The nurdle hunters: is combing UK beaches for tiny bits of plastic a waste of time? – the Guardian
More than 170tn plastic particles are floating in the world’s oceans – and millions of them wash up on our shores…
Six Spongy Sea Creatures Suggest Warming Might Be Worse Than Thought – the New York Times
Research on a long-lived but rarely seen species in the Caribbean is helping scientists piece together a revised history of climate change…
Category 6-level hurricanes are already here, a new study says – Grist Magazine
In the real world, Category 5 is synonymous with the biggest and baddest storms. But some U.S. scientists are making the case that it no longer captures the intensity of recent hurricanes. A paper published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences lays out a framework for extending the current hurricane-rating system…with a new category for storms that have winds topping 192 miles per hour. According to the study, the world has already seen storms that would qualify as Category 6s…
Inside the Crime Rings Trafficking Sand – Scientific American
Organized crime is mining sand from rivers and coasts to feed demand worldwide, ruining ecosystems and communities. Can it be stopped?…
Here’s How the Next Two Atmospheric Rivers Will Affect California – the New York Times
A “Pineapple Express” hitting California through Thursday will set the stage for another week of unsettled weather across the state…
Prepare for a ‘Gray Swan’ Climate – the Atlantic
The next climate extremes are both predictable and unprecedented, and they’re coming on fast…
Plastic bag bans have already prevented billions of bags from being used, report finds – Grist
“The bottom line is that plastic bag bans work,” said Faye Park, president of the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, in a statement. “People realize quickly it’s easy to live without plastic bags and get used to bringing a bag from home or skipping a bag when they can…”
Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction – Grist Magazine
Grist’s Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors short story contest celebrates stories that offer vivid, hope-filled, diverse visions of climate progress. From 1,000 submissions, our reviewers and judges selected the three winners and nine finalists you will discover in this collection. These stories are not afraid to explore the challenges ahead, but offer hope that we can work together to build a more sustainable and just world….
As Development Alters Greek Islands’ Nature and Culture, Locals Push Back – the New York Times
As a proliferation of pools threatens some water supplies and housing costs skyrocket, people of the Cycladic islands say the Aegean islands’ character is being lost to real-estate homogenization…“It’s very easy to talk about sustainable development, but all they actually do is approve new investments,” said Ioannis Spilanis, a former general secretary for island policy at Greece’s shipping ministry and now head of the Aegean Sustainable Tourism Observatory…