Photograph: © SAF — Coastal Care
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The oil and gas industry has had a far worse impact on the climate than previously believed, according to a study indicating that human emissions of fossil methane have been underestimated by up to 40%…
Category Archives: News
Car-sized turtle fossils unearthed
“El nacimiento.” A sea turtle egg. Photo source: ©©Emmanuel Frezzotti
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Fossils of a turtle the size of a car have been unearthed in what is now northern South America…
Ghost ship washes ashore in Ireland after more than a year at sea
Photo source: ©© Birgit Speulman
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Abandoned by its crew, the cargo vessel made a lonely odyssey across the Atlantic, a ghost ship seemingly destined never to make port.
The 77-metre MV Alta drifted for over a year, skirting the Americas, Africa and Europe, rusting and derelict yet resolutely afloat…
Excavation to begin on next phase of Summerland oil well cleanup
Capping of the Becker well, February 27, 2018, Summerland beach, California. Photograph: © SAF — Coastal Care
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During the week of February 10, 2019, exploratory excavation work will begin on oil wells leaking onto Summerland Beach, as part of the planning for capping up to three more wells on and off the beach – including the notorious Treadwell #10 offshore well (pictured above). The actual capping work will take place during the months of June/July 2020…
Read Full Article; EdHat (01-31-2020)
Becker well capped—a century later; Coastal View (02-28-2018)
U.S. companies use misleading “recyclable” labels on hundreds of plastic products
Although inhabited and remote, South Sentinel island is covered with marine debris, mostly plastic. South Sentinel, Andaman Islands, Bay of Bengal. Captions and Photo: © SAF — Coastal Care
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Greenpeace USA released the results of a comprehensive survey of the nation’s 367 material recovery facilities (MRFs) today, revealing that only PET #1 and HDPE #2 plastic bottles and jugs may legitimately be labeled as recyclable by consumer goods companies and retailers. The survey found that common plastic pollution items, including plastic tubs, cups, lids, plates, and trays, may not be labeled as recyclable according to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requirements for products and labeling. Additionally, many full body shrink sleeves that are added to PET #1 and HDPE #2 bottles and jugs make those products non-recyclable as well.
“This survey confirms what many news reports have indicated since China restricted plastic waste imports two years ago — that recycling facilities across the country are not able to sort, sell, and reprocess much of the plastic that companies produce,” said Jan Dell, independent engineer and founder of The Last Beach Cleanup, who led the survey of plastics acceptance policies at the 367 MRFs.
Greenpeace has identified numerous examples of U.S. companies using misleading labels. Target, Nestlé, Danone, Walmart, Procter & Gamble, Clorox, Aldi, SC Johnson, and Unilever are among the companies that Greenpeace has asked to correct their labels, and some changes are underway. If companies show no willingness to end this deception, the organization plans to file formal FTC complaints…
Read Full Article; Greenpeace (02-18-2020)
America’s ‘recycled’ plastic waste is clogging landfills, survey finds; Guardian UK (02-18-2020)
Many plastic items that Americans put in their recycling bins aren’t being recycled at all, according to a major new survey of hundreds of recycling facilities across the US…
More Recycling Won’t Solve Plastic Pollution; Scientific American (07-06-2018)
Only 14% of plastics are recycled – can tech innovation tackle the rest? Guardian UK (02-22-2017)
Billions of pounds of plastic waste are littering the world’s oceans. Now, an organic chemist and a sailboat captain report that they are developing a process to reuse certain plastics, transforming them from worthless trash into a valuable diesel fuel with a small mobile reactor that could operate on land or at sea…
More than 8. 3 billion tons of plastics made: Most has now been discarded; Science Daily (07-19-2017)
Humans have created 8.3 billion metric tons of plastics since large-scale production of the synthetic materials began in the early 1950s, and most of it now resides in landfills or the natural environment, according to a study.
What are businesses doing to turn off the plastic tap? UNEP (06-28-2018)
These 10 companies are flooding the planet with throwaway plastic; Greenpeace (10-09-2018)
Nine months, six continents, 239 cleanup events, and more than 187,000 pieces of trash later, we now have the most comprehensive snapshot to date of how corporations are contributing to the global plastic pollution problem…
Over 180 countries -not including the US– agree to restrict global plastic waste trade; CNN (05-11-2019)
The governments of 187 countries have agreed to control the movement of plastic waste between national borders, in an effort to curb the world’s plastic crisis — but the United States was not among them…
Plastic Pollution: When The Mermaids Cry, The Great Plastic Tide, Coastal Care
Washed out on our coasts in obvious and clearly visible form, the plastic pollution spectacle blatantly unveiling on our beaches is only the prelude of the greater story that unfolded further away in the world’s oceans, yet mostly originating from where we stand: the land…
Jeff Bezos Pledges $10 Billion To Fight Climate Change, Planet’s ‘Biggest Threat’
Photograph: © SAF — Coastal Care
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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says the funds will go toward the creation of the Bezos Earth Fund.
