Killer whales off Canada’s Atlantic coast continue to be contaminated with dangerously high levels of toxic chemicals that put them at elevated risk of severe immune-system and reproductive problems, a recent McGill-led study has found.

Australians love their coastal and marine environments but much of the world’s ecosystems are in various stages of decline and in urgent need of restoration.

here’s a famous piece of advice from hockey, attributed to Wayne Gretzky, about how it’s better to skate to where the puck is headed rather than where it is.

Natalia Ocampo-Peñuela, assistant professor of environmental studies, and a team of Colombian researchers have introduced a transformative approach to mapping bird species distribution across Colombia, harnessing community science data and innovative modeling techniques.

In the study, connectivity particularly impacted herbivorous reef fish groups, which are most critical to coral reef resilience, providing evidence that decision-makers should incorporate connectivity into how they prioritise conservation areas.

Images of coastal houses being carried off into the sea due to eroding coastlines and powerful storm surges are becoming more commonplace as climate change brings a rising sea level coupled with more powerful storms. In the U.S. alone, coastal storms caused $165 billion in losses in 2022.

Now, a study from MIT shows that protecting and enhancing salt marshes in front of protective seawalls can significantly help protect some coastlines, at a cost that makes this approach reasonable to implement.

The new findings are being reported in the journal Communications Earth and Environment, in a paper by MIT graduate student Ernie I. H. Lee and professor of civil and environmental engineering Heidi Nepf. This study, Nepf says, shows that restoring coastal marshes “is not just something that would be nice to do, but it’s actually economically justifiable.” The researchers found that, among other things, the wave-attenuating effects of salt marsh mean that the seawall behind it can be built significantly lower, reducing construction cost while still providing as much protection from storms.

Read More: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Caption: Graduate student Ernie I. H. Lee uses drone imaging and machine learning to help map salt marsh species, plant height, and shoots per bed area. (Photo Credit: Courtesy of the researchers)

More than 800,000 km2 of the Arctic were affected by human activity in 2013, according to an analysis of satellite-derived data on artificial light at night. 

Recent months have seen national outcry over water companies allowing sewage pollution in rivers to breach acceptable limits.

A new study has shown that selective breeding can lead to a modest rise in coral heat tolerance.

Researchers have long observed that a common family of environmental bacteria, Comamonadacae, grow on plastics littered throughout urban rivers and wastewater systems.