Puget Sound is a sound of the Pacific Northwest (in north-western USA), an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. Every 'fall' (Autumn), more than half of the coho salmon that return to Puget Sound’s urban streams die before they can spawn. In some streams, all of them die. But scientists didn’t know why. Enter Ed Kolodziej (Associate Professor at the University of Washington) and his research team - who discovered that, when it rains, stormwater flushes bits of aging vehicle tires on roads into neighbouring streams. The killer is in the mix of chemicals that leach from tire wear particles: a molecule related to a preservative that keeps tires from breaking down too quickly. We talk about this research, the implications to waterways everywhere, and what we can do about it.
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