Green Science

Plastic's handy, hardy stuff, but we don't want to leave piles of old forks and water bottles for future generations to trip over. Can special additives that break down plastics faster save the day?

By Nathan Chandler

Found in everything from plastic shopping bags to water bottles to adhesives, paints and DVDs, industrial resins tend to have a bad rap when it comes to their environmental impact. Can new, sustainable options turn their image around?

By Chris Warren

Global warming and climate change are terms often treated like synonyms, but they have different meanings. We'll explain the difference and why both are so important to know.

By Mark Mancini

Satellite data shows just how much air quality has improved during the coronavirus crisis, from China, India, Italy and beyond.

By Marco Hernandez

Only 25 percent of glass containers used by U.S. consumers were recycled in 2018, the most recent year for statistics. So, why aren't Americans doing better?

By Patrick J. Kiger

Will Amazon's age of home delivery bury the environment in extra boxes? You might be surprised by the answer.

By Laurie L. Dove

The unlikely symbiotic relationship of solar panels and agriculture is known as agrivoltaics. Is it coming to a farm near you?

By Allison Troutner

The disastrous Feb. 3 train derailment contaminated East Palestine, Ohio. We talked to an expert about the potential environmental and health impacts to come.

By Andrew J. Whelton

You may have seen an expiration date on your bottle of water, but why? Can a natural substance like water really go bad?

By Alia Hoyt

The science is off the charts. Climate change is here and it's affecting the planet. We'll tell you how and where.

By Betsy Weatherhead

Scientists are hoping two enzymes are the key to breaking down huge amounts of plastic.

By Jesslyn Shields

Some cities, even large ones, are making big strides in improving air quality.

By Loraine Fick

The Mushroom Burial Suit is designed to give our dead bodies new life by breaking them down and nourishing the soil.

By Jesslyn Shields

You've probably seen some plastic labeled "BPA free," but does that make it safer?

By Jennifer Horton & Sascha Bos

We know that humans are largely responsible for fueling global warming with our carbon emissions. So what if we could seize all that carbon and squirrel it away in a safe place? Well, we can. It's just hard and really expensive.

By Debra Ronca & Mark Mancini

In this mass graveyard, workers dismantle 52,000-ton ships using simple hand tools. Why would anyone want to work at Alang? Is this place doing the world a service by recycling obsolete ships?

By Sarah Winkler

Depending on who you ask, urban sprawl is either the best thing that ever happened to growing families -- or the downfall of civilization and the environment as we know it. Learn about the history and consequences of this American phenomenon.

By Alia Hoyt

Many people think that beautiful, blazing sunsets are one upside to living with the smog that hangs over polluted cities. Are they right? Does smog actually enhance sunsets?

By Julia Layton

Usually we're focused on our personal power consumption -- wondering why our gas bill went up or took a dip. But what if we added up everybody's power consumption? How much would it be?

By Maria Trimarchi

Oil is a nonrenewable resource. Have we found all the oil there is to find, or is there more out there somewhere? What's the best way to wean ourselves from our oil dependency?

By Josh Clark

With the global food crisis, some people feel that using food to make biofuel just doesn't make sense. Could algae be a solution? How could algae possibly fuel cars and even airplanes?

By Stefani Newman

Wetlands may look murky and even creepy, but their value is clear. They soak up floodwaters and filter runoff before it enters our lakes and streams. How can we protect these spongy areas?

By Debra Ronca

Are wind farms and other renewable energy sources the closest we can come to free energy? Isn't there some crackpot invention out there that you can set up in your backyard?

By Jessika Toothman

What if you could scrub out carbon dioxide emissions before they ever dirtied the atmosphere? This exciting technology could do just that, but will the benefits outweigh the costs?

By Jennifer Horton

Popeye used the iron from spinach to morph into a formidable sailor. We know that iron is an essential component of the human body. But could it also be the answer to global warming?

By Jennifer Horton