Can Data Save Dolphins? How Scientists Are Using NASA Data to Study Link Between Solar Storms and Animal Beachings
The age-old mystery of why otherwise healthy dolphins, whales and porpoises get stranded along coasts worldwide deepens: New research suggests space weather is not the primary cause of animal beachings — but the research continues. The collaboration is now seeking others to join their search for the factors that send ocean mammals off course, in the hopes of perhaps one day predicting strandings before they happen.
Drowning in garbage
The world produces more than 3.5 million tons of garbage a day — and that figure is growing.
Soul-crushing’ video of starving polar bear exposes climate crisis, experts say
Video footage captured in Canada’s Arctic has offered a devastating look at the impact climate change is having on polar bears in the region…
Rising waters: can a massive barrier save Venice from drowning?
A retractable barrier designed to protect Venice from sea level rise and storm surges is set to be operational next year. But the project’s engineering limitations and cost overruns are raising questions about the mega-projects that many coastal cities are hoping can save them.
Did climate change worsen the Southern California fires?
Seven of California’s 10 largest modern wildfires have occurred in the last 14 years. (The state began keeping reliable records in 1932.) Given the scale of the blazes, and their increasing regularity, it makes sense to ask: Does global warming have anything to do with this?
Quick sand, dirty Money; South Africa
Mining has already cut coastal sand supply by as much as 70 percent in the municipality of Ethekwini, which includes Durban. Each year, miners dig up more than 400,000 cubic meters of sand from Durban’s rivers, enough to fill 160 Olympic swimming pools. This sand would normally be deposited on beaches and help offset coastal erosion. At current mining rates, Durban’s beaches are predicted to contract, on average, by more than a meter each year.
Future arctic sea ice loss could dry out California
Arctic sea ice loss of the magnitude expected in the next few decades could impact California’s rainfall and exacerbate future droughts, according to new research led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists.
U.N. environment chief warns “we’re facing an ocean Armageddon”
U.N. Environment Executive Director and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Erik Solheim, said that he is hoping that the Nairobi summit will be a turning point, “We’re facing an ocean Armageddon: Every year, we’re dumping at least 8 million tons of plastics into our oceans.”
Bottles Become Sand at Globally Recognized Ranch at Laguna Beach
According to General Manager Kurt Bjorkman, the resort is the first property in the continental United States to use a GL Sand Machine that turns beer and wine bottles into sand that can be used to replenish the sand in bunkers on the resort’s golf course or the sand at the nearby beach.