» Pollution



Insecticide Blamed for Bee Decline also Lethal to Aquatic Organisms

A new study shows neonicotinoid insecticides are lethal to freshwater invertebrates following low but constant exposure. This group of insecticides are in the headlines again following a partial EU–wide ban agreed in April 2013, as evidence of their toxicity to bees became indisputable. Thirty studies have now linked neonicotinoid insecticides to the global demise of […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

They said it, not us!

A short quote in respect of Fracking from Water Briefing Newsletter of May 2013. “Finally, with shale gas extraction on the agenda in the UK, there will be opportunities in water management and wastewater treatment” We couldn’t have better put it ourselves. However, let’s see what the seismologists have to say.

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef could be on the “danger list”

It might be regarded as some sort of sick joke that the Great Barrier Reef happens to nestle beside the heart of Australia’s fossil fuel export boom. When the coal ships leave the Queensland ports, the two become one as the captains make passage through the 2300 kilometre/1430 mile-long reef – the world’s largest. Now […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Two-thirds of all beach litter is made of plastic

The number of cigarette butts littering UK beaches doubled last year, while other rubbish from smoking including lighters and packets increased by 90%, according to a survey that raises that concerns anti-littering campaigns are failing to make an impact. Plastic rubbish including sweet and lolly wrappers also rose by 3% in 2012 compared with 2011, […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

2013 Good Beach Guide reveals that sea bathing water quality in 2012 was “weather affected”

One of the UK’s wettest summers on record has led to a worrying drop in the number of beaches around the country being recommended for their excellent bathing water quality in the annual ‘Good Beach Guide’, published online by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS). MCS has recommended only 403 of the 754 UK bathing beaches […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Sulphur reduction targets for fuels will make “ferries uncompetitive”, say owners

The price of a sea crossing will soar, threatening jobs and businesses, unless ferry operators are exempted from imminent environmental regulation, shipowners have warned. The UK Chamber of Shipping claims that the cost of new laws on sulphur emissions that will apply within the North Sea and Channel will mean longer ferry routes are no […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Sperm whale dies after swallowing large amount of dumped plastics

A dead sperm whale that washed up on Spain’s south coast had swallowed 17kg of plastic waste dumped into the sea by farmers tending greenhouses that produce tomatoes and other vegetables for British supermarkets. Scientists were amazed to find the 4.5 tonne whale had swallowed 59 different bits of plastic – most of it thick […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Prof. Callum Roberts outlines the urgent task the new Global Ocean Commission must tackle

Prof. Callum Roberts writes in The Observer, 10th February 2013: “The oceans are changing faster today and in more ways than at any time in human history. We are the cause. Which is why I welcome the launch of the Global Ocean Commission, dedicated to ending the neglect, in international affairs, of the high seas. […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Explorers find “evidence” of mankind in the oceans’ abyssal depths

Jon Copley, marine explorer, writes in The Guardian, 25th February 2013:” On 15th August 1934, two adventurers squeezed into a tiny metal capsule and became the first people to see another world. Their names were William Beebe and Otis Barton, and the world that they saw was the deep ocean, when they dived more than […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Surfers oppose plans to mine the Cornish seabed

Surfers are leading a campaign against plans to “dredge” millions of tonnes of sand from the seabed off Cornwall amid fears that it could wreck the shape and power of the coast’s waves. A minerals company is planning a 10-year project to recover tin washed out of old mine workings and now settled in sediment […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Clyde marine station threatened with closure

“The Marine Biological Station at Millport, based on the isle of Cumbrae in the Firth of Clyde, is a world class research and educational centre which must be saved from closure” says Andrew Binnie, The Community of Arran Seabed Trust’s (COAST) Marine Project Officer. Andrew is one of many former Millport students appalled by the withdrawal […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

David Miliband, co-founder of Global Ocean Commission, explains its purpose

An environmental catastrophe with greater economic impact than the global financial crash is occurring on the high seas, according to David Miliband. The former foreign secretary is to lead a new, high-level international effort to end the lawlessness of the oceans, which will be unveiled this week. The high seas, which lie beyond any national […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Global Ocean Commission formed to fight degradation of the ocean

The Global Ocean Commission, an independent body of international leaders aiming to reverse degradation of the ocean,  has been launched to seek to restore it to full health and productivity. The group chaired by former Costa Rican President (and Carbon War Room President) José María Figueres, South African cabinet minister Trevor Manuel and former UK […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Seabirds washed up in serious distress on south-west coast

Hundreds of seabirds – some dead – have been washed up on England’s south west coast, covered in a waxy substance. The RSPCA said it had rescued more than 100 birds, which had been taken to the West Hatch Animal Centre in Taunton. Earlier reports suggested the white substance was palm oil, but scientists were […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

One-third of fish caught in English Channel have plastic in their gut

One-third of fish caught off the south-west coast of England have traces of plastic contamination from sources including sanitary products and carrier bags, scientists have found. The Plymouth University study, published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin, looked at the occurrence of plastic in 10 species of fish caught in the English Channel. Of 504 […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Petition and further action challenge proposed licensing of GM salmon

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is shortly expected to license an application by the biotech firm, AquaBounty, for commercial breeding of a GM salmon. We provide below a short Marinet Briefing on why this is potentially so dangerous, and advise on the action which consumers can take in the UK. At the same […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Shell’s Arctic drilling plans are under review

The Obama administration has ordered a sweeping review of Shell’s plans to drill in the Arctic after a series of mishaps ending with the New Year grounding of the company’s Kulluk rig. The review – and a separate investigation of the grounding of the Kulluk – raises the possibility that Shell, after investing six years […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

As Scottish fish farming grows, so does pesticide use

As salmon farming in Scotland increases so does the use of chemicals to kill parasites. Here’s the data that explains the chemicals used and how the levels have dramatically changed. For the first time, a full list of the chemicals used to control the sea lice parasite on every Scottish salmon farm has been disclosed […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Mercury level in the oceans has doubled over the last century

Over the past century, mercury pollution in the surface ocean has more than doubled as a result of past and present human activities such as coal burning, mining, and other industrial processes. The research findings by C-MERC published in December 2012 also examine the effects of local mercury inputs that dominate some near-shore coastal waters. […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Scottish company has visionary proposals for the sustainable farming of salmon on land

Scottish salmon is facing a challenge to its reputation as one of Britain’s best loved everyday luxuries, with scares over diseases and sea lice, heavy use of pesticides and seal killing raising fears about its environmental impact. A new fish-farming company called Fishfrom believes it can help solve the industry’s problem, and even partly solve […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS