pollution

Plastic trash poses a well-known threat to wildlife, which can choke on plastic bags, fishing lines, and other junk. But now scientists are examining the impact of the next generation of plastic debris: microscopic plastic particles that manufacturers are adding to skin cream, toothpaste, eyeliner, shampoo, and many other personal care products. (Photo of plastic debris on beach from VIMS/Joe Dowling, Sustainable Coastlines, Marine Photobank.)

A new study concludes that populations of frogs and other amphibians are declining across the U.S. at a rate of almost 4 percent a year, which is faster than previous estimates. One of the authors, David Miller, an ecologist at Penn State University, said the global spread of two mysterious pathogens--the ranavirus and chytrid fungus--are likely partly to blame for the deaths.

Many stormwater pollution control systems fail because local governments do not have inspection staff to make sure property owners keep the filters free of debris, trash, and weeds. Richard Klein, President of Community and Environmental Defense Services, stands beside a pollution control device called a "rain garden" in Anne Arundel County that no longer works because it was buried in mulch.

Pollution from rainwater flushing over streets, parking lots, and suburban lawns is growing in the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland lawmakers last year required the state's largest municipalities to create stormwater pollution control fees. But some local officials are rebelling. (Photo from Chesapeake Bay Program.)

Smallmouth bass are one of the most popular freshwater sport fish, worth about $150 million a year to Maryland's economy alone in sales of everything from boats to fishing rods. But die-offs and disease have hit smallmouth in five Chesapeake Bay tributaries in recent years. Scientists theorize that a "perfect storm" of pollutants, parasites, and rising temperatures may be to blame. Photo of bass with skin discoloration from Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

The Maryland General Assembly's 2013 session concluded last week with big news: approval of a bill that will help subsidize the construction of what could be America's first offshore wind farm, east of Ocean City. Lawmakers also voted down bills that would have delayed stormwater pollution control fees, encouraged recycling, and outlawed hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.

Many people know that forests are better at absorbing water pollution and carbon dioxide than corn fields, housing subdivisions or almost anything else.  But not all forests are created equal.  Smithsonian ecologist John Parker is trying to discover if diverse forests are better than monoculture forests at fostering networks of underground, thread-like mycorrhizal fungi that eat nitrogen pollution.

Should Maryland taxpayers foot the legal bills for a Perdue farmer who was sued for polluting the Chesapeake Bay? Apparently so. At the behest of the O’Malley administration, the House of Delegates approved up to $300,000 for an Eastern Shore farm that raised cornish hens for poultry giant Perdue. The Hudson family won a lawsuit brought by the New York Waterkeeper Alliance, litigated by the environmental law clinic at the University of Maryland and criticized by Gov. O’Malley.

Wetlands are supposed to be protected because of their value as pollution filters and habitat for fish and birds. But federal and state agencies routinely approve permits for developers to destroy wetlands under the condition that they pay for the construction of artificial wetlands as replacements. These replacements, however, are not as productive biologically as real wetlands.  (Originally aired 2/8/12.)

President Obama pledged to take action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution during his recent State of the Union address, and now is being pressured by protesters to deny approval for a tar sands oil pipeline from Canada to Texas. Meanwhile, in Maryland, Governor O'Malley is again arguing for state legislation to help subsidize the construction of what could be America's first offshore wind farm.