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![Anne Schauer-Gimenez (from left) Allison Pieja and Molly Morse of Mango Materials stand next to the biopolymer fermenter at a sewage treatment plant next to San Francisco Bay. The fermenter feeds bacteria the methane they need to produce a biological form of plastic.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/img_4362-best-copy-a35437925e0ddc84ef5fc4764a029dafef74a51a-e1560786747300-900x422.jpg)
Replacing Plastic: Can Bacteria Help Us Break The Habit?
By: Christopher Joyce | NPR
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Entrepreneurs are eager to find substitutes for plastic that naturally degrade. One option is a “natural” plastic made by microbes and then eaten by them. But the process is still in the early days.
![The deep ocean is filled with sea creatures like giant larvaceans. They're actually the size of tadpoles, but they're surrounded by a yard-wide bubble of mucus that collects food — and plastic. "We found small plastic pieces in every single larvacean that we examined from different depths across the water column," says researcher Anela Choy.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/larvacean-bf6afb160bae8e04f559a678500d12ef04ceec56-e1559829595583-900x422.jpg)
Microplastics Have Invaded The Deep Ocean — And The Food Chain
By: Christopher Joyce | NPR
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Giant gyres of plastic in the ocean grab headlines, but it’s the tiny bits of plastic that scare scientists. And they’ve made their way everywhere, a new study finds – including our seafood.
![The U.S. used to ship about 7 million tons of plastic trash to China a year, where much of it was recycled into raw materials. Then came the Chinese crackdown of 2018.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/66666_e8a9833-05945baf142e3ea065643ad8d9d5da5b88d29c6a-e1552582339457-900x422.jpg)
Where Will Your Plastic Trash Go Now That China Doesn’t Want It?
By: Christopher Joyce | NPR
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Last year, China drastically cut back its imports of plastic waste to recycle. Now the U.S. and other wealthy nations must figure out what to do with their discards.
![Earth's long-term warming Kathryn Mersmanntrend can be seen in this visualization of NASA's global temperature record, compared to a baseline average from 1951 to 1980.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/globezoom-efcf721c6e1e9e54f3cfa315858bef219f4a542f-e1549489402432-900x422.jpg)
2018 Was Earth’s Fourth-Hottest Year On Record, Scientists Say
By: Christopher Joyce | NPR
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The last five years are also the five hottest years on record for average global temperature, according to scientists from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
![The devastation from Hurricane Michael over Mexico Beach, Fla. A massive federal report released in November warns that climate change is fueling extreme weather disasters like hurricanes and wildfires.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/ap_18326778703690-c0ee32ee4a0c087d73f4154f0048495a7eefc01e-e1545954379387-900x422.jpg)
2018 Was A Milestone Year For Climate Science (If Not Politics)
By: Christopher Joyce | NPR
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2018 saw a string of more precise — and dire — assessments that a warming climate is affecting the weather. That didn’t keep President Trump and others from questioning those scientific conclusions.
![Thick clouds emanate from a coal-burning power plant in Baishan, in the Jilin province of China. In an effort to boost its economy, China has recently started greenlighting coal projects that had been on hold.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/gettyimages-545620969-bec9ce72c270aa5057ed2080444dfe6a9c10a360-e1544049065289-900x422.jpg)
Carbon Dioxide Emissions Are Up Again. What Now, Climate?
By: Christopher Joyce | NPR
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The fortuitous dip in emissions of the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, during the past three years is over, as economies turn up. The trend in the near future looks grim, say climate scientists.
![Smog blankets Santiago, Chile, in June. A U.N. report warns that even a 1.5-degree C increase in global temperatures will cause serious changes to weather, sea levels, agriculture and natural eco-systems.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/gettyimages-976299064-7e2a548e16c98942763abb9d57c46f8dcd166e0b-e1539017961752-900x422.jpg)
Climate Report Warns Of Extreme Weather, Displacement of Millions Without Action
By: Christopher Joyce | NPR
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A scientific panel, convened by the U.N., lays out a challenging path to keep the global climate from warming more than 1.5 degrees Celsius — the red line for dangerous consequences.
![Waste engineer Jenna Jambeck of the University of Georgia surveys plastic waste in a southeast Asian village, where it will be recycled to make raw material for more plastic products. Jambeck advises Asian governments on how to keep plastic trash out of waterways.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/img-20180628-wa0001-0852e1fef38757312b401be61cf6b69a5db0d4ea-900x422.jpeg)
We’re Overrun With Plastic Trash. An Environmental Engineer Seeks A Solution
By: Christopher Joyce | NPR
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The engineer views a landfill as a living ecosystem, and the plastic that clogs it as a serious threat that crowds out life and never goes away. Can we eliminate the waste before it smothers us?
![The limbs had been evenly cut (left), and researchers were able to identify bullet holes (right).](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/bones-wounds-1_enl-0edac67c350cfb2406e2030c61a1f8adab66b088-e1529507160438-900x422.jpg)
Civil War Battlefield ‘Limb Pit’ Reveals Work Of Combat Surgeons
By: Christopher Joyce | NPR
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Scientists have been analyzing bones first uncovered by a utility crew digging at the Manassas National Battlefield Park in Virginia. The remains provide insights into surgery during the Civil War.
![](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/shark-highway-1-02130534a174c042622ac0d692cce6b401901a58-e1527280810911-900x422.jpg)
Scientists Take A Ride On The Pacific’s ‘Shark Highway’
By: Christopher Joyce | NPR
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Biologists knew the sharks sometimes traveled from waters off Costa Rica south to the Galapagos Islands, but they’d never actually witnessed it.
![](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/gettyimages-523914798-60-54b075289ffeac2947d7f518840c044404d2dce7-e1525295267529-900x422.jpg)
A Temperature Roller Coaster Could Be Coming
By: Christopher Joyce | NPR
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Global warming has so far seen a gradual rise in average temperatures. But that may change, with extreme variations. And poor countries could bear the brunt of it.
![](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/gettyimages-86093797-9d8ed0da85f3f9478d70e5be011597c46ff5a54b-e1523046829681-900x422.jpg)
Another Place Plastics Are Turning Up: Organic Fertilizer From Food Waste
By: Christopher Joyce | NPR
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Turning food waste into fertilizer is popular in parts of Europe and is catching on in the U.S. But tiny plastics are also making their way into that fertilizer — and into the food chain.
![](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/gettyimages-841689686-af93891bed1bf768e7a536b02a92d92de0306cee-e1516811400995-900x422.jpg)
New Report Shows Weather Disasters In 2017 Cost More Than $300 Billion
By: Christopher Joyce | NPR
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Hurricanes, fires and even hail contributed to billions of dollars in damages. The government study also finds that it was among the warmest years on record.