Amazon Rainforest Contaminated by Plastic | Pollution Monitor
The Amazon Rainforest and its watershed are thoroughly contaminated by plastic pollution, explains Mongabay. Plastics of all sizes have been found in water, soil, and wildlife, even in remote regions farthest from human settlements.
The city of Santiago, Chile has successfully improved its once-suffocating air pollution, relays The Guardian. The gains have come from implementing policies including electrifying public transport, curbing agricultural burns, and limiting gasoline vehicle use on certain days.
Plastic pollution is harming the ability of coral reefs to repair themselves, reports Oceanographic. Harmful chemicals ingested when corals eat microplastics disrupt their sensitive reproductive process.
Asthma inhalers emit a surprising amount of greenhouse gas pollution, according to CNN. The propellants used to deliver the active medication into the lungs are greenhouse gases thousands of times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
Microplastics are entering the vegetables we eat, notes Food and Wine. Researchers have found the mechanism meant to prevent toxins from collecting in the edible parts of vegetables is unable to fully block microplastics.
Large animal farms may be contributing significantly to local air pollution, says Wisconsin Public Radio. It is hypothesized that the industrial animal feeding process denudes and disturbs soil, ejecting dust into the atmosphere.
