Sustainability News

December 11, 2025

Top Headlines

Polluted Air Quietly Erases the Benefits of Exercise

Nov. 28, 2025 Long-term inhalation of toxic air appears to dull the protective power of regular workouts, according to a massive global study spanning more than a decade and over a million adults. While exercise still helps people live longer, its benefits shrink ...

A Surprising New Method Finally Makes Teflon Recyclable

Nov. 27, 2025 Researchers have discovered a low-energy way to recycle Teflon® by using mechanical motion and sodium metal. The process turns the notoriously durable plastic into sodium fluoride that can be reused directly in chemical manufacturing. This creates ...

Tiny Yellowstone Quakes Ignite a Surge of Hidden Life Underground

Nov. 25, 2025 Researchers studying Yellowstone’s depths discovered that small earthquakes can recharge underground microbial life. The quakes exposed new rock and fluids, creating bursts of chemical energy that microbes can use. Both the water chemistry and the ...

The Five Great Forests That Keep North America’s Birds Alive

Nov. 22, 2025 Migratory birds that fill North American forests with spring songs depend on Central America’s Five Great Forests far more than most people realize. New research shows these tropical strongholds shelter enormous shares of species like Wood ...

This Engineered Fungus Cuts Emissions and Tastes Like Meat

Nov. 21, 2025 Scientists used CRISPR to boost the efficiency and digestibility of a fungus already known for its meatlike qualities. The modified strain grows protein far more quickly and with much less sugar while producing substantially fewer emissions. It also ...

Why Saving Microbes May Be the Most Important Conservation Effort Ever

Nov. 20, 2025 Researchers have launched the first coordinated plan to protect microbial biodiversity, calling attention to the “invisible 99% of life” that drives essential Earth systems. The IUCN has formally recognized this effort through the creation of ...

Nearly 47 Million Americans Live Near Hidden Fossil Fuel Sites

Nov. 20, 2025 A nationwide analysis has uncovered how sprawling fossil fuel infrastructure sits surprisingly close to millions of American homes. The research shows that 46.6 million people live within about a mile of wells, refineries, pipelines, storage sites, ...

Melanoma Rates Are Spiking Fast in These 15 Pennsylvania Counties

Nov. 16, 2025 Penn State scientists identified a striking rise in melanoma across several Pennsylvania counties dominated by cropland and herbicide use. The elevated risk persisted even after factoring in sunlight, suggesting an environmental influence beyond the ...

Floating Device Turns Raindrops Into Electricity

Nov. 15, 2025 A new floating droplet electricity generator is redefining how rain can be harvested as a clean power source by using water itself as both structural support and an electrode. This nature-integrated design dramatically reduces weight and cost ...

Turning CO2 Into Clean Fuel Faster and Cheaper

Nov. 5, 2025 A new copper-magnesium-iron catalyst transforms CO2 into CO at low temperatures with record-breaking efficiency and stability. The discovery paves the way for affordable, scalable production of carbon-neutral synthetic ...

China’s Coastal Cities Are Sinking as Seas Rise at Record Speed

Oct. 23, 2025 Sea levels are rising faster than at any time in 4,000 years, scientists report, with China’s major coastal cities at particular risk. The rapid increase is driven by warming oceans and melting ice, while human activities like groundwater pumping ...

Earth’s Climate Just Crossed a Line We Can’t Ignore

Oct. 13, 2025 Humanity has reached the first Earth system tipping point, the widespread death of warm-water coral reefs, marking the beginning of irreversible planetary shifts. As global temperatures move beyond 1.5°C, the world risks cascading crises such as ...

Latest Headlines

updated 2:03am EST

Scientists Warn Half the World’s Beaches Could Disappear

Nov. 27, 2025 Human development and climate-driven sea level rise are accelerating global beach erosion and undermining the natural processes that sustain coastal ecosystems. Studies reveal that urban activity on ...

