In 2013 alone, around 56 million tons of polyethylene terephthalate were produced in the world, also known as PET, the accumulation of which is a growing problem in ecosystems throughout the marine world . The bottles are even the least of it. According to a Greenpeace report, gigantic marine creatures weighing more than 3.5 million … Read more
Inside a building we seem safe from the air polluted by car exhaust pipes, but this seemingly cleaner air actually claims more lives than the air outside: it is estimated that around 4 die each year. 3 million people because of it , when poor air quality in cities kills 3.7 million. The reason for … Read more
Some beaches are banning smoking, and it is not only an appropriate measure not to subject people around us to smoke or fill the sand with cigarette butts. Butts can also contaminate the sea in a particularly aggressive way: being an important source of metallic pollutants from leaching into the marine environment and, potentially, entering … Read more
According to NOAA , the global average temperature for June 2016 was 0.9 degrees Celsius above the average of the 20th century, breaking last year’s record for the hottest June at 0.02 degrees Celsius. June thus becomes the fourteenth consecutive month with a heat record in the world . NOAA’s global temperature records date back … Read more
Currently, we are 7,400 million people, and only for the year 2050, a new review carried out by the Population Reference Bureau (PRB) , this figure will increase by no less than 33%, thus reaching the figure of 9,900 million people . The most striking thing is that, if the growth rate continues, by the … Read more
A Japanese newspaper , the Mainichi Shimbun , is printed on an ecological paper, but it also contains an ecological plus: its paper contains seeds. That is, after reading it, the buyer can conceive a plant by planting some pieces in a pot. You can see it in the following video. The greenest newspaper This … Read more
The complexity of ecosystems is so great that we cannot study them without stumbling into reductionism. Nor do we know what exactly happens in the set when we touch a piece, for example eliminating an animal species . Everything is connected to everything in a causal tangle so inextricable that a good example to begin … Read more
In 2016, the temperature of the Earth will exceed the average of the pre-industrial era (15ºC) by 1.25ºC, which means that the global temperature on the planet’s surface has reached the highest point in the last 115,000 years, according to a recent study James Hansen, NASA, and other eleven experts for Earth-Systems Dynamics Journal . … Read more
In ancient times, humans hunted mammoths and rabbits, but the former became extinct and the latter did not. Which is the reason? Basically it all comes down to a single factor: the speed of reproduction of both species . Mammoths had to reproduce at a rate of perhaps only two young a year, and mammoth … Read more
The creation of a 1.55 million square kilometer marine protected area in the Ross Sea in the Southern Ocean, the world’s largest reserve , has been agreed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources ( CCAMLR , for its acronym in English). The project approved on Friday, October 28 at the … Read more
Between asthma attacks and other respiratory problems, as well as premature deaths , air pollution in cities carries a cost of 34,000 million euros (year 2015). But what if only electric cars started to be sold and the majority of the car fleet was made up of them? That is what a report by the … Read more
Brexit is an abbreviation of two words in English, Britain (Great Britain) and exit (exit), which means the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union. Politically it is a legitimate option, and this is not the appropriate space to discuss it. However, Brexit can have health consequences. Specifically, Brexit can affect bees in … Read more
Both Spain, like the rest of Europe, is now greener than it was a century ago: specifically, the area covered by forests has increased by more than a third from 1900 to 2010 , according to the conclusions of a study carried out by researchers at the University from Waningen, in the Netherlands. Not everything … Read more
The higher the temperature of the waters, the greater the voracity of the fish that come to feed in the kelp forests, so their survival is in danger . This is what a new study carried out by researchers at the University of New South Wales (Australia) suggests after collecting the data in the Solitary … Read more
Giovanna Zorán Yunes Jiménez is a Mexican biologist who is resuscitating corals damaged in Baja California by Hurricane Odile in 2014. This biologist from the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur (UABCS) grows and heals coral reefs of the genus Pocillopora in the Archipelago de Espíritu Santo National Park: selected corals have been adhered to … Read more
Paris, Athens and Mexico City will prohibit the circulation of diesel vehicles in city centers from the year 2025, as they have publicly announced in Mexico City, during the celebration of the C40 Mayors Summit . Air pollution is considered to be responsible for 3.4 million premature deaths every year worldwide , and diesel vehicles … Read more
A rock, sandbar, or other feature that lies 6 fathoms (approximately 11 meters) or less below the surface of the water at low tide is considered a reef . So, in addition to the typical coral reefs, we can find a wide variety of types of biotic reefs. And also artificial. The largest in the … Read more
The confinement beam from the National Ignition Facility (NIF), a fusion research laboratory, is considered the most powerful laser in the world. It is an ultraviolet laser with an output power of 500 terawatts . The machinery and electronic components that activate the NIF laser require more space than a football stadium. But the one-billionth … Read more
The Spanish high-speed train, the AVE, is the only one in the country capable of reaching a commercial operating speed of 300 km / h . In just over two hours, we can get from Barcelona to Madrid. But the winds on our planet can be even faster. The catabic winds , for example, can … Read more
We have always talked about the improbability of being struck by lightning, however there are regions of the Earth where it is certainly quite probable: for example, land areas surrounded by high mountains favor the generation of air currents that form storms. These are the conclusions obtained during the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) of … Read more
More and more studies are appearing that link road traffic and the pollution it generates with various diseases. Now The Lancet has just published a study that even links the risk of dementia with the proximity of our home to a busy road or street. The Canadian study found 7% more cases of dementia among … Read more
Pollutant plastic bags could come to an end thanks to Avani Eco Bags , bags that look like plastic but are actually made with vegetable fibers from cassava and natural resin . They are biodegradable, non-toxic, and compost. All this process occurs in a few months: without leaving any residue. However, if they are put … Read more
The global average temperature in 2016 was the highest since records began in 1880, according to scientists from the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), thus registering a record eight consecutive months from January to August . Specifically, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 0.94 ° C above the 20th century … Read more
Two million euros to produce solar cells with materials such as colloidal quantum dots and halide perovskites have been invested by the Jaume I University of Castellón (UJI) has obtained the first Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). The professor of Applied Physics Iván Mora Seró , also a researcher at the University … Read more