Wild Boar Deaths linked to Green Algae: Confirmed
First tests on wild boars washed up on Brittany’s beaches, showed that all but one, had hydrogen sulphide gas (emitted by rotting green algae) in their lungs. Test results on the remaining boars haven’t been released yet.
Green Algae Chokes Eastern China’s Beaches
In Qingdoo, Shandong Eastern Province of China, the coastal waters are covered with algae called enteromorpha prolifera. Though this green algae is not poisonous per se, it consumes large amounts of oxygen that can threaten marine life.
Viruses Bathe at the Beach Too, European Study Finds
European researchers have found viruses in nearly 40% of more than 1,400 bathing water samples gathered from coastal and inland areas in nine countries.
Australia Carbon Pollution Tax Announcement: A Start!
Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard, is on Sunday due to unveil the full detail of her carbon tax legislation, which will see the country’s top 500 polluters charged per tonne of carbon dioxide they emit into the atmosphere.
Testing The Waters and The US Beaches
NRDC’s annual survey of water quality and public notification at U.S. beaches finds that the number of beach closings and advisories in 2010 reached 24,091, the second-highest level since NRDC began tracking these events 21 years ago.
The Speed of Change: Oceans in Distress, An International Report
Sponsored by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), the 27 participants from 18 organisations in 6 countries produced a grave assessment of current threats, and a stark conclusion about future risks to marine and human life if the current trajectory of damage continues: that the world’s ocean is at high risk of entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history.
The Mediterranean and Climate Change’s Impacts
One of the most serious threats to life in the Mediterranean region, and indeed every part of the global ocean, is climate change. Climate change is already having an impact on the marine environment and this is likely to escalate swiftly, increasing seawater temperatures and coastal erosion, altering salinity and currents and causing serious declines in biodiversity.
2011 Ashden Awards international finalists, in pictures
Eight sustainable energy pioneers from Africa and Asia have been selected as international finalists for the prestigious Ashden Awards for sustainable energy 2011.
Major flooding on the Mississippi River to cause large Gulf of Mexico dead zone
Scientists are predicting the hypoxic zone could measure between 8,500 and 9,421 square miles, or an area roughly the size of New Hampshire.