According to new research from Tulane University, mercury levels in the world's rivers have more than doubled since the pre-industrial era, and primary drivers of the increase are wastewater discharge, soil erosion and mercury releases from industrial activities and mining. The study, published in Science Advances, developed a process-based model to simulate mercury transport in rivers and found that global rivers carried approximately 390 metric tons of mercury to oceans annually before 1850. Today, that figure has jumped to about 1,000 metric tons per year. The research provides the first known global baseline for riverine mercury pollution.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As wildfires grow more intense and frequent across the globe, scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) are working to better understand a rare but powerful byproduct of these blazes: pyrocumulonimbus clouds, or pyroCbs.

Environmental engineers at Washington University in St. Louis develop hydrogels to transform wastewater nutrients to useful feedstocks and fertilizers.