Which word is a synonym for TERRIBLE in this sentence: Chelsea Rochman, an ecologist at the University of California, Davis, has been trying to answer a dismal question: Is everything TERRIBLE, or are things just very, very bad?

Which word is a synonym for ANALYSIS in this sentence: Rochman is a member of the National Center for Ecological ANALYSIS and Synthesis's marine debris working group, a collection of scientists who study, among other things, the growing problem of marine debris, also known as ocean trash.

Which word is a synonym for SYNTHESIS in this sentence: Rochman is a member of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and SYNTHESIS's marine debris working group, a collection of scientists who study, among other things, the growing problem of marine debris, also known as ocean trash.

Which word is a synonym for MARINE in this sentence: Rochman is a member of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis's MARINE debris working group, a collection of scientists who study, among other things, the growing problem of MARINE debris, also known as ocean trash.

Which word is a synonym for DEBRIS in this sentence: Rochman is a member of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis's marine DEBRIS working group, a collection of scientists who study, among other things, the growing problem of marine DEBRIS, also known as ocean trash.

Which word is a synonym for COLLECTION in this sentence: Rochman is a member of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis's marine debris working group, a COLLECTION of scientists who study, among other things, the growing problem of marine debris, also known as ocean trash.

Which word is a synonym for STATE in this sentence: Plenty of studies have sounded alarm bells about the STATE of marine debris; in a recent paper published in the journal Ecology, Rochman and her colleagues set out to determine how many of those perceived risks are real.

Which word is a synonym for PAPER in this sentence: Plenty of studies have sounded alarm bells about the state of marine debris; in a recent PAPER published in the journal Ecology, Rochman and her colleagues set out to determine how many of those perceived risks are real.

Which word is a synonym for JOURNAL in this sentence: Plenty of studies have sounded alarm bells about the state of marine debris; in a recent paper published in the JOURNAL Ecology, Rochman and her colleagues set out to determine how many of those perceived risks are real.

Which word is a synonym for SET OUT in this sentence: Plenty of studies have sounded alarm bells about the state of marine debris; in a recent paper published in the journal Ecology, Rochman and her colleagues SET OUT to determine how many of those perceived risks are real.

Which word is a synonym for DETERMINE in this sentence: Plenty of studies have sounded alarm bells about the state of marine debris; in a recent paper published in the journal Ecology, Rochman and her colleagues set out to DETERMINE how many of those perceived risks are real.

Which word is a synonym for PERCEIVED in this sentence: Plenty of studies have sounded alarm bells about the state of marine debris; in a recent paper published in the journal Ecology, Rochman and her colleagues set out to determine how many of those PERCEIVED risks are real.

Which word is a synonym for SPECULATING in this sentence: Often, Rochman says, scientists will end a paper by SPECULATING about the broader impacts of what they've found.

Which word is a synonym for BROADER in this sentence: Often, Rochman says, scientists will end a paper by speculating about the BROADER impacts of what they've found.

Which word is a synonym for CERTAIN in this sentence: For example, a study could show that CERTAIN seabirds eat plastic bags, and go on to warn that whole bird populations are at risk of dying out.

Which word is a synonym for WARN in this sentence: For example, a study could show that certain seabirds eat plastic bags, and go on to WARN that whole bird populations are at risk of dying out.

Which word is a synonym for DYING OUT in this sentence: For example, a study could show that certain seabirds eat plastic bags, and go on to warn that whole bird populations are at risk of DYING OUT.

Which word is a synonym for THREATS in this sentence: But the truth was that nobody had yet tested those perceived THREATS,' Rochman says. 'There wasn't a lot of information.'

Which word is a synonym for EXAMINED in this sentence: Rochman and her colleagues EXAMINED more than a hundred papers on the impacts of marine debris that were published through 2013.

Which word is a synonym for ACTUALLY in this sentence: Within each paper, they asked what threats scientists had studied-366 perceived threats in all - and what they'd ACTUALLY found.

Which word is a synonym for TRASH in this sentence: In 83 percent of cases, the perceived dangers of ocean TRASH were proven true.

Which word is a synonym for WEAKNESSES in this sentence: In the remaining cases, the working group found the studies had WEAKNESSES in design and content which affected the validity of their conclusions - they lacked a control group, for example, or used faulty statistics.

