Pollution Archives

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River ‘Plastisphere’ Serves as Home to Ecosystem-Draining Organisms

Jun 14, 2024 | News releases, Research findings

New research explores the microbial communities that live on plastic waste and how they impact the 2nd most biodiverse river in the world. DRI researchers Monica Arienzo and Rachel Kozloski are co-authors on this new study that examines the ecological impacts of plastic waste in Cambodia’s Mekong River.

The First Assessment of Toxic Heavy Metal Pollution in the Southern Hemisphere Over the Last 2,000 Years

Jan 11, 2024 | News releases, Research findings

An international team of scientists led by DRI found evidence of Southern Hemisphere heavy metal pollution preserved in Antarctic ice cores from early Andean cultures and Spanish Colonial mining that predates the Industrial Revolution by centuries.