Reviews for the real world.
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Real Talk
Illustration: Yann Bastard
Published April 21, 2021
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My happy place is that chaotic zone of salt and spray where the beach meets the sea, a place of coming and going, flux and exchange. I love to dig my toes into the suctioning sand and feel the swirl of a receding wave. Though often my feet find sharp things in the soft sand not just gravel and pebbles but also, increasingly and overwhelmingly, plastic. I try to collect the shards, the bits of aquas, whites, and teals, but soon I give up, angry and defeated. There is too much. So much of it is too tiny to hold or even see.
Date Time
University researchers help provide a beacon of hope in quest to eradicate ghost fishing
A simple piece of technology could prove successful in reducing the amount of fishing gear lost to our oceans, according to a new report.
Lost fishing gear – also known as ‘ghost gear’ – is a major contributor to marine pollution. An estimated 700,000 metric tons of ghost gear enters the world’s oceans every year and, in some studies in specific locations, it has made up as much as 46% of marine plastic pollution.
To try and address that, the Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE) established its SAFEGEAR project to analyse the scale and severity of the problem and develop an AIS beacon- to tackle it.
Talk Online Event - Thursday 25th March 2021 19:00
(Picture above Jasmin Sessler)
With
Jo Ruxton, Co-Founder Plastic Oceans UK and producer of the documentary feature film, ‘A Plastic Ocean’ (on Netflix),
Prof Richard Thompson OBE FRS, World-leading marine scientist, founder and head of Plymouth University’s International Marine Litter Research Unit, which has charted the global distribution of microplastics from Arctic sea ice to the deep seas,
Prof Helmut Maurer, Principal Jurist at the Waste Management and Recycling Unit from the European Commission.
Moderated by environmental scientist and former environment editor of the Sunday Times,
Jonathan Leake. Nearly three billion people depend directly on marine and coastal biodiversity for their survival. By absorbing approximately a third of carbon dioxide emissions, oceans play a decisive role in regulating the climate. As a source of life, they are t
Study Investigates Microplastic Abundance, Characteristics Along the Ganges
Written by AZoCleantechJan 25 2021
According to a new study, the Ganges River, including the combined flows of the Meghna and Brahmaputra rivers, could be accountable for the entry of up to 3 billion microplastic particles into the Bay of Bengal daily.
Dr Imogen Napper (far left) helps survey fishing nets along the banks of the Ganges in Fatuha, Bihar. Image Credit: Sara Hylton, National Geographic.
The research constitutes the first-ever investigation of microplastic characteristics, abundance, and seasonal variation along the river and was performed with samples gathered by an international research group as part of the National Geographic Society’s
River Ganga could be responsible for polluting the Bay of Bengal: Report
According to new research by an international team of scientists, the holy river could be responsible for up to 3 billion microplastic particles entering the Bay of Bengal every day.
Kolkata: With the combined flows of the Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers, the Ganga river could be responsible for up to 3 billion microplastic particles entering the Bay of Bengal every day, according to new research by an international team of scientists.
The microplastics identified were dominated by fibers and fragments, according to the study.
Ganga rises in the Himalayas and runs through India and Bangladesh, where it joins the Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers shortly before reaching the Indian Ocean.