Illegal sand mining re-emerges in Hanoi, Vietnam
Despite last year crack down on sand dredging, illegal sand mining activities have re-started in Phúc Thọ District of Hanoi, causing much public concern.
Global warming may be twice what climate models predict
Future global warming may eventually be twice as warm as projected by climate models under business-as-usual scenarios and even if the world meets the 2°C target sea levels may rise six meters or more, according to an international team of researchers from 17 countries.
Invaluable to the medical industry, the horseshoe crab is under threat
The horseshoe crab has survived every period of mass extinction in the last 450-million years, but now faces its greatest threats: wild capture for biomedical testing, together with capture for bait, climate change and habitat destruction. This in turn will detrimentally affect the surrounding ecosystems as well…
Rising sea levels could cost the world $14 trillion a year by 2100
Failure to meet the United Nations’ 2ºC warming limits will lead to sea level rise and dire global economic consequences, new research has warned. A study found flooding from rising sea levels could cost $14 trillion worldwide annually by 2100, if the target of holding global temperatures below 2ºC above pre-industrial levels is missed.
Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger
Unesco, the world body’s educational, scientific and cultural agency, said its heritage committee voted Tuesday to remove the reef from its list of threatened sites because it no longer faced immediate danger from development.
Marine mammals most at risk from increased Arctic ship traffic
The first comprehensive survey of Arctic marine mammal populations’ vulnerability to shipping along two main routes finds which face the most risks from heavier traffic in the region.
10,000 Pounds of Ocean Plastic Is Turned Into a Leaping 38-Foot-Tall Whale
In response to the estimated 150 million tons of plastic trash currently in the ocean, Brooklyn-based architecture and design firm StudioKCA has created an incredible installation for the Bruges Triennial. Skyscraper (the Bruges Whale) is a 38-foot-tall whale fabricated from 5 tons of plastic waste found from the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans.
China just handed the World a 111-million-ton trash problem
The world’s biggest waste importer is no longer buying. So where’s all that trash going to go?
Coral reefs ‘will be overwhelmed by rising oceans
Scientists have uncovered a new threat to the world’s endangered coral reefs. They have found that most are incapable of growing quickly enough to compensate for rising sea levels triggered by global warming.