Environment

Scientists say "microplastics" are turning up everywhere in oceans, from the water itself to the guts of fish and the poop of sea otters and giant killer whales. Research into the impact of these tiny bits of broken-down plastic is just getting underway.

An estimated 80 hippos, perhaps more, live in the area around the Rio Magdalena, Colombia’s principal river. They're descendants of four hippos that were brought to the country by infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar.

Officials in Becker, Minn., said Saturday that the stubborn fire at the Northern Metal Recycling facility has finally been extinguished.

In the last decade, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture has paid out an average of $135,000 on about 110 wolf depredation claims each year.

Taken just nine days apart, two images illustrate the impact a recent warm period had on the Antarctic Peninsula. NASA says such warmth "has become more common in recent years."

State pollution control regulators Friday ordered the Northern Metal Recycling to stop accepting scrap metal at its site in Sherburne County, effectively halting the company's operation at the facility before it could begin.

Officials said the fire at the new Northern Metal Recycling plant is largely contained, after firefighters separated a portion of the vehicle pile and let it burn out, creating a fire break. But the debris continued to smolder Thursday, sending a diminished but still visible plume into the clear winter sky.

Hundreds of thousands of tons of construction and demolition waste — much of it from home tear-downs and remodeling jobs — end up in landfills every year. But some homeowners are learning it's environmentally and financially rewarding when those materials are reused or recycled.

Workers at the Husky Energy oil refinery in Superior, Wis., were evacuated Thursday because of concerns a tower at the facility might fall. Superior police said there is no threat to public safety.

A recent study found Twitter was a better gauge for minor flooding than tide gauges alone.