Despite differences in aquatic life and toxic metals in streams across a broad region of the western United States, scientists found common responses to cleanup of acid mine drainage.

Wherever scientists look, they can spot them: whether in remote mountain lakes, in Arctic sea ice, in the deep-ocean floor or in air samples, even in edible fish – thousands upon thousands of microscopic plastic particles in the micro to millimeter range.

A new focus article in the May issue of Geology summarizes research on plastic waste in marine and sedimentary environments. 

Using satellites, scientists are starting to better understand the specific sources of urban light pollution.

A grass commonly used to fight soil erosion has been genetically modified to successfully remove toxic chemicals left in the ground from munitions that are dangerous to human health, new research shows.

Exposure to air pollution, even over the course of just a few weeks, can impede mental performance, according to a new study led by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

From the Pacific Northwest to the Rocky Mountains, summers in the West are marked by wildfires and smoke.

New research indicates that the computer-based models currently used to simulate how Earth’s climate will change in the future underestimate the impact that forest fires and drying climate are having on the world’s northernmost forests, which make up the largest forest biome on the planet. 

Forget diamonds—plastic is forever. It takes decades, or even centuries, for plastic to break down, and nearly every piece of plastic ever made still exists in some form today.

Following several explosive eruptions on the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent, volcanic ash poses myriad hazards in the air and on the ground.