Ecology
Ocean Group Pledges to Clean up Five Trillion Pieces of Plastic Waste
The Ocean Cleanup has developed a new technology it says will be able to collect vast amounts of rubbish. The Ocean Cleanup has pledged to remove plastic waste from the world’s seas by 2050. It plans to start removing the five million…
World Peace Requires Access to Safe Water
In drought-ravaged East Africa, the cracks in the plains echo the fault lines splitting tribes. Across the globe, the devastation of deadly brawls is being exacerbated by tensions over access to water. Water crises, often worsened by governance failures, can…
Norway Becomes World’s First Country to Ban Deforestation
Norway has become the first country to ban deforestation. The Norwegian Parliament pledged May 26 that the government’s public procurement policy will be deforestation-free. Any product that contributes to deforestation will not be used in the Scandinavian country. The pledge…
California Becomes First State to Regulate Plastic Straws
California became the first state in the U.S. to ban plastic straws in dine-in restaurants Thursday when Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation to that effect, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The law, which will enter into force Jan. 1, prohibits restaurants from providing…
Build Walls on Seafloor to Stop Glaciers Melting, Scientists Say
Barriers could halt slide of undersea glaciers and hold back sea level rises predicted to result from global warming. Building walls on the seafloor may become the next frontier of climate science, as engineers seek novel ways to hold back…
World’s Largest River Floods Five Times More Often Than It Used to
Extreme floods have become more frequent in the Amazon Basin in just the last two to three decades, according to a new study. After analyzing 113 years of Amazon River levels in Port of Manaus, Brazil, researchers found that severe…
Mosquitoes Could Spread Microplastics, Study Suggests
Microplastics, which get gobbled up by whales, deep-sea fish and plankton, have also turned up in the bodies of mosquitoes, scientists have revealed. The research, published Wednesday in the journal Biology Letters, is the first to show that bits of…