From Mexico to Alaska, starfish have been mysteriously melting for more than a year. When a starfish first gets sick, its arms pretzel up and white lesions form on its skin. Next, the starfish, normally plush with water absorbed to… Read More ›
Year: 2014
Evidence of Plastic Microbeads in Aquifers
“Microbeads have only been around for the last decade. There’s significant indications that the L.A. River is affected and there’s evidence that it’s already finding their way to our aquifers,” says Bloom.
Can Coastal Dead Zones Return to Life?
Dead zones, or ocean hypoxia, is in the news this week. Besides the Gulf of Mexico dead zones, the Chesapeake Bay has struggled with oxygen depleted water as well. The following is an abbreviated report from the Washington Post. Three… Read More ›
Concern Over “Sustained” Man-Made Hypoxia
The gulf dead zone is only one piece of a larger, environmental problem with U.S. agriculture and watershed issues, however. The gulf just happens to be one of the areas where effects of agricultural practices and pollution are more visible. These kind of problems, though, are far reaching, effect the whole country and are heavily tied to government and industry.
Researcher Pioneers Ocean Acidification Global Study
From Hamish Broome, Northern Star, 7 November 2014. Article. They call it climate change’s “evil twin”. About a third of all carbon dioxide in the atmosphere gets absorbed by the ocean, creating a nasty process called ocean acidification. Sucking up… Read More ›
Marine Mammal Monitoring Program Comment Request
Editor’s Note: Do you have an opinion about seismic exploration and marine mammals? Recent studies have shown negative impacts on the hearing of marine mammals in waters where the blasts of seismic testing has been implemented. Other research shows no… Read More ›
Report Exposes China’s ‘Shady’ Fishing Industry
Reporting on international fishing can often feel like investigating organized crime. Everyone knows how things are run, but the truth is obscured by shell companies, back-door dealings, and plausible deniability. This is why it’s remarkable that a recent, bungled initial… Read More ›
Political Tensions Threaten Antarctic Conservation
Crucial decisions about the future of Antarctica are being made at a meeting in Hobart this week but Australia’s diplomatic standoff with Russia has threatened to derail negotiations. The annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine… Read More ›
Cornwall Marine Litter Swells
“Every beach surveyed we found beach litter on. Northumbria University sampled a random litre of sand and found over ten thousand microscopic plastic particles present. Litter is being found consistently in sea bed surveys – all the way out as far out as the continental shelf – over a million seabirds and a hundred thousand sea mammals will die every year from ingestion and entanglement. We need to reduce the amount of marine litter by 50%.”
Neptune 911! 