Oceans

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    Noise Pollution Forces Whales and Dolphins From Their Homes

    Noise Pollution Forces Whales and Dolphins From Their Homes

    By Jason Bittel Waves lap at motionless heaps of blubber and fins and the sun bears down on chapped skin. Gulls start to, well, do what gulls do. This heartbreaking scene happened in January when nearly 100 false killer whales became stranded along a remote shore in the Florida Everglades. Authorities tried to steer the […]

    Where We Drill, We Spill: Commemorating Exxon Valdez

    Where We Drill, We Spill: Commemorating Exxon Valdez

    By Franz Matzner Twenty eight years ago today the world experienced a massive wake-up call on the hazards and harms of oil spills when the Exxon Valdez oil tanker split open and poured oil into Alaskan waters. At the time, images of oil coated wildlife and a devastated ecosystem in one of the world’s most […]

    Planet Enters ‘Uncharted Territory’

    Planet Enters ‘Uncharted Territory’

    Global temperatures are on the rise again as 2016 has been marked as the hottest on record. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which published its annual assessment of the climate today, said the unusually warm weather has continued into 2017. Global warming, experts say, is largely driven by human activity and the release of carbon […]

    Mars, Nestlé Commit to Clean Up Pet Food Supply Chains

    Mars, Nestlé Commit to Clean Up Pet Food Supply Chains

    By Perry Wheeler Following global pressure on pet food companies, industry giants Mars and Nestlé have announced that they will take steps to ensure their pet food supply chains are free of human rights abuses and illegally caught seafood. Their commitments to act on transshipping at sea increase the need for global seafood giant Thai […]

    Kenya Joins Growing Fight Against Plastic Pollution

    Kenya Joins Growing Fight Against Plastic Pollution

    Kenya just became the latest country to ban plastic bags. According to Environment Cabinet Secretary Judi Wakhungu, “The ministry has banned the use, manufacture and importation of all plastic bags used for commercial and household packaging.” Kenya’s ban follows the United Nations‘ new Clean Seas initiative, which has already inspired 10 governments to address plastic […]

    Coral Reefs Are Dying, Only Hope Is Halting Fossil Fuel Emissions

    Coral Reefs Are Dying, Only Hope Is Halting Fossil Fuel Emissions

    The only hope to save the world’s coral reefs is to take immediate action to stop climate change, according to new research published Wednesday in the journal Nature. The study analyzed 2016 bleaching events in the Great Barrier Reef, finding that they were mostly driven by rising temperatures and that local efforts to reduce pollution […]

    90% of Minke Whales Killed in Norway Are Female and ‘Almost All’ Pregnant

    90% of Minke Whales Killed in Norway Are Female and ‘Almost All’ Pregnant

    Ninety percent of the minke whales hunted and killed each year in Norwegian waters are female and ” almost all” of them are pregnant, according to a documentary aired earlier this month on NRK, a government-owned public broadcasting company. [facebook https://www.facebook.com/havforskningsinstituttet/videos/vb.107340812637299/1770870212951009/?type=2&theater expand=1] The documentary, Slaget om kvalen (“Battle of Agony”), shows grisly footage of Norway’s […]

    Rate of Ocean Warming Quadrupled Since Late 20th Century, Study Reveals

    Rate of Ocean Warming Quadrupled Since Late 20th Century, Study Reveals

    By Roz Pidcock The buildup of heat-trapping greenhouse gases is warming the upper ocean four times faster than during the period 1960-1990, according to new research. [facebook https://facebook.com/EcoWatch/videos/1482563161756616/ expand=1] The paper, published March 10 in the journal Science Advances, is the latest effort to piece together current and historical measurements from ships, self-propelled floats, satellites […]