These countries produce the most plastic pollution in our oceans – and they’re not the ones you might have guessed – the Independent
Trillions of pieces of plastic are estimated to float in oceans around the world…
Four storms churning the West Pacific at the same time mean more bad news for the Philippines – CNN
Four separate storm systems are churning their way through the West Pacific simultaneously, a rare occurrence resulting from warmer oceans that threatens to bring more misery to the storm-weary Philippines…
We can’t run away – Beneath the Sands ERC
The rise in sand demand endangers the lives of children, laborers, journalists and environmental defenders.
Greed over grains of sand has a fatal human cost: As cities rise and countries urbanize, sand-related murders and other associated crimes have taken a toll on poverty-stricken communities.
In parts of the globe, where sand is extracted, criminal gangs and sand mafias control the multi-billion dollar trade, spawning violence in land-rich, developing nations. On their trail are hundreds of people — miners, journalists and environmental defenders — reported to have been killed, imprisoned or threatened…
Beneath the Sands Series – the Environmental Reporting Collective
The greed for grains of sand comes at an ecological disaster and fatal human cost; murders and other associated crimes which have taken a toll on poverty-stricken communities, particularly women.
The ERC investigation, Beneath the Sands, exposes how greed for grains of sand comes at a fatal human cost: As cities rise in number and countries urbanize rapidly, sand mining-related murders and other associated crimes have taken a toll on poverty-stricken communities…
Nowhere to fish, nowhere to farm – Beneath the Sands ERC
Across Asia and Africa, countries are dealing with massive sand mining that destroys fishing grounds, farmlands, and homes.
Beting Aceh, an island in Riau Province, Indonesia, has been Eryanto’s home for 40 years. The island is known for its white sandy beaches and clean ocean water; more than half its residents are fishers.
But the island has drastically changed over the past two years. The ocean water is getting murky, the beach is shrinking, and it has suffered from massive erosion, indicated by the uprooted trees strewn along the coast. Many villagers say the damage is linked to a sand mining operation happening between Beting Aceh and the neighboring Babi Island…
Sea Turtle Sanctuary Has Survived 40 Years. Climate Change May Kill It – New York Times
“When the turtles saw people, it was like they saw a ghost,” said Mario Pascobello, a resident of Apo Island in the Philippines…Now, the endangered green turtles…peacefully graze in the shallows off Apo’s coast…But if the turtles are no longer menaced by the fishermen here, they do face another man-made threat: climate change.