Climate Effects Of Keystone XL Significantly Underestimated
The U.S. State Department’s final environmental review of the Keystone XL Pipeline may have underestimated carbon dioxide emissions associated with the pipeline by as much as four times, according to a new study.
Oxygen-Deprived Dead Zones: Q & A
There are more than 400 known dead zones worldwide, covering about 1 percent of the area along the continental shelves. That number is almost certainly a vast undercount, however, since researchers have yet to adequately study large parts of Africa, South America and Asia.
Mercury in the Global Ocean
A new study provides the first direct calculation of mercury in the global ocean from pollution based on data obtained from 12 sampling cruises over the past 8 years. The results confirmed that the ocean contains about 60,000 to 80,000 tons of pollution mercury. In addition, they found that ocean waters shallower than about 100 m (300 feet) have tripled in mercury concentration since the Industrial Revolution.
Plastic, Poverty And Pollution In China’s Recycling Dead Zone
Adam Minter, Bloomberg’s Shanghai correspondent, visited Wen’an, once at the heart of the global scrap plastic trade. In a never-before published extract from his book, “Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade,” he describes the effects on workers’ health, and pollution incurred.
Pacific Ocean Garbage Swirls Predictably, A Video
The ‘Pacific Garbage Patch’, including debris from the 2011 Japanese Tsunami, travels in seasonal patterns. Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team’s (COASST) executive director Julia Parrish explains the patterns and how her organization is helping to mitigate the problem.
Plastic ‘Trash Islands’ Forming In Ocean Garbage Patch; Moore Live Webcast July 20th
15 years after discovering what became known as ” the great Pacific garbage patch”, Capt. Charles Moore has returned to the garbage patch, and will report the staggering findings via a live satellite webcast on July 20th. He discovered a “trash island” more than 50 feet (15 meters) long, with “beaches,” a “rocky coastline,” and “underwater mountains” and reefs made up of ropes, buoys and other plastic debris…
Microplastics Worse For Crabs And Other Marine Life Than Previously Thought
The tiny plastic particles polluting our seas are not only orally ingested by marine creatures, but also enter their systems through their gills, according to a new study.
Thousands Of Containers Fall Off Ships Every Year. What Happens To Them?
It is estimated that thousands of containers are lost every year along international shipping routes due to big waves or wind gusts. Sometimes they wash up on shore, but what happens to the containers that land at the bottom of the sea? No one really knew.
Leading scientists express rising concern about ‘microplastics’ in the ocean
Microplastics, microscopic particles of plastic debris, are of increasing concern because of their widespread presence in the oceans and the potential physical and toxicological risks they pose to organisms.