Breaking bad: uncovering the oil industry’s dirty secret
Alang is a graveyard for ships. Its coastline was once filled with fishing boats — but today the rusting hulks of oil tankers and ocean liners stretch for miles along the shores of this town in north west India.
Cars that eat paradise
While known for pristine beaches and blue skies, Pacific Islands are also polluted with thousands of man-made monuments: rusting cars, trucks and other wreckage.
A plasticene lexicon
As plastic pollution in the environment has increased rapidly in the last half century, so too has the study of the effects of plastic on marine, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. From this research, a series of new terms has emerged to describe the phenomena unique to the presence of plastic-based materials in nature.
New European rules aim to end throwaway culture
The European Commission has announced a plan to require manufacturers to make products that last longer and are easier to repair and reuse — an attempt to curb the “throwaway culture” that has fueled greenhouse gas emissions, resource extraction, and pollution. The new rules would take effect by 2021.
Discarded single-use face masks clutter Hong Kong’s beaches
Discarded face masks are piling up on Hong Kong’s beaches and nature trails, with environmental groups warning that the waste is posing a huge threat to marine life and wildlife habitats.
Planet Plastic: How Big Oil and big soda kept a global environmental calamity a secret for decades
Every human on Earth is ingesting nearly 2,000 particles of plastic a week. These tiny pieces enter our unwitting bodies from tap water, food, and even the air.
For decades, scientists puzzled over the plastic ‘missing’ from our oceans – but now it’s been found
Of all the plastic that enters Earth’s oceans each year, just 1% has been observed floating on the surface. So where is the rest of it?
Coalition Unveils Recommendations for Continued Recovery 10 Years After Gulf Oil Spill
As the 10th anniversary of the Gulf oil spill approaches on April 20, Restore the Mississippi River Delta released a report today with nine recommended strategies for advancing critical ecosystem restoration in the delta.
Ocean oddities: ghost ships
As long as a boat stays afloat, it can still keep moving, even if there is no one onboard. For vessels abandoned at sea, currents and winds become captain and crew. With that endless kinetic energy to drive them, and a vast, often empty ocean to roam, the ghost ships may eerily sail on indefinitely.