Ocean Oil Slick Map Reveals Enough Greasy Patches to Cover France—Twice

Trouble viewing? View in your browser. View all Scientific American publications.

    

Dear Reader, Sometimes I'm surprised by what we don't know. For example, until we did this week's highlighted story, I had no idea we didn't actually know how much human activities contributed to oil slicks on the sea surface compared to natural seeps. Read the story—and its accompanying graphic—to find out where and how oil leaks into the ocean.

Andrea Thompson, Associate Editor, Sustainability

Pollution Ocean Oil Slick Map Reveals Enough Greasy Patches to Cover France--Twice An algorithm-aided analysis of satellite images reveals the size, distribution and sources of oil slicks at sea By Sasha Warren

Animals How Antarctic Krill Coordinate the Biggest Swarms in the World Video analysis in 3-D shows the tiny creatures' swarming rules By Andrew Chapman

Agriculture What Did COVID Teach Us about Preparing for a Plant Pandemic? The question is not whether we'll experience such an event; it's whether we'll be ready when it strikes By Jonathan Margolis

Endangered Species Secret Polar Bear Population Is Found Living in a Seemingly Impossible Habitat The discovery provides a glimmer of hope for the iconic white bears By Harry Baker,LiveScience

Education Subverting Climate Science in the Classroom Oil and gas representatives influence the standards for courses and textbooks, from kindergarten to 12th grade By Katie Worth

Pollution Racism Drives Environmental Inequality--But Most Americans Don't Realize Survey finds that most people think poverty is why pollution disproportionately affects Black people, despite evidence that racism is the major cause By Brittney J. Miller,Nature magazine

Climate Change Fight over Damages Threatens to Derail Climate Negotiations Small nations that have done little to cause global warming stand to suffer immeasurably and are increasingly vocal about receiving compensation By Sara Schonhardt,E&E News

Fossil Fuels If Electric Vehicles Don't Cut CO2 Fast Enough, These Fuels Might Help Department of Energy researchers say gasoline might have to be substituted with biofuels to ensure that climate targets are achieved By John Fialka,E&E News

Climate Change How the U.S. Is Preparing for Europe's Carbon Tariffs More products are being added to a proposed carbon border fee, affecting billions of dollars of American goods By Sara Schonhardt,E&E News

Inequality Nearly 100,000 People Received Disaster Aid under a New Equity Policy FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell says the agency has reduced barriers to cash assistance and other aid By Thomas Frank,E&E News

FROM THE STORE The Age of Humans Humans have accomplished a great deal in our relatively short history - and have left our mark on Earth in the process. In this eBook, we examine the story of us: how we got here, the world we've built and how we'll need to continue to adapt if we are to manage our impact on the planet and build a better future. *Editor's Note: This Collector's Edition was published as The Age of Humans. The eBook adaptation contains all of the articles, but some of the artwork has been removed to optimize viewing on tablet devices.

QUOTE OF THE DAY "During the summer, it's pretty hard to find a place at night that's cool enough to sleep without the police running you off" Chris Medlock, an unhoused Phoenix man via Associated Press

FROM THE ARCHIVE RIP, Lonesome George, the Last-of-His-Kind Galapágos Tortoise By John R. Platt | June 2012

LATEST ISSUES

Questions?   Comments?

Download the Scientific American App

To view this email as a web page, go here. You received this email because you opted-in to receive email from Scientific American. To ensure delivery please add news@email.scientificamerican.com to your address book. Unsubscribe     Manage Email Preferences     Privacy Policy     Contact Us