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(Eagle News) – Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu has called on all Filipinos to cut down on plastic use as the Philippines becomes one of the top five countries in the world that contribute to plastic waste in oceans. Citing a United Nations report, Cimatu said the Philippines is one of top 5 contributors of plastic waste in the world’s oceans, accounting for about half of the total plastic leakage. “We produce 2.7 metric tons […]
by Marlowe HOOD Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — More than 16,000 desalination plants scattered across the globe produce far more toxic sludge than fresh water, according to a first global assessment of the sector’s industrial waste, published Monday. For every litre of fresh water extracted from the sea or brackish waterways, a litre-and-a-half of salty slurry, called brine, is dumped directly back into the ocean or the ground. The super-salty substance is made […]
TAMPA, United States (AFP) — The world’s oceans are heating up at an accelerating pace as global warming threatens a diverse range of marine life and a major food supply for the planet, researchers said Thursday. The findings in the US journal Science, led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, debunk previous reports that suggested a so-called pause in global warming in recent years. The latest technology shows no such hiatus ever existed, raising new […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Scientists have launched the largest-ever attempt to regenerate coral on the endangered Great Barrier Reef by harvesting millions of the creatures’ eggs and sperm during their annual spawning. The researchers said Wednesday they plan to grow coral larvae from the harvested eggs and return these to areas of the reef which have been badly damaged by climate-related coral bleaching. “This is the first time that the entire process of large scale […]
by Patrick GALEY Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — More than 70 percent of Earth’s last untouched wilderness lies in the territories of just five countries, scientists said Wednesday — mostly nations that alarm environmentalists with their lukewarm response to climate change. True wild spaces — land and sea areas mostly unaffected by mankind’s explosive expansion and insatiable appetite for food and natural resources — now cover just a quarter of the planet. They […]
by Régine LAMOTHE Agence France Presse ARCACHON, France (AFP) — French researchers hoping to get an early warning on pollution in the ocean have found an unlikely ally in a mollusk more often destined for the dinner table. Their findings reveal that much like canaries in a coal mine, oysters stationed near offshore oil platforms can detect minute amounts of hydrocarbons as each one constantly filters dozens of gallons of water every day. That could […]
by Kerry Sheridan Agence France-Presse SARASOTA, United States (AFP) — A state of emergency has been declared in Florida as the worst red tide in a decade blackens the ocean water, killing dolphins, sea turtles and fish at a relentless pace. More than 100 tons of dead sea creatures have been shoveled up from smelly, deserted beaches in tourist areas along Florida’s southwest coast as a result of the harmful algal bloom this month alone. […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP)–A New Zealand adventurer has become the first person to kayak the Tasman Sea solo after a gruelling two-month voyage that saw him pestered by a shark and battling “washing machine” conditions. Scott Donaldson set off from Australia’s Coffs Harbour on May 2 and paddled ashore at New Plymouth, on New Zealand’s North Island late Monday night. The 48-year-old’s 2,200-kilometre (1,370-mile) journey took him across one of the southern hemisphere’s most notorious […]
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — When coral reefs come in contact with plastic trash in the ocean, their risk of becoming diseased skyrockets, said an international study out Thursday. Researchers examined more than 120,000 corals on 159 reefs — some polluted with plastic, others not — from Indonesia, Australia, Myanmar and Thailand for the study in the journal Science. “We found that the chance of disease increased from four percent to 89 percent when […]
CHINA (Reuters) – The newest outcome of the third expedition to the South China Sea may rewrite the textbooks of plate tectonics, according to a press conference co-hosted by Chinese Office of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) and Tongji University in Shanghai on Monday. The Chinese-led international scientific team wrapped up their research on the US drilling ship JOIDES Resolution on Sunday, with much of the new findings pointing towards some interesting discoveries about […]
by Marlowe Hood Agence France Pesse PARIS, France (AFP) — Rising sea levels driven by global warming are on track to dramatically boost the frequency of coastal flooding worldwide by mid-century, especially in tropical regions, researchers said Thursday. A 10-to-20 centimeter (four-to-eight inch) jump in the global ocean watermark by 2050 — a conservative forecast — would double flood risk in high-latitude regions, they reported in the journal Scientific Reports. Major cities along the North […]
by Jo Biddle Agence France Presse UTRECHT, Netherlands (AFP) — A Dutch engineer aiming to clean up vast ocean “garbage patches” of plastic Thursday unveiled a radical design breakthrough, enabling his ambitious project to start two years early. Boyan Slat’s innovative scheme seeks to use ocean currents to help gather up an estimated five trillion pieces of plastic — everything from bottles, to plastic bags, flip-flops and other detritus — from the planet’s waters. After […]
