Oceans Hotter Than Ever, U.S. Climate Troubles, Plastic Burning Pollution Flies Under Radar

The world’s ocean surfaces are rapidly warming and recently hit an all-time temperature high. At the same time, the La Niña weather pattern is now shifting to an El Niño cycle, warming the oceans more still. Also, because of its unique geography, the United States is particularly vulnerable to nearly every kind of natural disaster: tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, and more. These natural disasters are getting an unnatural boost with climate change. And waste incineration facilities don’t have to report the dioxins and other toxic chemicals they’re emitting from burning plastic to a key database. We examine the gap in publicly accessible pollution data.