As the oceans heat up, sharks are leaving their coral reef habitats, putting both sharks and entire ecosystems at risk, scientists have found.

In a new study, published in the journal Communications Biology, scientists used satellites and underwater acoustic receivers to monitor more than 120 grey reef sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) in coral reefs of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean from 2013 to 2020. 

Over this time period, the researchers were able to collect 714,000 acoustic detections to complement satellite data. This allowed them to trach the sharks’ movements and behaviors along with coral reef environmental stressors, such as sea surface temperatures, ocean currents and wind.

The study authors found that after periods of stress on the corals, such as the El Niño event of 2016 that led to massive coral bleaching in the study site, sharks would abandon their coral reef habitats for several months. Sharks abandoned stressed corals for as many as 16 months in the study period.

“Sharks are ectotherms — cold-blooded animals whose body temperature is regulated by their external environment,” explained Michael Williamson, lead author of the study and post-doctoral research associate at the Zoological Society of London’s Institute of Zoology. “Reef sharks in other regions exhibit behavioral thermoregulation to avoid physiological damage from adverse water temperatures, and this is one of the potential drivers of the findings in this study.”

As the UN Environment Programme reported, failure to curb greenhouse gas emissions and climate change could lead to annual coral bleaching events, and 99% of the world’s coral reefs could undergo severe bleaching every year by the end of this century. Further, it can take five years or more for the coral to recover.

In response, the sharks may continue to seek cooler waters for longer periods of time. Already, the absence of the grey reef sharks is concerning scientists.

“As large predators, grey reef sharks play a very important role in coral reef ecosystems,” Williamson said. “They maintain a delicately balanced food web on the reef and they also cycle nutrients onto coral reefs from deeper waters where they often feed. A loss of sharks, and the nutrients they bring, could affect the resilience of reefs during periods of high environmental stress.”

However, the report did include some more positive findings. Some of the monitored locations experienced an increase in shark residency, but the study authors noted that more research is needed to determine what was leading to such increases. Some corals could be more resilient to stressors, or there could be other factors influencing the sharks’ behaviors. As The Guardian reported, invasive rat removal and increased bird populations could help improve coral resiliency, therefore leading to an increase in sharks that live in the reefs.

“Recent research in the Chagos Archipelago, where we conducted our study, has shown that those reefs that have greater nutrient flows from seabirds have significantly enhanced fish biomass and therefore a higher likelihood to be resilient to multiple stressors,” Williamson explained. “Some of our receivers that were seeing a greater number of sharks residing were also near islands with seabird populations.”

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The Biden-Harris administration has announced $521 million in grants to go toward further development of electric vehicle charging infrastructure as well as infrastructure for alternative fuels. The funding will help deploy more than 9,200 EV charging ports, and the grants will be applied to projects across 29 states, eight Federally Recognized Tribes and Washington, DC.

With this news, the U.S. Department of Transportation noted that the number of EV chargers has doubled since the start of the current administration in 2021. According to the department, about 1,000 public EV chargers are added every week, and there are currently around 192,000 EV charging ports available to the public.

“The Biden-Harris Administration has taken action to ensure that America leads the EV revolution, and the historic infrastructure package includes resources to support a nationwide EV charger network so that all drivers have an accessible, reliable, and convenient way to charge their vehicles,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Tuesday. “The awards that we’re announcing today will build on this important work and help ensure that the cost savings, health and climate benefits, and jobs of the EV future are secured for Americans across the country.”

The newly announced grants were made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law via the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program and the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program.

As Electrek reported, the funding will be split into two focus areas. About $321 million is allocated for 41 community projects, and $200 million will go to 10 corridor fast-charging projects.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin is one of the many communities being awarded funding for EV infrastructure. The city will install EV chargers at 53 sites. Another highlighted project is the Standing Rock Renewable Energy Power Authority, which is set to receive $3.9 million for EV charging stations at eight sites throughout the Sioux Reservation in North Dakota.

As for the corridor grant recipients, the Fort Independence Indian Community in California will receive $15 million for an EV charging hub along the the U.S. Route 395 corridor. The hub will be powered via a solar micro-grid and battery backup.

Another major corridor project is the $11.8 million DC fast-charging hub slated for the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport in Georgia. A list of additional community and corridor project grant recipients are available here.

“Most EV charging will happen at homes, workplaces, or other destinations while vehicles are already parked, providing a safe, reliable, and vastly more convenient way for anyone to fuel,” Gabe Klein, executive director of the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, said in a press release. “Today’s investments in public community charging fill crucial gaps and provide the foundation for a zero-emission future where everyone can choose to ride or drive electric for greater individual convenience and reduced fueling costs, as well as cleaner air and lower healthcare costs for all Americans.”

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The U.S. National Park Foundation has received a $100 million grant, the largest in the foundation’s history, from Lilly Endowment Inc., a private philanthropic foundation. The grant is also the largest ever to benefit national parks, according to the National Park Foundation.

As The Associated Press reported, the grant funding will go toward the more than 400 U.S. National Park System (NPS) units, which include national parks, monuments, reserves, recreation areas and more for conservation and visitor improvements.

“This grant will allow us to supercharge our efforts to ensure our national parks are for everyone, for generations to come,” Will Shafroth, president and CEO of the National Park Foundation, said in a press release.

The funding is part of The Campaign for National Parks, a $1 billion fundraising drive for the parks. 

“Our founders were inspired by the beauty and wonders of the natural world and supportive of research and educational programs about archaeology and the cultural history of our nation,” N. Clay Robbins, chairman and CEO of Lilly Endowment, shared in a statement. “We are pleased therefore to further their interests through this grant. We believe the National Park Foundation’s campaign will enhance the programming in and promote the future vibrancy of our country’s marvelous system of parks, monuments, and historic sites.”

