Environment | Science News for Students

Environment

a photo of the 2018 Carr fire from a distance

The 2018 Carr fire in northern California, seen here outside Redding, threw pollutants into the air for weeks, beginning July 23. The state reported that air quality was “unhealthy” throughout the region affected by this intense fire. One of the biggest in state history, this fire eventually burned more than 175,000 acres and destroyed more than 1,077 homes.

E.L. Karey

Environment
 
Aug 15, 2018
Wildfires worsen extreme air pollution in U.S. northwest
a photo of the dry Aral Sea, two boats are sitting on the ground

Asia’s Aral Sea, once the world’s fourth largest lake, is now largely dry. The reason: People have been pulling too much water from the rivers that feed it.

oxico/iStockphoto

Environment
 
Aug 3, 2018
People are changing which parts of Earth get more (or less) water
close up of a teenager's hands with sparkly nail polish and holding a lit cigarette

Toxic particles of so-called “thirdhand smoke” can settle on clothing. When the smoker comes indoors, those particles can go airborne again to pollute a new site.

prudkov/iStockphoto

Chemistry
 
Jul 17, 2018
‘Thirdhand’ smoke can hitchhike to non-smoking sites
Andreas Fath swimming in the Tennessee River

What's hidden in the river? During his epic swim of the Tennessee River, a German scientist sampled — and then studied — the pollutants he encountered.

Courtesy of Andreas Fath

Pollution
 
Jun 21, 2018
Scientist tackles water pollution with epic swims
DNA display

Scientists can extract DNA (parts of which are displayed on screen) from samples they picked up in the environment. They then look for patterns in this genetic material to identify which species had left it. In this way, biologists can “detect” what organisms had been around.

Wavebreakmedia/iStockphoto

Genetics
 
Mar 13, 2018
Explainer: DNA hunters
ski jump
Ski jumping is one of many outdoor sports at the Winter Olympics. Rising temperatures, however, could limit how many cities would be cold enough to accommodate such events at future games.
Vegar Samestad Hansen/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Weather & Climate
 
Feb 9, 2018
Climate change threatens future Winter Olympics
Bolivian rainforest
Severely degraded forests, such as this one in Bolivia, are helping convert the tropics — sometimes called the “lungs of the planet” — into carbon emitters.
Wayne Walker
Environment
 
Nov 24, 2017
Tropics may now emit more carbon dioxide than they absorb
Big city lights

Major cities can easily be seen from space at night owing to the huge outpouring of light they emit. They also can be seen from a great distance, on the ground, due to the way they produce a dome of overhead light known as sky glow.

Britus/iStockphoto

Environment
 
Jul 27, 2017
Night lights have a dark side
Japan atmosphere

The view from a plane in which atmospheric scientists are taking air measurements over Japan. They’re looking for airborne particles that might prove a trigger for Kawasaki disease.

Roger Curcoll, IC3

Health
 
Jul 11, 2017
Hunting the mysterious source of a global illness
mild cold
Health
 
Jun 6, 2017
Is your home chilly? This might just be healthy