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. […]
By Andy Sharpless In the last several weeks, Oceana and its allies won five important victories that will help protect biodiversity and increase abundance in our seas: 1. Belize bans offshore oil drilling in country’s marine waters, home to the largest barrier reef in the Americas. Belize made history in late December when it signed […]
By Louise Edge Friday Greenpeace criticized Coca-Cola’s new global plastics plan for failing to address the urgency of ocean plastic pollution. The long awaited policy from the world’s largest soft drink company featured a series of measures weaker than those previously announced for Europe and the UK. The plan failed to include any reduction of […]
By Graham Readfearn A climate science denial group with links to President Trump‘s administration has been funding work to sow doubt that low-lying islands in the Pacific are at risk from rising sea levels. The two researchers being funded—one of which is a well-known climate science denier—have targeted little known “open access” journals with dubious […]
By Andy Rowell There are increasing environmental and health concerns surrounding the oil spill in the East China Sea from the Iranian registered tanker, the Sanchi, which sank on Monday carrying 136,000 tons, or one million barrels, of a highly flammable oil mix called condensate. The tanker had burned for a week before exploding after […]
Greenpeace’s ship Arctic Sunrise is on its way to Antarctica, where the crew on board will be the first humans ever to visit the seafloor in the Weddell Sea. The three-month expedition will aim to further the case for a massive ocean sanctuary. In an effort to combat the threats of overfishing, plastic pollution and […]
Experts have expressed concern about the potential environmental aftermath of a stricken Iranian oil tanker that exploded and sank in the East China Sea on Sunday. The Sanchi—carrying 150,000 tons, or nearly 1 million barrels, of condensate oil—collided with the CF Crystal on Jan 6. The tanker caught fire and burned for more than a […]
To combat the growing problem of plastic pollution in the ocean, the Scottish government plans to introduce legislation to ban the manufacture and sale of plastic-stemmed cotton buds. According to the UK’s Marine Conservation Society, plastic cotton buds, which are often flushed down the toilet and can pass through sewage treatment plants, are consistently listed […]
A new study reveals increasing temperatures are turning green turtle populations almost completely female in the northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The Current Biology paper says the northern GBR population of more than 200,000 nesting females—one of the largest in the world—could eventually crash without more males. Increasing temperatures in Queensland’s north, linked to climate […]