We looked for South Africa’s ‘missing’ plastic litter. This is what we found
A recent study suggests that 96%-98% of litter from land-based sources washes up within one year of entering the sea. They conclude that most of the missing plastic has been under our noses all the time, on our beaches.
World Oceans Day 2020: New IAEA Research Records Dramatic Increase in Microplastic Pollution in Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean
We celebrate World Oceans Day at a time when about 8 million tons of plastic waste are ending up in the oceans each year, damaging ecosystems and wildlife. The major challenge scientists and policy makers face today is a lack of knowledge on the biological impacts of microplastics in marine organisms…
A message for World Oceans Day, June 8, 2020
There can be no environmental justice without social justice. A very short sentence, with millions of lives and stories behind it.
UN World Oceans Day 2020: Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean
Photograph: © SAF — Coastal Care. Excerpts; June 8 is World Oceans Day, the United Nations day for celebrating the role of the oceans in our everyday life and inspiring action to protect the ocean and sustainably use marine resources. The UN World Oceans Day 2020 Theme is: Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean – UN […]
US ranks 24th in the world on environmental performance
The United States isn’t doing a good job of protecting the environment, according to researchers at Yale and Columbia universities. The U.S. ranks 24th in the 2020 Environmental Performance Index, released Thursday. The poor ranking, putting the United States behind most of Europe, reflects the nation’s growing environmental and sustainability problems
Tropical Storm Cristobal nears landfall in Louisiana with dangerous coastal and inland flooding
Tropical storm warnings stretched from the coast of central Louisiana to the western Florida Panhandle, while storm surge warnings covered the southeastern Louisiana coastline to near Biloxi. A 5-foot surge had already inundated some coastal areas in southeast Louisiana and Mississippi.
Trump signs order to waive environmental reviews for key projects
Trump signed an executive order Thursday instructing agencies to waive long-standing environmental laws to speed up federal approval for new mines, highways, pipelines and other projects given the current economic emergency. Declaring an economic emergency lets the president invoke a section of federal law allowing “action with significant environmental impact” without observing normal requirements imposed by laws
Putin declares state of emergency after massive fuel leak pollutes river in the Arctic Circle
Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a state of emergency in the Siberian city of Norilsk after a massive fuel leak spilled into a river. Environmentalists call it one of the worst ever seen in the Arctic.
Scientists tackle starfish plagues on endangered Great Barrier Reef
Crown-of-thorns starfish are the second biggest threat to the already endangered Great Barrier Reef — the world’s largest coral reef system, right behind tropical cyclones. Over the past decades, they have attacked the reefs in waves of outbreaks.