5 Environmental Stories You Don't Want To Miss

By Sarah Robertson

July 14, 2016

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Photo by iStockphoto/alazor

AU REVOIR OLD CARS: Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has banned driving vehicles built before 1997 during weekday daylight hours as part of an effort to curb smog and “reclaim” the city for pedestrians and bikers.

TOXIC ALGAE IN FLORIDA: A toxic algae bloom along Florida’s St. Lucie River covered coastal and fishing communities in a pungent blue-green goo last week. Some residents blame the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for releasing the cyanobacteria from Lake Okeechobee into the river.

PENGUINS IN PERIL: One of the world’s largest chinstrap penguin colonies may have been seriously harmed by a stratovolcano in the South Atlantic Ocean that has been spewing ash since March.

FRACKING EXPLOSION: On Monday night, a WPX Energy-owned oil field in New Mexico’s San Juan County exploded, setting fire to seven of the company’s 36 tanks and forcing local residents to temporarily evacuate. The cause of the explosion is unknown.

HELLO HUMPBACKS: An alarming number of humpback whales have been spotted feeding in California’s San Francisco Bay in recent weeks. The whales are likely migrating north.