A fuller picture is beginning to emerge of how the coronavirus shutdowns are clearing the air in major epicenters of the outbreak, with some measures of air pollution dropping by as much as 60 percent in parts of northern China.

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Found in crustacean shells, chitin is a useful natural polymer. Now, scientists have developed a fruit waste-based fermentation process for getting it out of those shells – and the technique results in better-quality chitin, to boot.

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Much of Earth has been steadily warming, which we now understand is a product of climate change. But in parts of the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, sea surfaces cooled considerably since the early 1980s. And now, scientists think they know why.

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A study modeling the impact of rising temperatures on suitable habitats for disease carrying mosquitoes has found such regions are expanding at a steady rate, with warnings the mosquitoes could become common in southern Europe within 10 years.

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Researchers working to trace the path of plastic waste through the marine environment have discovered the highest concentration of microplastics ever recorded on the seafloor, the result of deep-sea currents that act like conveyor belts for our trash.

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A new paper has revealed that Greenland and the Antarctic have lost a staggering amount of mass from their ice sheets over the last 16 years thanks to climate change, and that the melting has contributed to sea level rise.

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A new study out of the UK has revealed what plastic pollution might mean for hermit crabs, with an environment rich in microplastics seeming to affect their cognitive performance when selecting a home.

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Two new studies by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are shedding new light on plastic waste in the Antarctic. Using surveys of marine debris, researchers determined the source of plastics in the region and the effectiveness of mitigation efforts.

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Understanding the extent of plastic pollution is incredibly difficult. Scientists have again found evidence of small particles in the most remote of places, discovering microplastics lodged in cores of Antarctic sea ice for the first time.

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While no one likes seeing plastic waste floating in our waterways, tiny "microplastic" particles are also a threat to the aquatic environment – and to human health. A study now suggests that nanocellulose could be used to remove them from the water.

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