Ancient Tides May Have Sparked Humanity’s First Urban Civilization

Oct. 27, 2025 New research shows that the rise of Sumer was deeply tied to the tidal and sedimentary dynamics of ancient Mesopotamia. Early communities harnessed predictable tides for irrigation, but when deltas ...

Record Amazon Fires Release More Carbon Than an Entire Country

Oct. 8, 2025 The Amazon has suffered its most destructive fire season in more than two decades, releasing a staggering 791 million tons of carbon dioxide—on par with Germany’s annual emissions. Scientists ...

Japan’s Hot Springs Hold Clues to the Origins of Life on Earth

Oct. 3, 2025 Billions of years ago, Earth’s atmosphere was hostile, with barely any oxygen and toxic conditions for life. Researchers from the Earth-Life Science Institute studied Japan’s iron-rich hot ...

Tiny Stones Rewrite Earth’s Evolution Story

Sep. 26, 2025 Scientists have uncovered an unexpected witness to Earth’s distant past: tiny iron oxide stones called ooids. These mineral snowballs lock away traces of ancient carbon, revealing that oceans ...

Toxic Waste Could Become the Next Clean Energy Breakthrough

Sep. 26, 2025 Bio-tar, once seen as a toxic waste, can be transformed into bio-carbon with applications in clean energy and environmental protection. This innovation could reduce emissions, create profits, and ...

A Tiny Mineral May Hold the Secret to Feeding Billions Sustainably

Sep. 24, 2025 Rice, a staple for billions, is one of the most resource-hungry crops on the planet—but scientists may have found a way to change that. By applying nanoscale selenium directly to rice plants, ...

Earth’s Safe Zones Are Vanishing Fast

Sep. 6, 2025 A sweeping new study reveals that humanity has already pushed 60% of Earth’s land outside its safe biosphere zone, with 38% in a high-risk state. By analyzing centuries of data, researchers mapped ...

Scientists Made Plastic That Eats Carbon

Sep. 5, 2025 A team of chemists has discovered how to transform PET plastic waste into BAETA, a material that captures CO2 with remarkable efficiency. Instead of ending up as microplastics in the environment, ...

A Simple Metal Could Solve the World’s Plastic Recycling Problem

Sep. 3, 2025 Scientists at Northwestern University have developed a groundbreaking nickel-based catalyst that could transform the way the world recycles plastic. Instead of requiring tedious sorting, the catalyst ...

The Surprising Reason Timber Plantations Explode Into Megafires

Aug. 21, 2025 Industrial forests, packed with evenly spaced trees, face nearly 50% higher odds of megafires than public lands. A lidar-powered study of California’s Sierra Nevada reveals how dense plantations ...

Protected Seas Help Kelp Forests Bounce Back from Heatwaves

Aug. 20, 2025 Kelp forests bounce back faster from marine heatwaves when shielded inside Marine Protected Areas. UCLA researchers found that fishing restrictions and predator protection strengthen ecosystem ...

Scientists Turn Grapevine Waste Into Clear, Strong Films That Vanish in Days

Aug. 13, 2025 Amid growing concerns over plastic waste and microplastics, researchers are turning agricultural leftovers into biodegradable packaging. Using cellulose extracted from unlikely sources, including ...

The Hidden Climate Battle Between Forests and the Ocean

Aug. 2, 2025 Between 2003 and 2021, Earth saw a net boost in photosynthesis, mainly thanks to land plants thriving in warming, wetter conditions—especially in temperate and high-latitude regions. Meanwhile, ...

Scientists Unveil Bioplastic That Degrades at Room Temperature, and Outperforms Petroplastics

Aug. 3, 2025 Plastic pollution is a mounting global issue, but scientists at Washington University in St. Louis have taken a bold step forward by creating a new bioplastic inspired by the structure of leaves. ...

Digital Twins Are Reinventing Clean Energy — but There’s a Catch

July 29, 2025 Researchers are exploring AI-powered digital twins as a game-changing tool to accelerate the clean energy transition. These digital models simulate and optimize real-world energy systems like wind, ...

