Residents of several villages in Russia’s Magadan region have recently reported black snow caused by the black powder produced by an outdated, coal-powered water-heating plant. In Omsukchan and neighboring Seimchan, two villages in the Siberian far east, snow doesn’t always look the way you’d expect. In fact, sometimes it’s quite the opposite. Instead of white snow covering everything as far as the eyes can see, locals are treated to a bad view of black snow that the kids sometimes play in. Photos and videos of this disturbing scenery have been doing the rounds online every winter for years, but locals say that despite the temporary anger they express online, nothing ever changes.

Black often represents tough luck but the black snow isn’t the result of some sinister, unexplained phenomenon. Omsukchan is home to a coal-burning hot water plant that provides heating to several settlements in the area, and as temperatures drop in the winter months, more coal has to be burned in order to keep water temperatures up. This results in increasing black smoke in the atmosphere. The smoke coming out of the plant’s chimneys eventually falls to the ground, covering everything, including white snow. So the black snow that people see is simply the effect of coal pollution.

Oksana Gerasimova, the head of the Srednekansky district, tells Magadan Pravda newspaper that the plant is indeed to blame, but adds that the situation is better than it was a few years ago. It’s true that the ash and smoke collectors at the plant don’t do a perfect job, but the situation is only temporary and the black snow is apparently “not a reason to worry”.

Authorities’ plans to change the filters in the coal-burning plant to stop the pollution are underway, and they want to replace the old plant with an electricity-powered one, but it requires new sources of funding. Most of the people living in Omsukchan and Seimchan have heard that before and they are raising their hopes.

The amount of plastic pollution in the oceans is rapidly increasing. This is problematic, as at least 700 species of sea animals may mistake it for a tasty snack. While we know that some species seem to eat plastic because it looks like jellyfish or some other food source, less research has been carried out into what plastic smells like to marine animals.

But now, a study from the University of North Carolina has found that the coating of algae that naturally builds up on ocean plastics causes the rubbish to give off the scent of food.

The researchers took 15 loggerhead turtles, each around five months old, and placed them in a laboratory tank. They then piped in clean water, clean plastic, turtle food, and plastic that had been immersed in the marine environment for five weeks.

The turtles showed no reaction to the smell of clean water or clean plastic. But when they were exposed to the smell of ocean-soaked plastic 'or turtle food, they exhibited food-seeking behaviors like reaching their noses out of the water or showing increasing activities.

“This finding is the first demonstration that the smell of ocean plastics causes animals to eat them,” said Dr. Kenneth J Lohmann, who took part in the study. "It's common to find loggerhead turtles with their digestive systems fully or partially blocked because they've eaten plastic materials. There are also increasing reports of sea turtles that have become ill and stranded on the beach due to their ingestion of plastic."

According to the researchers, areas of the ocean with dense concentrations of plastic may trick turtles and other animals into thinking that there is an abundant food source. "Once these plastics are in the ocean, we don't have a good way to remove them or prevent them from smelling like food," said Lohmann.

The coronavirus pandemic (新冠疫情) has brought with it the rise of a new kind of single-use plastic in the form of personal protective equipment (PPE), like face masks and gloves. Experts warned that these sharply increasing single-use items could cause a new wave of plastic pollution and kill wildlife.

The charity Ocean Conservancy reported that volunteers had collected more than 100,000 PPE items from coasts and waterways during the last six months of 2020. They sent out a survey to more than 200 International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) coordinators and volunteers asking about their experience with PPE. The results show that it is a real problem. Volunteers collected 107,219 pieces of PPE in 70 of 115 participating countries. Of those surveyed, 94% reported seeing PPE at a clean-up, and 40% found five items or more. Further, 37% found the items had already sunk into the water.

“During one of our clean-ups in the canals of Leiden, our volunteers found a latex (乳胶) glove with a dead fish trapped in the thumb,” said Auke-Florian Hiemstra, a study coauthor from Leiden University. “Also, in the Dutch canals, we observed that a water bird was using face masks and gloves in its nests.” Other animals that have gotten trapped in face masks include a fox in the UK, a pufferfish in Florida, and two crabs in France. Numerous dogs and cats have been observed eating PPE as well.

The danger posed by PPE goes deeper than what the eye can see. Luckily, there are ways that all of us can be part of the solution to the problem of PPE pollution. Hiemstra suggested using reusable PPE instead of single-use products. In that case, we should deal with them properly by cutting the ear loops to prevent animal entanglements (缠绕物) and throwing them away in a bin that is not overstuffed. “We definitely think it is important for citizens to understand how much PPE is ending up in the environment and impacting animals,” Hiemstra said.