study shows some improvement in the nation’s air quality (huzzah!).

The volunteer health organization examined 2008-2010 ozone levels, the main ingredient of smog air pollution, and air-particle pollution at official measuring sites across the U.S.

Out of the 25 cities with the most ozone pollution, 22 saw improvements in air quality over last year’s report. Similar advancements were seen among cities with the most year-round particle pollution.

And now for the bad news: Despite the progress, the country’s air is still woefully polluted. About 127 million Americans — a whopping 41 percent of us — still endure pollution levels that make it dangerous to breathe. Check out the top 10 regions with the dubious distinction of having the most year-round particle pollution. (Spoiler alert: If you’re from several parts of California, you may want to consider relocating).

1) Bakersfield and Delano, Calif.
2) Hanford and Corcoran, Calif.
3) Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Riverside, Calif.
4) Visalia and Porterville, Calif.
5) Fresno and Madera, Calif.
6) Pittsburgh and Newcaste, Pa.
7) Phoenix, Mesa, and Glendale, Ariz.
8) Cincinnati, Ohio; Middletown, Ky.; and Wilmington, Ind.
9) Lousiville, Jefferson County, and Elizabethtown, Ky.; Scottsburg, Ind.
10) Philadelphia, Pa.; Camden and Vineland, N.J.; St. Louis, St. Charles, and Farmington, Mo. and Ill.

In addition to maps and lists of tourist attractions, perhaps these cities’ visitor centers can hand out oxygen masks?