Satellites Just Revealed a Hidden Global Water Crisis—and It’s Worse Than Melting Ice

July 27, 2025 For over two decades, satellites have quietly documented a major crisis unfolding beneath our feet: Earth's continents are drying out at unprecedented rates. Fueled by climate change, ...

Is the Air You Breathe Silently Fueling Dementia? A 29-Million-Person Study Says Yes

July 27, 2025 Air pollution isn't just bad for your lungs—it may be eroding your brain. In a sweeping review covering nearly 30 million people, researchers found that common pollutants like PM2.5, nitrogen ...

This Genetic Breakthrough Could Help Thousands of Species Cheat Extinction

July 21, 2025 Gene editing may hold the key to rescuing endangered species—not just by preserving them, but by restoring their lost genetic diversity using DNA from museum specimens and related species. ...

18x More Floods, 105% Bigger Storms — All from a Single Clear-Cut

July 19, 2025 Clear-cutting forests doesn’t just raise flood risk — it can supercharge it. UBC researchers found that in certain watersheds, floods became up to 18 times more frequent and over twice as severe ...

These Dogs Are Trained to Sniff out an Invasive Insect—and They're Shockingly Good at It

July 17, 2025 Dogs trained by everyday pet owners are proving to be surprisingly powerful allies in the fight against the invasive spotted lanternfly. In a groundbreaking study, citizen scientists taught their ...

Frozen for 12,000 Years, This Alpine Ice Core Captures the Rise of Civilization

July 16, 2025 An ancient glacier high in the French Alps has revealed the oldest known ice in Western Europe—dating back over 12,000 years to the last Ice Age. This frozen archive, meticulously analyzed by ...

25 Years, 1 Coastline Report Card: The Shocking Wins and Misses

July 16, 2025 Twenty-five years after first warning that oil spills would wane while invasive species and climate impacts would surge, an international team revisits its coastal forecasts and finds many ...

Scientists Stunned as Strange Islands and Hidden Springs Appear in the Great Salt Lake

Aug. 31, 2025 As the Great Salt Lake shrinks, scientists are uncovering mysterious groundwater-fed oases hidden beneath its drying lakebed. Reed-covered mounds and strange surface disturbances hint at a vast ...

No Training Needed: How Humans Instinctively Read Nature’s Signals

July 10, 2025 People can intuitively sense how biodiverse a forest is just by looking at photos or listening to sounds, and their gut feelings surprisingly line up with what scientists ...

Multisensory VR Forest Reboots Your Brain and Lifts Mood—study Confirms

July 6, 2025 Immersing stressed volunteers in a 360° virtual Douglas-fir forest complete with sights, sounds and scents boosted their mood, sharpened short-term memory and deepened their feeling of ...

Climate Is Changing Fast—and Forests Are 200 Years Behind

July 4, 2025 Forests aren’t keeping up with today’s climate chaos. While temperatures soar within decades, tree populations take 100 to 200 years to shift in response. A sweeping new analysis of ancient ...

Rainforest Deaths Are Surging and Scientists Just Found the Shocking Cause

July 3, 2025 Tropical trees are dying faster than ever, and it's not just heat or drought to blame. Scientists have uncovered a surprising culprit: ordinary thunderstorms. These quick, fierce storms, powered ...

Even Low Levels of Air Pollution May Quietly Scar Your Heart, MRI Study Finds

July 3, 2025 Breathing polluted air—even at levels considered “safe”—may quietly damage your heart. A new study using advanced MRI scans found that people exposed to more air pollution showed early signs ...

Fighting Fire With Fire: How Prescribed Burns Reduce Wildfire Damage and Pollution

June 30, 2025 Wildfires are becoming more intense and dangerous, but a new Stanford-led study offers hope: prescribed burns—intentionally set, controlled fires—can significantly lessen their impact. By ...