Endangered Green Sea Turtles Return to Florida in Record Numbers
Green sea turtles nested in record numbers in 2015 at Florida’s Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, the most important green sea turtle nesting habitat in North America. The improvement reflects the joint efforts of conservationists, government, and local residents to reduce light pollution and other human impacts on the refuge’s beaches.
Microbead-Free Waters Act a common-sense law, winning industry support
President Barack Obama last week signed the law, which bans personal-care products from containing microbeads and aims to help remove plastic pollution from lakes, rivers and the oceans. The plastics industry says it supports the new law that phases out plastic microbeads starting in 2017.
Illegal sand mining returns to Tien River, Vietnam
After a period of calm, the illegal sand mining in Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta’s Tien Giang province has been running rampant in recent days.
A Marine Ecologist Strives to Protect the Seas
Only 1 percent of the ocean is currently protected, marine scientists say, and the rest is being disrupted by overfishing, pollution, climate change and species extinctions. Dr. Sala said he felt the need to take action.
Tragedy of The Commons: Corrosive Growth of the Illegal Sand Mining Mafia
Not many people may know that illegal sand mining is a nationwide phenomena in India, and with spurt in housing and infrastructure projects, the illegal sand mining is thriving beyond the ambit of formal economy and law and order. Sand is everywhere and so is the sand mafia.
Coastal erosion uncovers oil buried on Gorleston beach in 1978, UK
Coastal erosion is to blame for exposing oil that was buried on a Norfolk beach almost 40 years ago. The oil was originally washed ashore from a tanker, the Eleni V, which sank off the coast in 1978.
Rice and palm oil risk to mangroves
The threat posed by the development of rice and palm oil plantations to mangroves in South-East Asia has been underestimated, a study has suggested. Rice and oil plantations accounted for 38% of mangrove deforestation between 2000 and 2012, the research showed.
Coastal erosion needs our attention
65 acres of Massachusetts coastline is carried away every year by raging storms and rising seas. That’s not a problem unless we build a house on the beach. Today, 40 percent of the commonwealth’s 1,500-mile shoreline is residentially occupied.
Gulf Coast of Florida; By Andrew Jalbert
Gulf Coast of Florida, is an image from Andrew Jalbert.