Which word is a synonym for FAULTY in this sentence: In the remaining cases, the working group found the studies had weaknesses in design and content which affected the validity of their conclusions - they lacked a control group, for example, or used FAULTY statistics.

Which word is a synonym for STATISTICS in this sentence: In the remaining cases, the working group found the studies had weaknesses in design and content which affected the validity of their conclusions - they lacked a control group, for example, or used faulty STATISTICS.

Which word is a synonym for STRIKINGLY, in this sentence: STRIKINGLY, Rochman says, only one well-designed study failed to find the effect it was looking for, an investigation of mussels ingesting microscopic plastic bits.

Which word is a synonym for INVESTIGATION in this sentence: Strikingly, Rochman says, only one well-designed study failed to find the effect it was looking for, an INVESTIGATION of mussels ingesting microscopic plastic bits.

Which word is a synonym for INGESTING in this sentence: Strikingly, Rochman says, only one well-designed study failed to find the effect it was looking for, an investigation of mussels INGESTING microscopic plastic bits.

Which word is a synonym for MICROSCOPIC in this sentence: Strikingly, Rochman says, only one well-designed study failed to find the effect it was looking for, an investigation of mussels ingesting MICROSCOPIC plastic bits.

Which word is a synonym for STRESS OUT in this sentence: The plastic moved from the mussels' stomachs to their bloodstreams, scientists found, and stayed there for weeks - but didn't seem to STRESS OUT the shellfish.

Which word is a synonym for BOTHERSOME in this sentence: While mussels may be fine eating trash, though, the analysis also gave a clearer picture of the many ways that ocean debris is BOTHERSOME.

Which word is a synonym for LOOKED AT in this sentence: Within the studies they LOOKED AT, most of the proven threats came from plastic debris, rather than other materials like metal or wood.

Which word is a synonym for INVOLVED in this sentence: Most of the dangers also INVOLVED large pieces of debris animals getting entangled in trash, for example, or eating it and severely injuring themselves.

Which word is a synonym for ENTANGLED in this sentence: Most of the dangers also involved large pieces of debris animals getting ENTANGLED in trash, for example, or eating it and severely injuring themselves.

Which word is a synonym for SEVERELY in this sentence: Most of the dangers also involved large pieces of debris animals getting entangled in trash, for example, or eating it and SEVERELY injuring themselves.

Which word is a synonym for INJURING in this sentence: Most of the dangers also involved large pieces of debris animals getting entangled in trash, for example, or eating it and severely INJURING themselves.

Which word is a synonym for INGREDIENTS in this sentence: These may be INGREDIENTS used in cosmetics and toiletries, fibers shed by synthetic clothing in the wash, or eroded remnants of larger debris.

Which word is a synonym for SHED in this sentence: These may be ingredients used in cosmetics and toiletries, fibers SHED by synthetic clothing in the wash, or eroded remnants of larger debris.

Which word is a synonym for SYNTHETIC in this sentence: These may be ingredients used in cosmetics and toiletries, fibers shed by SYNTHETIC clothing in the wash, or eroded remnants of larger debris.

Which word is a synonym for ERODED in this sentence: These may be ingredients used in cosmetics and toiletries, fibers shed by synthetic clothing in the wash, or ERODED remnants of larger debris.

Which word is a synonym for CUTOFF in this sentence: There are a lot of open questions still for microplastic,' Rochman says, though she notes that more papers on the subject have been published since 2013, the CUTOFF point for the group's analysis.

Which word is a synonym for CREATURE in this sentence: There are also, she adds, a lot of open questions about the ways that ocean debris can lead to sea-CREATURE death.

Which word is a synonym for CELLS in this sentence: Many studies have looked at how plastic affects an individual animal, or that animal's tissues or CELLS, rather than whole populations.

Which word is a synonym for LAB in this sentence: And in the LAB, scientists often use higher concentrations of plastic than what's really in the ocean.

Which word is a synonym for RELEVANT in this sentence: We need to be asking more ecologically RELEVANT questions,' Rochman says

Which word is a synonym for DISASTERS in this sentence: Usually, scientists don't know exactly how DISASTERS such as a tanker accidentally spilling its whole cargo of oil and polluting huge areas of the ocean will affect the environment until after they've happened.

