ScienceDaily: Science & Society News

A new study maps out areas of the ocean most affected by light pollution, and shows that up to 1.9 million km2 of the world's coastal waters are being exposed to biologically significant levels of artificial light at night.

New research has discovered that emissions coming from China of the ozone-destroying chemical, dichloromethane, have more than doubled over the last decade.

As emissions fell over a decade, the number of deaths attributable to air pollution dropped by thousands, yielding billions of dollars in societal benefits.

Thinning treatments reduce the risk of wildfire and provide ecological benefits for California's forests, but they also generate wood residues that are often burnt or left to decay, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. A new analysis shows how incentivizing industries that convert wood residues into useful products -- including biofuels and construction-quality engineered lumber -- could fund forest thinning treatments while preventing the release of carbon.

Computer- and smartphone-based treatments appear to be effective in reducing symptoms of depression, and while it remains unclear whether they are as effective as face-to-face psychotherapy, they offer a promising alternative to address the growing mental health needs spawned by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new research.