» Pollution



Oceans are the world’s seventh largest economy, says WWF

The Guardian reports, 22nd April 2015: “The monetary value of the world’s oceans has been estimated at US$24tn in a new report [WWF: Reviving The Ocean Economy: The Case For Action — 2015] that warns that overfishing, pollution and climate change are putting an unprecedented strain upon marine ecosystems. The report, commissioned by WWF, states […]

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Deep sea fish showing adverse effects of pollution

Societyforscience.org reports, 19th April 2015: “Far below the ocean’s surface is a dark, mysterious world. There, it’s too deep for the sun’s rays to penetrate. Very few people have seen this world. Even fewer have studied the health of its inhabitants — oddly named fish such as the greater forkbeard, black scabbardfish and orange roughy. […]

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Norway approves plan to dump mining waste at sea

The Guardian reports, 17th April 2015: “Environmentalists promised civil disobedience after Norway’s government approved a controversial plan for a mining company to dump millions of tonnes of waste into a fjord. Campaigner Anne-Line Thingnes Førsund looks out over Norway’s Førde Fjord, where the mining company Nordic Mining has been approved to dump 6m tonnes of […]

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5 to 12 million tonnes of waste plastic entering the oceans each year

The Ecologist reports, 4th April 2015: “An unimaginably large volume of plastic debris is reaching the world’s oceans every year, write Britta Denise Hardesty & Chris Wilcox — and it’s set for a ten-fold increase over the next decade, adding to the already terrible toll on marine life from turtles to seals, sea birds and […]

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North East MEP tackles sea pollution at Whitburn

Europe and You reports, 10th March 2015: “The North Sea coast is heavily polluted, a new report has confirmed. “The European Environment Agency has collated data from across Europe looking at a number of different factors. “When it comes to water quality, the poorest quality showed up along the South coast of England, northern France, […]

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Whitsand Bay (Cornwall) toxic dumping permit unlawful

BBC Online News reports, 21st January 2015: ”A coastal waters protection agency (MMO) unlawfully issued a licence for dumping thousands of tonnes of silt off Cornwall. The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has agreed to quash the licence and admitted it was “made unlawfully”. Papers filed at the High Court said there were “inadequacies” in the […]

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Plymouth campaigners opposing waste-dumping at sea win a victory

The campaign group ‘Stop Dumping in Whitsand Bay’ went to the High Court to seek a judicial review of the decision by the Maritime Management Organisation (MMO) to grant a licence to dump 367,000 tonnes of potentially toxic silt dredged from the River Tamar into Whitsand Bay, a local beauty spot as well as a […]

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Surfers Against Sewage produce major report and campaign for tackling marine litter

Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) have produced an incisive and impressive report on the problem of marine litter, and a series of constructive and practical proposals for reducing the severe problem that marine litter now creates. To see their report as a large pdf document, click here. The summary in their report advises: “Tackling this marine […]

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Marine pollution : 7 things you need to know

Judith Weis in an Oxford University Press blog, 1st November 2014, states: Marine pollution has long been a topic of concern, but what do you really know about the pollutants affecting the world’s waters? Judith Weis, author of Marine Pollution: What Everyone Needs to Know, answers this question: (1) Marine debris is much more than […]

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Deep sea mining is about to commence

Environment 360 reports, 20th October 2014: “Armed with new high-tech equipment, mining companies are targeting vast areas of the deep ocean for mineral extraction. But with few regulations in place, critics fear such development could threaten seabed ecosystems that scientists say are only now being fully understood. For years, the idea of prospecting for potentially […]

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New oil field discovered in the North Sea

BBC News Scotland reports, 23rd October 2014: “Oil firms BP and GDF Suez have announced the discovery of a new field in the UK Central North Sea. The find, which spans adjacent blocks operated separately by the two companies, has been flow-tested at a maximum rate of 5,350 barrels per day. The discovery has been […]

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Fourteen of Scotland’s beaches polluted

The annual survey by the Scottish Environment Agency SEPA shows that many of their beaches failed the EC tests in May and August this past year, this far worse than last year when all were said to meet the standards required. The two worst polluted were Heads of Ayr in South Ayrshire and Lunan Bay […]

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Funding available for scheme to clean plastic from the oceans

Bloomberg Businessweek reports, 16th September 2014: “Dutch wunderkind Boyan Slat turned 20 this year. He also closed on $2 million in crowdfunding to build clean up contraptions designed to intercept and remove plastic refuse from the ocean. The world’s oceans contain millions of tons of garbage, much of it plastic debris that collects in gyresgyre […]

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New Dredging Beach Hazard

A new and rather novel hazard has arisen on our beaches, discovered when an off duty explosives expert walked by a man exercising his dog by Lower Marine Parade on the beach at Dovercourt (near Harwich) throwing for his retrieval what at first appeared to be a miniature Rugby football. On closer inspection, it was […]

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Pioneer of the study of waste plastic in the oceans says the situation is growing worse

The Independent reports, 27th August, 2014: ” The world’s leading expert on the poisoning of the oceans said he was “utterly shocked” at the increase in plastic floating on the sea in the past five years and warned that it potentially posed a bigger threat to the planet than climate change. Charles J Moore, a […]

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Australian study reveals scale of micro-plastic marine pollution

The Guardian reports, 25th August 2014: “Researchers have found “alarming” level of plastic pollution in Sydney harbour, with fibres from clothing and toiletries causing a widespread impact upon the marine ecosystem. The first information from the ongoing Sydney Harbour Research Program shows that small pieces of plastic measuring under 5mm have been found in each […]

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Concern over the protection of the Great Barrier Reef from “port dredging”

The Guardian reports, 11th July 2014: “The amount of money needed to “offset” the impact of a dredging project on the Great Barrier Reef could be as much as $1bn — which is $998m more than the project developer has suggested. Documents obtained under freedom of information reveal huge uncertainty over the investment needed to […]

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Shipping companies form “Trident Alliance” to ensure compliance with new sulphur-in-fuel regulations

The Trident Alliance press release, 7th July 2014 states: “The Trident Alliance is a coalition of ship owners and operators who share a common interest in robust enforcement of maritime sulphur regulation and are willing to collaborate to help bring it about. The Alliance will partner with other groups who share its interest in robust […]

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“Dark snow” is accelerating ice melt in the Arctic and Greenland

The Guardian reports, 5th July 2014: “The phenomenon of “dark snow” is being recorded from the Himalayas to the Arctic as increasing amounts of dust from bare soil, soot from fires and ultra-fine particles of “black carbon” from industry and diesel engines are being whipped up and deposited sometimes thousands of miles away. The result, […]

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Global Oceans Commission launches petition in support of its Report

A Global Ocean Commission press release, 3rd July 2014, states: “A week ago the Global Ocean Commission released its report and proposals for restoring ocean health. If you have not seen the report you can see it here. “As part of the Global Ocean Commission’s commitment to breathe life into its proposals it has started […]

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