“This global initiative will fund scientists, activists, NGOs — any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world,” he writes in an Instagram post. “I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet…”
Read Full Article; NPR (02-17-2020)
Top US firms including Walmart and Ford oppose Trump on climate change; Guardian UK (12-01-2017)
As Trump Retreats, States Are Joining Forces on Climate Action; Yale E360 (10-09-2017)
California lawmakers vote on bill to go emissions-free by 2045; CBS News (08-28-2018)
The US President Doesn’t Care to Understand Global Warming; The Atlantic (12-29-2017)
It’s a shame—ours and his…
A running list of how Trump is changing the environment; National Geographic (07-19-2018)
Plastic pollution poses new threat to a turtle paradise
“When plastic ingestion occurs, it blocks the digestive tract, gets lodged in animals windpipes cutting airflow causing suffocation, or fills the stomach, resulting in malnutrition, starvation and potentially death. Indeed, it is found that debris often accumulates in the animals’ gut and give a false sense of fullness, causing the animal to stop eating and slowly starve to death.” —Captions and Photo: © SAF — Coastal Care
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The oceanic island of Príncipe lies in the Gulf of Guinea off the west coast of Africa. In 2012, the entire island was designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
The waters surrounding Príncipe harbour five of the world’s seven species of sea turtle and this remote island’s relatively pristine beaches provide crucial nesting sites.
Arguably, the most insidious threat is the plastic permeating Príncipe’s waters and piling up on its beaches…
Read Full Article; PhysOrg (02-17-2020)
Microplastics found deep in sand where turtles nest; Phys Org (09-26-2018)
Scientists found an average of 5,300 particles of plastic per cubic metre at depths of 60cm (2ft) on beaches in Cyprus used by green turtles and loggerheads. These beaches in Cyprus are located far from industrial practices and aren’t visited by large numbers of people. The findings support the theory that beaches act as a “sink” for marine micro plastics…
Micronizing ocean plastics threaten sea turtle populations, ocean life cycle; Science Daily (09-17-2018)
Ingestion of degrading ocean plastics likely poses a substantial risk to the survival of post-hatchling sea turtles because the particles can lead to blockages and nutritional deficiencies, according to new research…
The Plastic Found In a Single Turtle’s Stomach, Daily Mail (03-24-2011)
Marine turtles dying after becoming entangled in plastic rubbish; Science Daily (12-18-2017)
Plastic Pollution / When The Mermaids Cry: The Great Plastic Tide, Coastal Care
“The unprecedented plastic waste tide plaguing our oceans and shores, can become as limited as our chosen relationship with plastics, which involves a dramatic behavioral change on our part…”
Antarctica Warmer Than Tel Aviv
The Antarctic. Photo courtesy of: © Denis Delestrac
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Temperature in the northern Antarctic peninsula hit an all-time high of 18.3 degrees Celsius (64.9 degrees Fahrenheit) on February 6, says an Argentine research station there. In February, the daytime temperature in Tel Aviv averages 64.5 degrees…
Read Full Article; Haaretz (02-17-2020)
Antarctic temperature rises above 20C for first time on record; Guardian UK (02-13-2020)
Scientists describe 20.75C logged at Seymour Island as ‘incredible and abnormal’.
Temperature in Antarctica soars to near 70 degrees, appearing to top record; The Washington Post (02-13-2020)
The temperature beats a milestone set days earlier by nearly 5 degrees…
Antarctica logs highest temperature on record of 18.3C; BBC News (02-07-2020)
A record high temperature of 18.3C (64.9F) has been logged on the continent of Antarctica. The temperature was recorded in the Antarctic Peninsula, on the continent’s north-west tip – one of the fastest-warming regions on earth…
Climate change is coming for the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C.
The Tidal Basin, Washington, DC. Photo source: Wikimedia
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The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., overlooks the Tidal Basin, a man-made body of water surrounded by cherry trees. But at high tide, people are forced off parts of the path. Twice a day, the Tidal Basin floods and water spills onto the walkway.
One problem is that the land is sinking. But as the climate warms, sea levels are also rising. And the flooding gets even worse during extreme storms, which are growing more common…