Which word is a synonym for SPILLING in this sentence: Usually, scientists don't know exactly how disasters such as a tanker accidentally SPILLING its whole cargo of oil and polluting huge areas of the ocean will affect the environment until after they've happened.

Which word is a synonym for PREVENT in this sentence: But if ecologists can understand how the slow-moving effect of ocean trash is damaging ecosystems, they might be able to PREVENT things from getting worse.

Which word is a synonym for FIGURE OUT  in this sentence: <br />Asking the right questions can help policy makers, and the public, FIGURE OUT where to focus their attention.

Which word is a synonym for ATTENTION in this sentence: <br />Asking the right questions can help policy makers, and the public, figure out where to focus their ATTENTION.

Which word is a synonym for DRAMATIC in this sentence: The problems that look or sound most DRAMATIC may not be the best places to start.

Which word is a synonym for PATCH in this sentence: For example, the name of the 'Great Pacific Garbage PATCH' - a collection of marine debris in the northern Pacific Ocean - might conjure up a vast floating trash island.

Which word is a synonym for VAST in this sentence: For example, the name of the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch' - a collection of marine debris in the northern Pacific Ocean - might conjure up a VAST floating trash island.

Which word is a synonym for IN REALITY in this sentence: IN REALITY though, much of the debris is tiny or below the surface; a person could sail through the area without seeing any trash at all.

Which word is a synonym for SURFACE in this sentence: In reality though, much of the debris is tiny or below the SURFACE; a person could sail through the area without seeing any trash at all.

Which word is a synonym for SIMULATIONS in this sentence: But a recent paper used SIMULATIONS to show that strategically positioning the cleanup devices closer to shore would more effectively reduce pollution over the long term.

Which word is a synonym for STRATEGICALLY in this sentence: But a recent paper used simulations to show that STRATEGICALLY positioning the cleanup devices closer to shore would more effectively reduce pollution over the long term.

Which word is a synonym for SHORE in this sentence: But a recent paper used simulations to show that strategically positioning the cleanup devices closer to SHORE would more effectively reduce pollution over the long term.

Which word is a synonym for CLEARING UP in this sentence: I think CLEARING UP some of these misperceptions is really important,' Rochman says.

Which word is a synonym for MISPERCEPTIONS in this sentence: I think clearing up some of these MISPERCEPTIONS is really important,' Rochman says.

Which word is a synonym for PERCEPTION in this sentence: Among scientists as well as in the media, she says, 'A lot of the images about strandings and entanglement and all of that cause the PERCEPTION that plastic debris is killing everything in the ocean.' Interrogating the existing scientific literature can help ecologists figure out which problems really need addressing, and which ones they'd be better off - like the mussels - absorbing and ignoring.

Which word is a synonym for INTERROGATING in this sentence: Among scientists as well as in the media, she says, 'A lot of the images about strandings and entanglement and all of that cause the perception that plastic debris is killing everything in the ocean.' INTERROGATING the existing scientific literature can help ecologists figure out which problems really need addressing, and which ones they'd be better off - like the mussels - absorbing and ignoring.

Which word is a synonym for ADDRESSING in this sentence: Among scientists as well as in the media, she says, 'A lot of the images about strandings and entanglement and all of that cause the perception that plastic debris is killing everything in the ocean.' Interrogating the existing scientific literature can help ecologists figure out which problems really need ADDRESSING, and which ones they'd be better off - like the mussels - absorbing and ignoring.

Which word is a synonym for PROVEN in this sentence: In 83 percent of cases, the perceived dangers of ocean trash were PROVEN true

Which word is a synonym for REMNANT in this sentence: These may be ingredients used in cosmetics and toiletries, fibers shed by synthetic clothing in the wash, or

Which word is a synonym for INVESTIGATING  in this sentence: Compared to the number of studies INVESTIGATING large-scale debris, Rochman's group found little research on the effects of these tiny bits

Which word is a synonym for INDIVIDUAL in this sentence: Many studies have looked at how plastic affects an INDIVIDUAL animal, or that animal's tissues or cells, rather than whole populations