How the Surfing Business Could be a Wipeout for an Iconic Calif. Town
To create perfect surfing conditions, nature needs to provide the right amount of deep-ocean swells, peculiar ocean-floor geography and wind. Coupled with sea-level rise, as beaches erode, the practice of beach replenishment – dredging and dumping sand to extend beaches and reclaim them from the ocean – is also destroying surf in some communities.
Along Cuba’s Coast, The Last Best Coral Reef in the Caribbean Thrives
While coral reef cover has declined by 50 percent throughout the Caribbean, Cuba has managed to retain some of the most pristine coral reef environments on earth. Lack of coastal development, limited tourism, small amounts of runoff flowing into the sea, tight controls on commercial fishing, and the establishment of extensive marine protected areas have all combined to give Cuba the most remarkable coral reef environments in the Caribbean.
Thick Dust Plumes Obscure Africa’s Coast
Hundreds of millions of tons of sand and dust particles are lifted from North African deserts each year and carried across the Atlantic Ocean to South America. The trans-continental journey of dust is important because of what is often in the dust…
Scientists Question Rush to Build Nicaragua Canal
A consortium of environmental scientists has expressed strong concern about the impact of a controversial Central American canal across Nicaragua, to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Experts Warn of Health Risk on Rio de Janeiro Beaches
The sands on the beaches of this Brazilian tourist mecca are heavily polluted, mainly thanks to trash left behind by beachgoers, experts told EFE. Rio de Janeiro’s world-famous Copacabana and Ipanema are among the areas contaminated to the point that dermatologists recommend avoiding skin contact with the sand.
New Museum Program Focuses on Impacts of Fukushima on the Ocean
Four years after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident, Japan is still recovering and rebuilding from the disaster. The accident resulted in the largest unintentional release of radioactivity into the ocean in history…
Mystery Solved: Why Seashells’ Mineral Forms Differently in Seawater
For almost a century, scientists have been puzzled by a process that is crucial to much of the life in Earth’s oceans…
Europe Shouldn’t Be Afraid of Leading the World on Environmental Regulation
Over the past 40 years Europe has developed the most comprehensive, ambitious and binding environmental legislation existing anywhere today. And with good reason: these standards should be seen as a unique economic advantage.
FEMA: Senators Call for Hearing into Fraudulent Reports Linked to Superstorm Sandy
Senators are seeking hearings regarding fraudulent reports allegedly made by insurance companies.