This spring, passengers on a morning flight on Qantas Airways in Australia were greeted in an unusual way: They were on board the world's first waste-free flight. 

This Australian airline invites you to ‘sit back and enjoy the world’s first zero-waste flight’

This spring, passengers on Qantas Airways flight in Australia were greeted in an unusual way: They were on board the world's first waste-free flight. 
Joee Patterson is shown with her arms outstretched while wearing sunglasses and a red safety vest.

For this marine tech, Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier drives home threat of climate change

Joee Patterson was one of four marine technicians on the Nathaniel B. Palmer research vessel during an expedition to Thwaites Glacier this past winter. The glacier is melting fast, and scientists fear that if it were to collapse entirely, it would trigger up to 11 feet of sea level rise.
The sun sits above the horizon over melting ice in the arctic by the ocean in the arctic.

Is climate change causing us to experience 'ecological grief'?

More and more mental health professionals are starting to take note of how climate change and environmental disasters are impacting our mental health. This has given rise to a new term: ecological grief. Ashley Cunsolo, a public health researcher, explains what ecological grief is and how it may be impacting people around the world.
A hand holds small micro-plastics.

As the world grapples with plastic, the US makes more of it — a lot more

Minuscule pellets keep escaping plastic manufacturing sites, part of a bigger dilemma: How can we fix plastic waste problems amid a production boom?
a big pile of plastic garbage

America's grungy 'recycled' plastic is creating wastelands in Asia

Plastic junk from the US is often sent to Southeast Asia, where illegal "recycling" centers are causing an environmental emergency with the fumes from burning trash. And many people believe that America, above all, has the power to make this stop.
A green cardboard box sits on a door stoop.

Want to help the planet? Ditch your grocery cart for a meal kit.

Home-delivered meal kits are booming across the globe. They send us the raw ingredients and a recipe; we cook it up. But is our lust for convenience hurting or helping the planet?
In a frame grab from a video, a monkey is hunkered over a rock in the stream, about to put food in its mouth

Monkey see, monkey do: Islands in Panama offer glimpse into animal innovation

Scientists found the capuchin monkey using stone tools to crush food in 2018 in a wildlife preserve in Panama. Earlier this spring, researchers went back to learn more about the monkey's innovation.
Two yellow tents and a larger dome tent are staked into the snow. At the top of the image is a wing of a tiny prop plane.

These scientists used small explosions to 'see' under Antarctica and measure how fast a key glacier will melt

A team of four researchers spent 10 days in one of the remote places on earth to scout locations for sensors that will measure the warm water that is melting the Thwaites Glacier from below.
Children hold up signs protesting climate change.

How climate change is affecting mental health

As the climate crisis escalates, researchers are looking into how mental health is being impacted by scientists' gloomy predictions of scientists.
A ma in a bright orange suit holds his left arm in the air as an elephant seal opens its mouth to bellow.

These high-tech seals are charting future sea level rise

Deep-diving seals equipped with satellite-enabled temperature probes are exploring uncharted waters, gathering data to help predict how fast West Antarctica’s glaciers may melt.

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