World Oceans Day 2012
June 8 marks the 20th observance of World Oceans Day, a global event that has been recognized by the United Nations since 2008. “…One network has linked every creature on Earth since the beginning of time: the Oceans that cover more than 70% of our planet’s surface…”
Return to Rio: Second Chance for the Planet or Tipping Point?
Twenty years ago, when the world’s leaders pledged to protect Earth’s climate and biodiversity at the Rio Earth Summit, they knew it would not be easy. But few could have guessed how much worse the situation would get.
World’s urban waste mountain a silent problem that is growing daily
The amount of garbage generated by city dwellers is set to rise steeply in the next two decades, with much of the increase coming in fast-growing cities in developing countries, according to a World Bank report.
Official: Dock found in Oregon is debris from Japan
A nearly 70-foot-long dock that floated ashore on an Oregon beach was torn loose from a fishing port in northern Japan by last year’s tsunami and drifted across thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean.
Consumption driving unprecedented environment damage: UN
Of 90 key goals to protect the environment, only four have seen good progress, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a planetary assessment issued only every five years…
The Word: Sink or Swim
Scientists predict an economy-destroying, 39-inch sea level rise, but North Carolina drafts a law to make it eight inches. A comedic depiction of the NC legislators proposal. A short video from The Colbert Report, Comedy Central.
Exceptional Rise in Ancient Sea Levels Revealed
Since the end of the last ice age 21,000 years ago, our planet has seen ocean levels rise by 120m to reach their current levels. These studies have shed new light on the complex relationship between climate, ocean circulation and sea levels.
Gulf Coast Vulnerable to Extreme Erosion in Category 1 Hurricanes
Seventy percent of the Gulf of Mexico shoreline is vulnerable to extreme erosion during even the weakest hurricanes, according to a new report by the U.S. Geological Survey released just prior to the start of the 2012 hurricane season.
Turbidity Caused by Sand Dredging Heightens Toxicity Levels and Threaten Marine Life
Monitoring stations at Gladstone Harbour recorded dangerously high turbidity levels due to sand dredging, at the same time as UNESCO was issuing dire warnings about the possible degradation of the Great Barrier Reef’s World Heritage status…