Oceans

Japan Confirms Oil From the Sanchi Is Washing Up On Its Beaches

Japan Confirms Oil From the Sanchi Is Washing Up On Its Beaches

By Andy Rowell The Japanese Coast Guard has confirmed that the oil that is being washed up on islands in the south of the country is “highly likely” to have come from the stricken Iranian tanker, the Sanchi. Samples of clumpy oil that washed up earlier this month on the shores of the Okinoerabu and […]

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    Taiwan Sets Aggressive Timeline to Ban Straws and Other Single-Use Plastics

    Taiwan Sets Aggressive Timeline to Ban Straws and Other Single-Use Plastics

    Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Agency, in cooperation with a number of environmental organizations, proposed an ambitious 12-year timeline Tuesday to eliminate four types of single-use plastics—takeaway beverage cups, drinking straws, shopping bags and disposable tableware—by 2030 to tackle plastic pollution. Taiwan, the birthplace of bubble tea, is famous for its unique food and drink culture, but […]

    The Queen Declares War on Plastic

    The Queen Declares War on Plastic

    Queen Elizabeth II is banning plastic straws and bottles across the royal estates. The Telegraph reported that the monarch is behind Buckingham Palace’s plans to phase out single-use plastics from public cafes, royal residences and staff dining rooms. Royal caterers will instead use china plates and glasses or recyclable paper cups. Takeaway food from the […]

    Lobster Industry Ensnared in North Atlantic Right Whale Deaths

    Lobster Industry Ensnared in North Atlantic Right Whale Deaths

    By Sam Schipani Last year was not a good one for the North Atlantic right whale. Seventeen of them were discovered to have died, about 4 percent of a total population of 455. Numbers have been low for decades—the species was declared endangered in 1973—but if the current trend continues, the North Atlantic right whale, […]

    ‘Plastic in All Sizes’ Found Everywhere in Once Pristine European Arctic

    ‘Plastic in All Sizes’ Found Everywhere in Once Pristine European Arctic

    A disturbing amount of plastic is building up in the once-pristine European Arctic. According to a study from the Norwegian Polar Institute, “plastic in all sizes” can be found throughout the Norwegian Arctic and in the Svalbard islands, an archipelago between Norway’s mainland and the North Pole that’s also one of Earth’s northernmost inhabited areas. […]

    18 Documentaries That Will Inspire, Outrage and Mobilize

    18 Documentaries That Will Inspire, Outrage and Mobilize

    By Eva Perroni Film is an incredible tool for effecting change in the food system with its unique ability to educate, inspire and grow the movement for sustainable food and farming. Film can transport viewers to unseen territories, from Colombian coffee-growing regions to the bottom of the ocean, and unveil the stories, struggles and triumphs […]

    Microplastics Pose Major Problems for Ocean Giants

    Microplastics Pose Major Problems for Ocean Giants

    Some of our oceans‘ largest creatures are being threatened by the tiniest bits of plastic that litter our seas, a new analysis published in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution found. Filter-feeding marine animals such as manta rays and whale sharks swallow hundreds to thousands of cubic meters of water a day to capture […]

    Emergency Order Aims to Protect Resident Orcas

    Emergency Order Aims to Protect Resident Orcas

    Canada is losing a lot of its wildlife. The World Wildlife Fund’s 2017 Living Planet Report Canada found half the monitored mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian and fish species declined from 1970 to 2014. Threatened and endangered species continue to disappear despite federal legislation designed to protect them and help their populations recover. What’s going wrong? […]

    Sanchi Oil Spill Has Already Caused ‘Serious Ecological Injury’

    Sanchi Oil Spill Has Already Caused ‘Serious Ecological Injury’

    By Andy Rowell The Sanchi oil spill in the East China Sea could potentially be one of the worst tanker spills in decades, experts are warning, even though the spill has now largely disappeared from news reports. Work by scientists from the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) and the University of Southampton, who have plotted where […]