Plastics can be eaten by… fungi? We stumbled upon a rather interesting news report, about a potential solution to our current plastic problem – fungi! Previously, we have talked about fungi’s importance for carbon sequestration in forests. Now, there are also other uses of fungi and this video shows fungi being used to breakdown plastics….

Legislation and policies are no doubt one of the most effective starting points to enact changes, if adhered to and enforced. A quick google search had returned relatively few results on policies that tackle pollution in forests directly. Most policies that we have found seemed to place focus on preventing deforestation through the regulation of…

Shirin-yoku, literally translated to “forest bathing” refers to a practice where one “bathes” in the atmosphere of the forest. The sensory connection one forms with nature through sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch bridges the gap between humans and the natural world (Li, 2018). With the increase of urbanisation, and the tendency to stay indoors…

Forests are a critical cog in the water cycle. Termed as the “rivers in the sky”, the trees in the forests act as fountains that suck water out from the ground and releasing it into the atmosphere through the pores of its foliage (Wheeling, 2019). This results in giant “rivers” in the sky whereby clouds…

As mentioned in previous posts, tropospheric ozone (O3) is a secondary pollutant formed by photochemical reactions. Though some are from natural sources, as an anthropogenic air pollutant is sourced from the emissions from fossil fuel combustion. In the Northeastern United States, ozone is of regional scale importance due to long-range transport within slow moving and…

While the previous two blog posts have highlighted the sources as well as the impacts of plastics on forests, this post will aim to explore a few methods in which these plastics can be removed from forest environments. The simplest thing that everyone can start with right now is to limit, or if possible stop…

The previous post provided a brief outline on how plastics enter forests, in this post, we will be going into more detail about the effects of these plastics. Plastic pollution carries a host of negative impacts on forest ecosystems and forest health. Perhaps the most dangerous of all are microplastics, as these microscopic pieces of…

Whilst the current curriculum in the GE3246 module has covered the discarding and impacts of plastics to marine environments, it is also important to recognise that plastic wastes are also quite commonly seen in forest environments. Plastics definitely carry an appeal for making our lives more convenient – be it the single use disposable cups…

Ozone (O3) as mentioned in our previous blog post is one of the more prevalent air pollutants in our atmosphere. It is formed when Nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from industrial sources or vehicle exhausts enters the atmosphere, and are transformed under photochemical reactions (through heat and sunlight). Ozone is a strong oxidizing…

This post serves as an extension of the previous one, providing a more detailed overview on understanding the totality of the environment. The Earth consists of different spheres – the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. How pollutants enter each of the different spheres are often not in isolation of each other, and as mentioned before…