Cruise ship captain fined €100,000 for using dirty fuel
The captain of a cruise ship found to be burning fuel with excessive sulphur levels has been fined €100,000 in a Marseille court, the first such ruling in France. The prosecution was intended to signal a new seriousness in tackling pollution from cruise ships.
What does a persistent bloom of algae indicate about the health of the planet?
While the harmful algae known as red tide have historically been common in warm waters like those of the Gulf of Mexico, the troublesome blooms are no longer seasonal. The algae kill marine animals and make life miserable for beachgoers.
Putting the brakes on fast fashion
The fashion industry produces 20 per cent of global wastewater and 10 per cent of global carbon emissions – more than all international flights and maritime shipping. Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water globally and it takes around 2,000 gallons of water to make a typical pair of jeans.
Cruise ship to provide ‘$2.1m undertaking’ after Great Barrier Reef spill
Carnival Australia has been compelled to provide a “$2.1m undertaking” after spilling 28,000 litres of liquid food waste into the Great Barrier Reef’s protected waters.
Why Durban only got two Blue Flag beaches
Durban was the first South African city to implement the international Blue Flag program.
Hurricane Michael brings new threat to Florida’s victims: toxic red tide
Biologists fear that the storm surge carried with it red tide toxins that can cause respiratory distress and flu-like symptoms.
Space junk?’ What is the ‘foamy’ mystery object that washed ashore on an SC beach?
A mystery came out of the ocean on South Carolina’s Seabrook Island, and authorities haven’t yet identified what some are calling “space junk…”
Florida has a new water problem: red tide on the state’s busiest coast
A red tide that has sloshed up and down the Gulf Coast for nearly a year, leaving a wake of dead sea life, murky water and stinky beaches, has now landed on the state’s most crowded shores in Miami-Dade County.
PCB pollution threatens to wipe out killer whales
More than 40 years after the first initiatives were taken to ban the use of PCBs, the chemical pollutants remain a deadly threat to animals at the top of the food chain. A new study shows that the current concentrations of PCBs can lead to the disappearance of half of the world’s populations of killer whales from the most heavily contaminated areas within a period of just 30-50 years.