Mission Blue: Coiba, Panama
Considered a precious jewel of the Pacific, Coiba National Park, located off the southwest coast of Panama, is made up of Coiba Island, 38 smaller islands and the surrounding marine areas within the Gulf of Chiriqui. The Mission Blue team, including oceanographer Sylvia Earle and Smithsonian senior scientists Hector Guzman, embarked on an expedition to draw attention to the importance of Coiba’s protection and explore its waters.
Radical Sand Dune project
Will a pioneering project to reshape sand dunes that are home to a stronghold of fen orchids and other rare plants and invertebrates, protect or destroy the habitat?
Energy Companies Pledge to Measure Impacts of Large Dam Projects ?
The sixth World Water Forum ( held this year in Marseille, France from March 12-17) the world’s largest meeting devoted to water, is to create solutions to the water, energy, and food challenges presented by climate change and economic growth. But critics say new scorecard to evaluate social and environmental impacts of hydropower projects serves dam builders not local communities and denounced the protocol as an attempt to “greenwash” the industry.
Chevron Execs Barred From Leaving Brazil
A judge barred 17 Chevron executives from around the world from leaving Brazil in an oil spill investigation as prosecutors readied new charges over a second spill involving the US energy giant.
Scientists Look Far to the North to Explain Young Whale in San Francisco Bay
Recent sightings of a gray whale and her infant calf swimming near Alcatraz and Sausalito in San Francisco Bay illuminated a likely repercussion of melting polar ice, scientists said.
Tullow Oil Confirms Major Find off coast of Ghana
Tullow Oil, the London-based explorer, has had a good week: two days after reporting soaring profits it confirmed that an oil strike off the coast of Ghana was a major find… Environmental concerns have raised as more oil companies begin drilling off the coast of Ghana. Does the country have the resources to cope with a major spill?
Dubai’s Staggering Growth
To expand the possibilities for beachfront development, Dubai undertook a massive and controversial engineering project to create hundreds of artificial islands along its Persian Gulf coastline. Built from sand dredged from the sea floor, the islands are shaped in recognizable forms such as palm trees. The construction of the various islands off the coast of Dubai has resulted in changes in area wildlife, coastal erosion and alongshore sediment transport, and wave patterns.
White cliffs of Dover suffer large collapse, UK
A large section of the white cliffs of Dover has collapsed into the English Channel following a “substantial” rockfall, according to the coastguard.
Rising Ocean Temperatures and Protected Coral Reefs
Special conservation zones known as marine protected areas provide many direct benefits to fisheries and coral reefs. However, such zones appear to offer limited help to corals in their battle against global warming, according to a new study.