Thanks to its harsh environment, Antarctica remained largely untouched by humans for many millennia, allowing a thriving (旺盛的) ecosystem to evolve. However, since the 1990s, the last true wilderness on the planet is becoming an increasingly popular destination for adventure-seeking tourists. Now, a new study declares that the visitors may be leaving behind harmful bacteria which could devastate the area’s native bird population.

Humans can infect animals with illnesses such as the flu. Researchers, however, believed that the Antarctic animals were immune to the danger due to the continent’s extreme weather. However, microbiologist Marta Cerda-Cuellar was not convinced.

She and some colleagues decided to examine waste samples from Antarctic birds for evidence of human bacteria. To ensure the waste was not polluted, the scientists had to collect it from the birds themselves.

The results of their study revealed the presence of several types of human bacteria in the bird waste. This included a common strain (品种) of bacteria that causes food poisoning in humans. The researchers say the bacteria strains were resistant to commonly-used human antibiotics (抗生素)，indicating they were brought in by the visitors, rather than migratory birds (候鸟).

“These strains, which are a common cause for infections in humans and livestock, do not usually cause death outbreaks in wild animals,” says Gonzalez-Solis. “However, the emerging or invasive pathogens (病原体) that arrive to highly sensitive populations could have severe consequences and cause the local collapse and extinction of some populations. “The researcher also fears the presence of these bugs could foreshadow the arrival of other, more deadly, pathogens as the number of tourists people increases.

Experts believe the only way to prevent the mass destruction of the birds is to impose stricter regulations or, at least, put the ones already in place into effect. For example, while the Antarctica Treaty requires visitors to carry their waste back home to safeguard the pristine environment, the regulation is rarely enforced. Nowadays, some officials are taking steps to save the vulnerable birds before it’s too late.

Approximately one-third of all textiles (纺织品) are produced from mineral resources and are ill-suited for recycling. “In the fashion industry, a great deal of clothing is produced much too cheaply, and is of such a poor quality that people desert it after wearing it just a few times. The majority of the deserted textile is unsuited for sale as second-hand textile,” says Pauline Harmsen, a senior researcher of Wageningen University & Research.

Much of our clothing contains materials made from fossil (化石的) resources such as oil. This applies to some two-thirds of all the clothing produced in the world. Nevertheless, things must change in the future. Not only is the supply of fossil resources becoming depleted, but much of the contemporary textiles also cannot be recycled.

In clothing recycling, we see textiles being produced from recycled bottles. Textile recycling is often difficult. This is because textiles are made up of different fibres that are difficult to separate. “If you really wish to recycle, you must start by considering the clothing production method. By designing clothing in such a way that the different materials can be easily separated, or by using just one type of fibre,” says Harmsen.

A programme for sustainable (可持续的) textiles was launched in Wageningen University & Research last year. Various researchers from different institutes are involved, from technical material experts such as Harmsen to consumer scientists. It will take a while before sustainable clothing made from natural resources finds the way into the fashion stores.

Harmsen’s dissatisfaction with clothing offered in stores has led her to make her own clothing from fossil-free resources. She focuses on sustainability but also on the material’s look and feel. She claims, “Eventually, we will need all available natural resources to fill the gap if we are no longer able to use fossil resources.”

A worldwide shift from fossil fuel-powered cars to electric vehicles could significantly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that humans emit to the atmosphere. But current strategies for vehicle electrification (电气化) can also shift some pollution to communities already suffering under higher economic, health and environmental burdens, researchers warn.

California, which leads the United States by a mile when it comes to EV adoption, offers a window into this evolving problem. The state is aggressively seeking to reduce its carbon footprint and has made substantial increases in wind and solar power generation as well as in the promotion of electric vehicle purchases. One tool the state has used is the California Clean Vehicle Rebate Project, or CVRP, which kicked off in 2010 and offers consumers money back for the purchase of new EVs.

Now, an analysis of the CVRP’s impact on the state’s air quality from 2010 to 2021 reveals both good and bad news, researchers report May 3 in PLOS Climate.

The good news is that the CVRP is responsible for making a dent in the state’s overall CO2 emissions, reducing them by about 280,000 metric tons per year on average. The bad news is that the most disadvantaged communities in the state didn’t see the same overall improvement in air quality. Those communities in fact saw an increase in one type of air pollution, tiny particulates known as PM2.5. That increase may be indirectly related to putting more EVs on the road. Although electric vehicles themselves don’t produce PM2.5 from their tailpipes, increased electricity generation, if it’s not fossil fuel-free, can. Renewable resources, including rooftop solar cells, supplied about half of California’s electricity in 2022. But natural gas-fired power plants still provide a large part of the state’s power.

“Electric vehicles are often incorrectly referred to as ‘zero-emission vehicles’, but they’re only as clean as the underlying electric grid (电网) from which the energy is sourced,” Mejía-Duwan says. The most disadvantaged 25 percent of the state’s communities also contain 50 percent of the power plants, the team found.