According to the foundation, it plans to target four key areas with the grant funding: inspiring the next generation of park stewards, conserving threatened parks and wildlife, improving visitor experiences, and providing more comprehensive historical accounts of the country.

Some of the most urgent initiatives will include restoring coral reefs in Biscayne National Park and restoring trout species in multiple national parks in the western U.S., The Associated Press reported.

U.S. national park sites face several challenges today, including congestion from high numbers of visitors, an accumulation of plastic waste and other pollution, flooding, and wildfires. As National Parks Traveler reported, threats from hurricanes, sea level rise, invasive species and oil exploration further threaten national parks and the wildlife living in them.

As the National Park Foundation explained, funds made available through private philanthropy help the foundation better care for the park system and have done so for decades. Congress established The National Park Foundation in 1967 to allow private gifting to the country’s national parks for conservation.

“The impact of this gift will be felt in our parks and in surrounding communities for generations to come,” Chuck Sams, director of the National Park Service, said in a press release. “This is a truly visionary investment, and an example of how the power of philanthropy can amplify this crucial work that we all believe in so much.”

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It’s well-known that microplastics are pervasive, with scientists finding microplastics in testicular tissue, lungs and even blood. But now, researchers have discovered microplastic pieces in samples of the human brain at higher levels than expected.

In a new pre-printed study published early by the National Library of Medicine, scientists analyzed plastic content in the livers, kidneys and brains of autopsied human bodies. While the team found microplastics in all of the organs, the scientists were concerned that the average amount of microplastics in the 91 brain samples was between 7 and 30 times higher than the amount of microplastics in the liver and kidney samples.

“It’s pretty alarming,” Matthew Campen, lead author of the study and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of New Mexico, told The Guardian. “There’s much more plastic in our brains than I ever would have imagined or been comfortable with.”

In the study, the authors revealed that 24 of the brain samples that had been collected earlier this year were comprised of about 0.5% plastic. The amount of plastic found in the 2024 brain samples was also around 50% higher than the plastic amount in brain samples from 2016.

Of the detected microplastics, scientists found that polyethylene was the most prevalent. As reported by Britannica, polyethylene is the most widely used plastic polymer globally and is commonly used in packaging and plastic bags.

The study further revealed that microplastics are selectively accumulating in the brain, causing an increase in the concentration of plastic in the brain in the long-term. This could present links between microplastics and certain diseases, but more research is needed to determine the risks.

“The parallels between the present data showing an increasing trend in MNP concentrations in the brain with exponentially rising environmental presence of microplastics and increasing global rates of age-corrected Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia, given the potential role of anionic nanoplastics in protein aggregation, add urgency to understanding the impacts of MNP on human health,” the study concluded.

The study builds on previous research, also led by researchers at the University of New Mexico, which revealed that microplastics that are ingested could move from the gut to other organs, including the brain. As Reuters reported, humans ingest an average of 5 grams of microplastics per week, or around 20 kilograms in the average 79-year lifespan, further raising concerns over accumulation risks.

“I don’t know how much more plastic our brain can stuff in without it causing some problems,” Campen told The Guardian.

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The U.S. has shifted its policy position and is now in favor of supporting limitations on global plastics, Reuters confirmed.

As reported by Grist, the Biden administration announced in closed-door meetings this week that it supported global efforts to limit plastic pollution via the United Nations’ plastic treaty. Previously, the U.S. had held the stance of allowing individual UN member states to make their own decisions on plastic production, Plastic Pollution Coalition reported.

“Science and common sense tell us that to solve plastic pollution, we need to turn off the tap of plastic production,” Jen Fela, vice president of programs and communications for the Plastic Pollution Coalition, said in a statement. “Industry is already producing more plastic than the world can handle, and it is poisoning people and the planet; we simply cannot produce more.”

The Biden administration has not publicly announced the decision at the time of writing, but the U.S. Department of State confirmed the announcement with Grist.

Following the announcement, the nonprofit Greenpeace is now asking the Biden administration to sign the Bridge to Busan Declaration to address primary plastic polymer production to further establish a commitment to limiting plastics.

“As we near the final round of negotiations we urge the U.S. to lead on this issue by encouraging other countries to prioritize the health of people and our planet over the interest of the oil and gas industry,” John Hocevar, Greenpeace USA Ocean’s campaign director, said in a statement. 

As Reuters reported, the U.S. is now more aligned with several other countries, including members of the EU, South Korea, Rwanda, Peru and Canada, that approve of limits to plastic production as well as potential limits and a possible phasing out of certain chemicals currently used in plastic production.

However, there has been opposition to the treaty and to the newly announced U.S. support for it. Opponents believe that a treaty should address recycling and other downstream initiatives rather than plastic production to reduce pollution. Plastic industry leaders have also argued that plastics can be reused and recycled and that U.S. support for limiting plastic production is “misguided,” as reported by the Plastics Industry Association. The American Chemistry Council also criticized the decision, saying the administration “caved” to environmental organizations, Reuters reported.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, about 460 million metric tons of plastic are produced every year. Yet only around 9% of the total amount of global plastic waste is recycled, while most of it is sent to landfills or ends up as pollution in the environment, the United Nations Development Programme reported.

The U.S. will now be joining negotiations before the Global Plastics Treaty is finalized next year. The treaty, which has been in negotiations since March 2022, will go through a final round of negotiations in Busan, South Korea in November 2024.

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