What Causes Beach Closures?

In addition to disrupting a day at the beach, water pollution poses a serious health threat to beachgoers. The pollution that causes beach closures and illness in humans comes from many different places on land, but ultimately gets into the water primarily through one of two pathways, discrete point sources and diffuse non-point sources.

Water at California Beaches Cleanest in Years

Nearly every beach in the Bay Area, and throughout the California state, had dramatically lower levels of bacteria and pollution than last year, according to an annual survey of 650 West Coast beaches by Heal the Bay, a Santa Monica environmental group.

L.A. Approves Ban on Plastic Bags at Checkout

Los Angeles became the largest city in the nation to approve a ban on plastic bags at supermarket checkout lines, handing a hard-fought victory to environmentalists and promising to change the way Angelenos do their grocery shopping.

Cannes: Underneath the Surface

As the 65th Cannes Film Festival is unfolding, a european environmental organization, Expedition med, released a series of videos depicting the grave marine pollution affecting the Mediterraneean sea, plastic and marine debris covering the seafloor… this, just a few feet away from the glitter and glamour of the Marches du Festival…

Brazil’s Jubarte Field Oil Spill Under Navy Investigation

An oil spill was discovered off Brazil’s coast near the country’s Espirito Santo state, Brazil’s Navy said on Thursday, the latest in a series of spills that have raised questions about the safety of a massive expansion of the country’s oil production capacity.

Living Planet Report 2012: Looks At Ecological State Of The Earth

Twenty years on from the Rio Earth summit, the environment of the planet is getting worse not better, according to a report from WWF. Humans are currently using the equivalent of one and a half Earths to support our activities. This and other startling findings were revealed tuesday with the release of World Wildlife Fund’s 2012 Living Planet Report.