Plankton faeces could move plastic pollution to the ocean depths – ‘The magnitude of change observed here is concerning’

1 March 2016 (University of Exeter) – Plastic waste could find its way deep into the ocean through the faeces of plankton, new research from the University of Exeter and Plymouth Marine Laboratory shows. The study is further evidence of the widespread impact plastic pollution could have on the marine environment. Researchers have found tiny […]

Gunmen kill Honduran indigenous, environmentalist leader – ‘For years, she had been the victim of a sustained campaign of harassment and threats’

By Freddy Cuevas3 March 2016 TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (Associated Press) – Honduran indigenous leader Berta Caceres, who won the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize for her role in fighting a dam project, was shot dead Thursday by multiple gunmen who broke into her home, authorities said. Caceres, a 40-year-old Lenca Indian activist, had previously complained of receiving […]

Drugs found in Puget Sound salmon from tainted wastewater – ‘You have to wonder what it is doing to the fish’

By Lynda V. Mapes23 February 2016 (Seattle Times) – Puget Sound salmon are on drugs: Prozac, Advil, Benadryl, Lipitor, even cocaine. Those drugs and dozens of others are showing up in the tissues of juvenile chinook, researchers have found, thanks to tainted wastewater discharge. The estuary waters near the outfalls of sewage-treatment plants, and effluent […]

Requiem for the Mekong river

11 February 2016 (The Economist) – Guo, the driver, pulls his car to a merciful halt high above a crevasse: time for a cigarette, and after seven hours of shuddering along narrow, twisting roads, time for his passengers to check that their fillings remain in place. Lighting up, he steps out of the car and […]

Last of six toothfish poaching vessels arrested in Indonesia – ‘The entire fleet of the toothfish poachers is in disarray with no poachers fishing in Antarctica for the first time in more than 10 years’

26 February 2016 (Sea Shepherd Global) – The hunt for the last of six known toothfish poaching vessels has ended with the arrest of the Nigerian-flagged Viking in Indonesia. The announcement of the vessel’s arrest was made at a press conference in Jakarta today, held by Indonesian Fisheries Minister, Susi Pudjiastuti, the Commander of the […]

Forest fires threaten wipeout for Siberia conifers as deciduous trees take over – In 2015, 2.6 million hectares of forest burned in Russia

24 February 2016 (Siberian Times) – Global warming spells doom for boreal forests with potentially dramatic implications for carbon release in dark taiga. Climate change is behind a rise in forest fires which are having a direct impact on the tree balance in Siberia, according to a new international study. This shows that conifers are […]

Scientists link massive starfish die-off to warming ocean

By Lynda V. Mapes21 February 2016 (Seattle Times) – It was the starfish arms walking off on their own that alerted biologist Steven Fradkin that something was terribly wrong at Starfish Point at Olympic National Park. Next he noticed white lesions pitting the skin of the usually colorful orange, purple and brick-red starfish that are […]

Peru oil spill pollutes Amazon rivers used by indigenous group – Environment agency says spills are ‘not isolated cases’

23 February 2016 (BBC News) – At least 3,000 barrels of crude oil have been spilled in an Amazonian region after leaks from Peru’s main oil pipeline, the state oil company said. The oil has polluted two rivers that at least eight indigenous communities rely on for water, the government and indigenous leaders said. Petroperu […]

Bees can help boost food security of two billion small farmers at no cost, but wild bees are threatened by a multitude of factors

19 February 2016 (UN) – The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today highlighted the publication of a new study that quantifies, for the first time, how much crop yields depend on the work of bees that unknowingly fertilize plants as they move from flower to flower. In doing so, the agency says bees […]

Has maximum sea ice extent already been reached this year?

18 February 2016By Sam Carana (Arctic News) – An earlier post wondered whether maximum extent for this year had already been reached on 9 February 2016, when sea ice extent was 14.214 million km2. As illustrated by the image above, extent since has been lower, including on the two most recent days on the image, […]

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