New Zealand May Kick Start Race To Mine The Ocean Floor
New Zealand decides tomorrow whether to approve to mine the black sands off the oceanfloor in the southern Taranaki Bight, that would likely become the world’s first commercial metals mine at the bottom of the sea.
Obama Announces Plan to Create World’s Largest Ocean Reserve
U.S. President Barack Obama announced a plan for creating the world’s largest marine sanctuary on Tuesday, covering hundreds of thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean.
19-Year-Old Is Ready to Build an Ocean Cleanup Machine
Boyan Slat, a 19-year-old Dutch aeronautical engineering student, is raising $2 million to build an ocean cleanup contraption he designed to passively funnel garbage to specific collection points. Working with a team of over 100 people, he recently released a 528-page feasibility study (PDF) detailing how the complex technology works.
Canada Approves Northern Gateway Oil Pipeline To Pacific Coast
Canada’s government on Tuesday approved a controversial proposed pipeline to the Pacific Coast that would allow oil to be shipped to Asia
Fukushima Operator Struggles To Build Ice Wall To Contain Radioactive Water
The operator of Japan’s battered Fukushima nuclear power plant has said it is having trouble with the early stages of an ice wall being built under broken reactors to contain radioactive water.
In Developing World, Pollution Kills More Than Disease
Pollution, not disease, is the biggest killer in the developing world, taking the lives of more than 8.4 million people each year, a new analysis shows. However, pollution receives a fraction of the interest from the global community.
Kiribati Bans Fishing in One of World’s Largest Marine Parks
A tiny island nation, about halfway between Hawaii and Fiji, that controls a vast area of the Pacific Ocean has announced it will ban all commercial fishing in a massive marine park that is the size of California.
Amazing Plastic Waste Labyrinth Made From 6,000 Recycled Bottles
The anonymous art collective Luzinterruptus has realized a ‘Labyrinth of Plastic Waste‘ for Poland’s Katowice Street Art Festival. By using 6000 discarded water bottles artists created a 7 by 5 meter maze. The labyrinth speaks volumes about the large amount of plastic bottles that are wasted every day around the globe.
Moderate Quakes Hit Near Japan’s Fukushima
Two moderate earthquakes struck off Japan’s eastern coast near Fukushima early Monday, but officials said there was no immediate risk to the stricken power plant.