Alan Gastelum, Photographer, Lobbies New York City To Address East River Garbage
New York’s East River has had its share of environmental challenges over the years. And while progress has been made since the days when raw sewage and industrial runoff poured unchecked into its waters, portions of the tidal strait remain magnets for garbage and other pollutants.
Fossil Fuel Subsidies; the Answer Lies in the Gulf
As the slow-burn of climate change spreads across the four corners of the globe, governments are fanning the global flames by dishing out a trillion dollars of fossil fuel subsidies each year, creating a perpetual pollution-pumping machine that’s poisoning the planet with ever-greater intensity. NRDC and other NGOs are demanding that world leaders focus instead on promoting rapidly developing clean energy technologies to protect our natural resources and maintain a sustainable planet. It’s not rocket science. But there are powerful special interests standing in the way…
Rio summit exposes Guanabara Bay’s Dire Pollution
In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Guanabara Bay used to be a near-legendary paradise, with healthy mangroves, sandy beaches and a rich ecosystem. Sadly, decades of urbanization and deforestation have taken their toll, and today it is long-suffering from unprecedented levels of pollution. Since 1995, one-billion dollars have been invested in fighting the pollution.
Cities to Face Sharply Rising Costs for Garbage Treatment
A new, far-reaching World Bank report on the state of municipal solid waste around the world predicts a sharp rise in the amount of garbage generated by urban residents between now and 2025.
World’s urban waste mountain a silent problem that is growing daily
The amount of garbage generated by city dwellers is set to rise steeply in the next two decades, with much of the increase coming in fast-growing cities in developing countries, according to a World Bank report.
Rio Closes Its Massive Jardim Gramacho Dump
One of the world’s largest open-air landfills, a vast, seaside mountain of trash where thousands of people have made a living sorting through the debris by hand, will close this weekend after 34 years in tainting service.
Plastic Bag: A Short History Of The Ubiquitous Sack
With Los Angeles preparing to become the largest city in the nation to ban plastic grocery bags, a short history of the ubiquitous sack.
Pacific bluefin tuna transport Fukushima-derived radionuclides from Japan to California
Across the vast Pacific, the mighty bluefin tuna carried radioactive contamination that leaked from Japan’s crippled nuclear plant to the shores of the United States 6,000 miles away, the first time a huge migrating fish has been shown to carry radioactivity such a distance…
What Causes Beach Closures?
In addition to disrupting a day at the beach, water pollution poses a serious health threat to beachgoers. The pollution that causes beach closures and illness in humans comes from many different places on land, but ultimately gets into the water primarily through one of two pathways, discrete point sources and diffuse non-point sources.