Accoustic Pollution and Naval Sonar testing
Over the past 40 years, cumulative research across the globe has revealed a coincidence between naval sonar testing events and acute decompression sickness in beached marine mammals. Under a plan announced by the NOAA, marine mammal “hot spots” in areas including Southern California’s coastal waters, may become off limits to testing of a type of Navy sonar linked to the deaths of whales.
Structural and Functional Loss in Restored Wetland Ecosystems
Wetlands are among the most productive and valuable ecosystems in the world, but because of human activities, over half of the wetland ecosystems existing in North America, Europe, Australia, and China in the early 20th century have been lost. Wetland restoration is a billion-dollar-a-year industry, that aims to create ecosystems similar to those that disappeared, but a new analysis of such projects shows that restored wetlands seldom reach the quality of a natural wetland.
Japan’s Nuclear Alley Conflicted Over Reactors
International inspectors are visiting a rugged Japanese bay region so thick with reactors it is dubbed “Nuclear Alley,” where residents remain deeply conflicted as Japan moves to restart plants idled after the Fukushima disaster.
Coastal Storms Have Long-Reaching Effects, Study Says
Coastal storms are known to cause serious damage along the shoreline, but they also cause significant disruption of the deep-sea ecosystem as well, according to a study of extreme coastal storms in the Western Mediterranean.