Oceans

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    Single-Use Coffee Cups Banned in Scottish Government Buildings

    Single-Use Coffee Cups Banned in Scottish Government Buildings

    Scotland’s Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham confirmed that single-use coffee cups will be banned from canteens in government buildings starting June 4. Although the disposable cups are mostly made of paper, the vast majority have an inner plastic lining that most recycling facilities are unable to separate and process. “The Scottish government is determined to lead […]

    EU Moves to Ban 10 Most Harmful Single-Use Plastics

    EU Moves to Ban 10 Most Harmful Single-Use Plastics

    In an ambitious effort to stop ocean pollution, the European Commission on Monday proposed banning the 10 most common single-use plastic products as well as lost and abandoned fishing gear. The European Union’s executive arm targeted the products that are most often found on the continent’s beaches and seas, which together account for 70 percent […]

    Japan Kills More Than 120 Pregnant Whales

    Japan Kills More Than 120 Pregnant Whales

    More than 120 pregnant female minke whales were killed this year in the Antarctic Ocean as part of Japan’s controversial “scientific whaling” program. The numbers were revealed in a newly released report presented earlier this month at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) Scientific Committee meeting in Bled, Slovenia. According to the report, Japanese whaling vessels […]

    New Oceans Study Could Alter Climate Predictions

    New Oceans Study Could Alter Climate Predictions

    A study published Monday in Nature Geoscience discovered a new factor that is lowering the rate at which oceans absorb carbon dioxide, a finding that could have a major impact on future climate change predictions. Currently, around one-fourth of human generated carbon dioxide emissions are absorbed by oceans, making them the world’s largest carbon sink. […]

    McDonald’s Shareholders Vote to Keep Distributing Plastic Straws

    McDonald’s Shareholders Vote to Keep Distributing Plastic Straws

    McDonald’s shareholders rejected a proposal to take the first step in banning plastic straws at its 36,000 outlets worldwide. The proposal, published in an SEC filing in April, would have required the fast food giant to prepare a report on the business risks of using plastic straws, and the company’s efforts to develop and implement […]

    Swimmer Plans to Cross Pacific to Highlight Plastic Pollution

    Swimmer Plans to Cross Pacific to Highlight Plastic Pollution

    Ben Lecomte, the first man to swim across the Atlantic in 1998, will attempt another grueling, history-making ocean crossing. On Tuesday, the 50-year-old Frenchman and his crew will set out from Tokyo for a 5,500-mile swim across the Pacific, Reuters reported. If all goes as planned, Lecomte will arrive in San Francisco six to eight […]

    40-Ton Sperm Whales Killed by Plastic Bags in Mediterranean

    40-Ton Sperm Whales Killed by Plastic Bags in Mediterranean

    More than a third of the sperm whales found dead in the eastern Mediterranean since 2001 were killed by plastic debris, researchers from the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute in Athens found. Necropsies on nine of the 24 dead whales found in Greek waters revealed that their stomachs were filled with large amounts of plastic, The […]