Long Time, Still See: plastic rocks in the geologic record

Scientists have recently found plastics in a deep-sea submarine trenches in the South China Sea. They have begun to investigate how plastics and microplastics break down in the deep sea, to determine the lifecycle of seafloor plastic. The rock record of earth’s history preserves evidence of our litter problem and if plastic gyres, like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch weren’t enough, we’ve found another level (literally) of plastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems. Check out the article to learn more about what research have found and what they are currently looking into. 

Coffee and the Race Against Time

We live in an age of environmental catastrophes and extinctions; this podcast comes to the table with the story of the race against time to save coffee. Coffee plants are hit hard by climate change, Arabica coffee, in particular, is not able to survive increases in temperatures. Which is a HUGE problem to coffee drinkers. New species are being investigated to try to find a breed of coffee that could live up to the legend of Arabica coffee. Take a listen to learn more about the global problem and what is currently being done to address this potential, future catastrophe. 

P.S. No need to run to the store in a bout of panic buying– crops will continue to persist in our lifetime and likely will be available to future generations, just at a higher cost and lower availability.

D.N.E (does not exist)

A new book, Second Nature by Nathaniel Rich, addresses unsetting environmental truths and asks the ominous question: does the natural world even exist? The book covers a wide variety of narratives, from starfish ripping off their arms, to zombie-like cows, to bunnies glowing green under a black light. Rich’s book brings examples of environmental horrors to light not to scare us, but to make us aware of problems we as a species are causing. To learn more about this novel and others like it, check out this article.