Be A Greener Beach Bum
Are you one of millions who will enjoy some of the summer sun at the beach? Did you know that some of the choices we make at home and while on vacation can actually contaminate the very same waters we can’t wait to get in?
Japan Tsunami Debris on Pagan Island: Financial Problems May Lead to a Second Environmental Mess
What would motivate a small island nation to settle for the foreign mining of its pozzolan resources, and sell one of its most limited commodities : land? This is a story about how a small island in the tropical pacific was proposed as a dumpsite for trash from the 2011 Japan tsunami.
Rio summit exposes Guanabara Bay’s Dire Pollution
In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Guanabara Bay used to be a near-legendary paradise, with healthy mangroves, sandy beaches and a rich ecosystem. Sadly, decades of urbanization and deforestation have taken their toll, and today it is long-suffering from unprecedented levels of pollution. Since 1995, one-billion dollars have been invested in fighting the pollution.
Cities to Face Sharply Rising Costs for Garbage Treatment
A new, far-reaching World Bank report on the state of municipal solid waste around the world predicts a sharp rise in the amount of garbage generated by urban residents between now and 2025.
US Braces for Tsunami Debris, but Impact Unclear
More than a year after a tsunami devastated Japan, killing thousands of people and washing millions of tons of debris into the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. government and West Coast states don’t have a cohesive plan for cleaning up the rubble that floats to American shores.
World’s urban waste mountain a silent problem that is growing daily
The amount of garbage generated by city dwellers is set to rise steeply in the next two decades, with much of the increase coming in fast-growing cities in developing countries, according to a World Bank report.
Rio Closes Its Massive Jardim Gramacho Dump
One of the world’s largest open-air landfills, a vast, seaside mountain of trash where thousands of people have made a living sorting through the debris by hand, will close this weekend after 34 years in tainting service.
Pacific bluefin tuna transport Fukushima-derived radionuclides from Japan to California
Across the vast Pacific, the mighty bluefin tuna carried radioactive contamination that leaked from Japan’s crippled nuclear plant to the shores of the United States 6,000 miles away, the first time a huge migrating fish has been shown to carry radioactivity such a distance…
What Causes Beach Closures?
In addition to disrupting a day at the beach, water pollution poses a serious health threat to beachgoers. The pollution that causes beach closures and illness in humans comes from many different places on land, but ultimately gets into the water primarily through one of two pathways, discrete point sources and diffuse non-point sources.