A bacterium that feeds on toxic plastic has been discovered by scientists. The bug not only breaks the plastic down but uses it as food to power the process. The bacterium, which was found at a waste site where plastic had been dumped, is the first that is known to attack polyurethane. Millions of tonnes of the plastic is produced every year to use in items such as sports shoes, nappies, kitchen sponges and as foam insulation, but it is mostly sent to landfill because it it too tough to recycle.

Morgan Freeman, the actor, film director and philanthropist has added a new title to his name: Beekeeper. The 81-year-old celebrity decided to convert his 124-acre Mississippi ranch into a bee sanctuary.

The study sheds light on just how long certain types of plastic can live on in the marine environment.

Antarctica and Greenland are losing ice six times faster than in the 1990s, a pair of studies in the journal Nature show. According to the international team of climatologists behind the research, the unprecedented rate of melt has already contributed 0.7 inches (1.78 centimeters) to global sea level rise in the last three decades, putting the planet on track for the worst-case climate warming scenario laid out in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) latest report.

Look down into the waters of the Venice canals today and there is a surprising sight – not just a clear view of the sandy bed, but shoals of tiny fish, scuttling crabs and multicoloured plant-life. “The water is blue and clear,” said Gloria Beggiato, who owns the celebrated Metropole Hotel a few steps from St Mark’s square and has a view over the Venice lagoon. “It is calm like a pond, because there are no more waves caused by motorised boats transporting day-tripper tourists. And of course, the giant cruise ships have disappeared.”

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) have been found to contain up to 81 drugs from the contaminated Puget Sound, along the coast of Washington state. During research, drugs including Prozac, Advil, Lipitor and even cocaine were discovered within the salmon’s flesh. Supposedly, these substance levels have rocketed due to high drug use within the local area.

Automated bins, rooftop farms, and underground mushroom-growing help clean up the mess.

A look at what would happen if humans disappeared from Earth. How would ecology adapt and change to cope with the lack of human beings, and what will the earth look like into a future without humans.

2020 was supposed to be pivotal for the environment. The end date of a raft of corporate sustainability goals, the year the Paris Agreement kicks into gear. “But now we’re here, it’s clear business and governments are falling short of what needs to be achieved," say risk analysts Maplecroft.

McDonald’s has pledged to remove plastic toys from its Happy Meals in an effort to protect the environment. The announcement of the measure comes following a highly-publicised petition led by two schoolgirls calling on the fast food chain to cut plastic from its Happy Meals, which are geared towards children and contain a small toy.

In cities across the United States, traffic on roads and highways has fallen dramatically over the past week as the coronavirus outbreak forces people to stay at home and everyday life grinds to a halt. Pollution has dropped too. A satellite that detects emissions in the atmosphere linked to cars and trucks shows huge declines in pollution over major metropolitan areas, including Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Chicago and Atlanta.

Canal water in Venice has cleared up without boat traffic. Air pollution in China has plunged amid unprecedented lockdowns. In Thailand and Japan, mobs of monkeys and deer are roaming streets now devoid of tourists. The coronavirus pandemic is shutting down countries across the world, causing a significant decline in air pollution in major cities as countries implement stricter quarantines and travel restrictions.

“At this rate, plastic is set to outweigh fish in the ocean by 2050,” the complaint reads.

A federal judge on Thursday voided five oil and gas leases on public lands that amounted to nearly a million acres, arguing that the Trump administration wrongly excluded public input. 

Over the next 20 years, scientists estimate about 70 to 90% of all coral reefs will disappear primarily as a result of warming ocean waters, ocean acidity, and pollution. Expand that out to 2100 and it’s “looking quite grim,” says Renee Setter, a marine scientist at the University of Hawaii in Manoa. By 2100 there will be nearly zero suitable coral habitats remaining, eliminating nearly all living coral reef habitats.

There are now more than 50 known species of ‘plastivores,’ or plastic-eating organisms. One of these, the greater wax moth, is offering scientists hope in the fight against plastic pollution.

There are, by some estimates, more than 40 million acres of green lawns in the U.S., making turf grass the largest irrigated crop in the country. A new book suggests that landowners repurpose some of their landscaping for another purpose: creating a “Homegrown National Park,” a connected network of more natural gardens that could help stave off the insect apocalypse and the collapse of broader ecosystems.

Scientists from South Korea, USA, and Europe are working together

Researchers at the University of Sydney and University of São Paulo, Brazil, estimate 20 percent of the malaria risk in deforestation hot spots is driven by the international trade of exports including: coffee, timber, soybean, cocoa, wood products, palm oil, tobacco, beef and cotton.

If our aim is to protect human and environmental health, restoring the status quo is not good enough. Thankfully, there is an alternative.