Ocean plastic has reached the northernmost ends of the earth. The remote and icy waters of the Arctic Ocean are also being inundated by this form of non-biodegradable pollution. According to a paper published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, currents carrying trash, originating mostly from the North Atlantic, are flowing north into the Greenland […]
Federal fishery managers voted Monday to keep the U.S. West Coast Pacific sardine fishery closed for the upcoming commercial season. With an estimated 86,586 metric tons (mt) of sardine remaining and 150,000 mt necessary for fishing to occur, this will be the third year in a row there are not enough sardines to support a […]
Warming oceans have caused a large bleaching event in the Great Barrier Reef for the second year in a row, new aerial surveys show. This year’s bleaching extends much further south than areas impacted by the 2016 event and two thirds of the reef’s corals have now been impacted by bleaching. Reef scientists worry that […]
Turning seawater into drinking water just became more feasible. Scientists at the University of Manchester in the UK have developed graphene oxide membranes with holes small enough to filter out salt. The sieves represent a technological breakthrough in the effort to make desalination more efficient and affordable. Graphene oxide membranes have been used in desalination […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]