pollution
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This is what air pollution sounds like
One of the terrifying qualities of modern pollution is that you can’t always see it. In old pictures of industrial cities, the pollution was disgustingly apparent. But today, pollution is often invisible, even though it’s no less dangerous. Aaron Reuben and Gabriel Isaacman have come up with a way for people to feel pollution more […]
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One more way your plane flights are killing everybody
Remember when cars used to give off disgusting clouds of lead-laden smoke? Planes still do that. Some of them do, at least — in particular, those nasty little planes that rich people fly because car traffic is for suckers. According to Scientific American, smaller planes now produce HALF of all the lead pollution in the […]
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Even fish are getting skin cancer now
For the pale-skinned among us, the ocean is one of the most dangerous places to be. There’s no place to hide from the sun, and the water is so frickin’ reflective that even if that SPF 45 sunblock weren’t being washed off by waves and spray, it wouldn’t do much good anyway. But for the […]
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The Pacific Ocean is becoming caffeinated
While the concentrations aren't exactly espresso-level, it's still cause for concern.
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Fox News thinks pollution is good for the planet
Fox News is now apparently telling viewers that pollution helps forests grow.
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World’s oldest trees face country’s worst smog
Sequoia National Park can lay claim to two superlatives — its redwoods are the oldest single organisms on the planet and its air quality is the worst of any national park in the country. The smog pollution in the park is so bad that levels reach L.A.-worthy heights. The park might seem like it’s in […]
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Cows cause as much smog in L.A. as cars do
L.A. gets a bad rap for its car culture. But it turns out that Americans’ addiction to milk, cheese, and other delicious dairy products plays just as big a role in the city’s smog problem these days. Scientific American reports that there are 300,000 cattle in the L.A. area, and the bacteria feasting on their […]
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Surreal, weirdly beautiful photo of planetary destruction seen from space
Some things that look awful up close can look kind of beautiful from space. Like this enormous open-pit copper mine in northern Chile.
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America’s largest urban Superfund site gets cute new mascot
In order to get people excited about the process of turning the canal into something that will stop depressing local property values, the Gowanus Community Advisory Group has decided that the project needs a mascot.