Oceans

Microplastics in Oceans Outnumber Stars in Our Galaxy by 500 Times

Microplastics in Oceans Outnumber Stars in Our Galaxy by 500 Times

The United Nations is “declaring war” on the biggest sources of planetary pollution—ocean plastic. On Thursday, the intergovernmental organization’s environment program (UNEP) launched its #CleanSeas campaign at the World Ocean Summit hosted by The Economist in Bali, Indonesia. The unprecedented global initiative urges governments and businesses to take measures to eliminate microplastics from cosmetics and […]

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    Obama Denies All Pending Permits for Seismic Airgun Blasting in Atlantic Ocean

    Obama Denies All Pending Permits for Seismic Airgun Blasting in Atlantic Ocean

    By Claire Douglass The Obama administration formally denied today all pending permits to conduct seismic airgun blasting in the Atlantic Ocean. Seismic airgun blasting, an extremely loud and dangerous process used to search for oil and gas deposits deep below the ocean’s surface, was originally proposed in an area twice the size of California, stretching […]

    Spaceship Earth, Your Main Oxygen Systems Are Collapsing

    Spaceship Earth, Your Main Oxygen Systems Are Collapsing

    Yes, Houston, we have a problem: Our oceans are dying. As the brilliant futurist Buckminster Fuller used to point out, our Spaceship Earth is hurtling through space at a great speed. Imagine if someone told you (a passenger on that ship) that the main oxygen systems were failing because of how food was being grown. […]

    Feds Sued by State of California Over Offshore Fracking

    Feds Sued by State of California Over Offshore Fracking

    Citing risks to public health and marine life, California Attorney General Kamala Harris and the California Coastal Commission filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the federal government’s inadequate analysis of offshore fracking’s threats to the California coast. Feds Find Offshore #Fracking in the Pacific Would Have No 'Significant' Environmental Impact https://t.co/eypwXoSNZA @CenterForBioDiv — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) June […]

    Great Barrier Reef Suffers Worst Coral Die-Off on Record

    Great Barrier Reef Suffers Worst Coral Die-Off on Record

    A new map released by the Australian Research Council shows unprecedented coral bleaching in the last nine months in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, resulting in the largest coral die-off ever recorded. ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies About two-thirds of reefs have died in the most-impacted northern region stretching 435 miles and researchers […]

    The Marine Hotspot That Could Save Our Seas

    The Marine Hotspot That Could Save Our Seas

    By Neela Eyunni The Earth’s oceans are under siege. Human activity is wiping out coral reefs and marine life at a faster rate than ever before. As conservationists try to restore the health of our seas, one place may be key to turning the tide. The Verde Island Passage has the highest concentration of marine […]

    Obama Takes Historic Action, Protects Arctic Ocean From Offshore Oil Drilling

    Obama Takes Historic Action, Protects Arctic Ocean From Offshore Oil Drilling

    The Obama administration made another historic move today to decrease America’s dependence on dirty fossil fuels, this time protecting the Arctic Ocean from offshore drilling. In the newly released final five-year program for oil and gas development on the Outer Continental Shelf, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management removed the Chukchi and Beaufort seas for […]