Chevron Suspends Brazil Oil Output Following New Spill
The US oil company Chevron has temporarily halted production operations off southeastern Brazil, after a fresh oil leak was discovered. It has detected what it calls a “small new seepage” of oil on the seabed close to a well in the Frade field, where there was a major leak in 2011…
Better Beaches for Everybody
“Studying plastics in the marine environment through UNCW over the past four years, I have studied beaches in Hawaii, Bermuda, South Africa, Brazil, and California taking samples from the wrack line. On all the beaches mentioned, I have found a higher concentration of broken fragments of plastics than cigarette butts. But Wrightsville Beach tells a very different story…”
3rd Best Paper Award Announced
Marine Pollution Bulletin and Elsevier Science instituted has awarded the annual prize for “best paper” to Skye Morét-Ferguson (corresponding author), Kara Lavender Law, Giora Proskurowski, Ellen K. Murphy, Emily E. Peacock and Christopher M. Reddy for their paper entitled “The size, mass, and composition of plastic debris in the western North Atlantic Ocean” (Marine Pollution Bulletin 60 (2010) 1873-1878).
Ocean Acidification Rate May Be Unprecedented
The world’s oceans may be turning acidic faster today from human carbon emissions than they did during four major extinctions in the last 300 million years, when natural pulses of carbon sent global temperatures soaring…
France Taken to Court for Failing to Combat Water Pollution by Nitrates
The EU Nitrates Directive aims to protect water quality across Europe by preventing nitrates from agricultural sources polluting ground and surface waters and by promoting the use of good farming practices. Although the Nitrates Directive has been in force since 1991, France has still not designated a number of zones that are vulnerable to nitrates pollution.
First French Seaside Resort to Have Smoke-Free Beach
Nice has become the first French seaside resort to introduce a tobacco-free beach. The Centenaire beach, a central beach off the Promenade des Anglais, which already acts as the city’s wheel-chair friendly beach, is to be labeled “plage sans tabac.”
Japan Clears up Only 5% of Tsunami Rubble
Japan has cleared up just five percent of the rubble left by last year’s earthquake and tsunami, amid fears it has been contaminated following the Fukushima nuclear accident. The disasters which devastated the northeastern coastal communities last year, left almost 23 million tonnes of rubble in the hardest-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima alone.
Hawaii Plastic Bag Fees Gain Support
A proposal to collect fees from customers who choose disposable paper and plastic shopping bags is gaining support as it works its way through Hawaii’s Legislature.
Tracking Toxic Chemicals in Oil Spills
Does out of sight mean into the air or into fish? A study.