250 billion plastic fragments in Mediterranean

The estimate comes from French and Belgian marine biologists who analysed water samples taken in July off France, northern Italy and Spain. The figure derives from 4,371 minute pieces of plastic, average weight 1.8 milligrams (0.00006 of an ounce) found in the samples, which extrapolates to roughly 500 tonnes for the entire Mediterranean.

Yurok indians seek land for a tribal park on the North Pacific Coast

The Yurok Tribe, who has lived along this rugged coast for centuries, envisions that its park would be managed as part of the chain of national and state parks that necklace the Redwood Coast from Mendocino County to the Oregon border, some of the most spectacular and contested landscapes in California.

Tsunami Early Warning System for the Indian Ocean (GITEWS) has been completed

300 tsunami alert stations were built throughout Indonesia in the past 6 years. But, when the most recent tsunami struck on 25 October, killing 431 people in the Mentawai Islands, questions were raised about its overall efficiency, also showing that any alert system ought to include a widespread education component for coastal population to counteract any sense of false security.

King Tides Seen as a Model for Rising Seas

The King Tide Photo Initiative 2010, launched by the British Columbia’s Ministry of Environment in Canada, asks individuals to record the possible impacts of sea level rise by photographing high water level events in B.C.’s coastal areas, to help build a photo library and to offer us a chance to visualize what normal sea levels may look like in the future.