environmental science research for everyone
Half a century of conflict in Columbia is finally coming to an end. But decreased political tension may lead to more pressure on natural resources. How can Columbia adapt to changing political and planetary climates without sacrificing critical ecosystem services?
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Phosphorus is essential for life, but there is such thing as too much of a good thing. In excess, phosphorus can cause algal blooms, creating dead zones in bodies of water. How do we prevent phosphorus from entering water systems? Katrina Macintosh and her team did a comprehensive review to track phosphorus from diffuse sources to find out.
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Antibiotics are finding their way into surface waters via wastewater effluent where they pose a threat to the environment and organisms including humans. Many wastewater treatment plants are not designed to remove antibiotics. This study explores the use of soil to reduce the amount of antibiotics that enter the environment.
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With a limited amount of time and money available for conservation efforts, it’s critical to know which species are the most vulnerable. Unfortunately, that assessment requires a virtually impossible amount of data. Citizen scientists from North and South Carolina have filled this critical gap by collecting 7,684 snake observations from every county in the two states over the course of eight years. Here’s what they found.
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Wastewater from textile factories contains chemicals, such as synthetic dyes, that can threaten both the environment and human health. Discharging wastewater to constructed wetlands is a common method for wastewater treatment. Recently, researchers investigated the viability of cultivating constructed wetlands with ornamental plants for the treatment of textile effluent in the hopes of discovering an aesthetically pleasing option for treatment.
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Electricity and food are two things each of us consumes every day. It is possible that by making smart choices, we can help grow more food while also generating electricity. Pollinating insects are an important part of agriculture in the US, and we can make electricity choices to increase the number of those insects near our farms.
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Humans are masters of ecosystem engineering. But so are many other creatures, not least among them: Beavers. Paper
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Surges in the popularity of rock climbing have made previously inaccessible cliff faces into tourist hotspots. How does this affect cliff ecosystems? Is there anything we can do?
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After a storm that left 149 people dead and thousands without homes, how could New Jersey coastal wetlands have possibly survived Hurricane Sandy basically unscathed? To find out how these protective ecosystems made it through the storm, we may need to look a little bit below the surface. Most of us know about “Jersey Tough”, but how many knew that applied to the salt marshes, too?
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Oil spills are damaging the marine environment. One method for cleanup is applying dispersants to break up oil slicks on the water surface, making oil easier to decompose. Unfortunately, researchers started to observe harmful algal blooms after the application of these dispersants. The scientists in this study wanted to understand what was causing these blooms.
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