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 […]
» Pollution
- David Miliband, co-founder of Global Ocean Commission, explains its purpose
- Global Ocean Commission formed to fight degradation of the ocean
- Seabirds washed up in serious distress on south-west coast
- One-third of fish caught in English Channel have plastic in their gut
- Petition and further action challenge proposed licensing of GM salmon
- As Scottish fish farming grows, so does pesticide use
- Mercury level in the oceans has doubled over the last century
- Scottish company has visionary proposals for the sustainable farming of salmon on land
- New Pembrokeshire power station to be investigated for impact on SAC
- Hawaii’s coral reefs are being seriously affected by disease
- Mixed fortunes in Falkland Islands oil exploration
- Waste Water Directive to be watered down?
- IMO states that “ocean fertilisation” is illegal
- Oil companies going unpunished for thousands of North Sea spills
- Innovative technology turns sewage into plastic
- Victory at last for sewage pollution campaigners at Whitburn, Sunderland
- Russia announces further delays in its Arctic drilling programme
- Sunderland’s Roker promenade is experiencing seaborne sewage pollution
- IMO stands firm on ballast water and invasive species
- Shell halts Arctic drilling, but still defiantly optimistic about the safety of its operations
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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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. […]
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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 […]
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The European Commission has launched an investigation into the UK government’s approval of a £1bn gas-fired power station in Pembrokeshire. Pembroke Power Station, the largest of its type in Europe, opened last month and will power 3.5m homes. Following a complaint by Friends of the Earth, the Department of Energy and Climate Change has been […]
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When compiling a list of places that may be described as paradise, Hanalei Bay on the rugged north shore of the island of Kauai surely qualifies. The perfect crescent bay, rimmed by palm trees, emerald cliffs and stretches of white sand, has always had a dreamy kind of appeal. It was on these shores that […]
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Exploration group Falkland Oil & Gas – one of four UK companies drilling for oil and gas around the islands – saw its shares halve in value after a disappointing update on its operations in the South Atlantic. Its AIM-listed shares fell to an all-time low of 32p after the company said that gas reservoirs […]
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Are legal requirements to be changed to delude the public from awareness of the true level of sewage pollution of our bathing waters? On 16th October 2012 the Foundation of Environmental Education (FEE) announced a “Major increase in safe bathing areas thanks to the Blue Flag award” and that “the public in almost fifty countries […]
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IMO International Maritime Organisation Parties to the international treaties which regulate the dumping of wastes and other matter at sea have issued a statement of concern regarding the deliberate ocean fertilization activity that was recently reported to have been carried out in July of 2012 in waters off the west coast of Canada. The Contracting […]
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Oil companies operating in the North Sea have been fined for oil spills on just seven occasions since 2000, even though 4,123 separate spills were recorded over the same period, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) has confirmed. The disclosure came as Decc said on Thursday that the government had offered a “record-breaking” […]
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From Waterbriefing comes news of this excellent methodology of recycling. A ground breaking innovation will enable turning municipal sewage sludge into raw materials, to be used by paper and plastic industries around the world. The innovative technology developed by Israeli firm Applied Cleantech will enable turning the solids in municipal sewage systems into raw materials […]
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Stephen Hughes, Labour MEP for the North East Region is celebrating the European Court of Justice’s decision against the UK government for non-compliance with EU environmental legislation in allowing sewage to be discharged into the North Sea from Whitburn (see full judgement here). Mr. Hughes pursued the problem of sewage in the sea as a […]
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Bellona news agency states:”The launch this year of drilling at Russian State gas monopoly Gazprom’s Prirazlomnoye field in the Pechora Sea off Russia’s northwest coast – one of the gas giant’s signature projects – has been put off until autumn of 2013, Russia media have reported. The announcement could signal a second blow to Gazprom’s […]
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We record here a photograph submitted by marine pollution campaigner, Robert Latimer, of the evident seaborne sewage pollution that now affects Roker promenade, Sunderland. This follows on from our story ‘Blue Flag washed away’, posted 19th September 2012, about the recent loss of both Seaburn and Rokers Beach’s Blue Flags due to sewage pollution.
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International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu has called on governments and the shipping industry to take prompt and decisive action on a number of key issues. In a keynote address to the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) Conference in London, 12th September 2012, Mr. Sekimizu told shipowners that they had the power to encourage their […]
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The man at the centre of Shell’s controversial drilling programme in the Arctic has said he is aware of the responsibility on his head but is convinced the Anglo-Dutch oil group is acting in a fully responsible and accountable way. Speaking after a huge ice floe forced drilling 70 miles off the north-west coast of […]
