Environment

October, 2018

• 1 October

  China’s super trawlers are stripping the ocean bare as its hunger for seafood grows

  

  The world’s fisheries are in crisis. The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates 90 per cent of them have collapsed and China is the major player in their demise.  

September, 2018

• 28 September

  Wetlands disappearing three times faster than forests: study

  

  Wetlands, among the world’s most valuable and biodiverse ecosystems, are disappearing at alarming speed amid urbanisation and agriculture shifts, conservationists said Thursday, calling for urgent action to halt the erosion.  
• 27 September

  Scientists link Southern Ocean’s rapid warming to human activity

  

  Now, in a new study, scientists found convincing evidence that these trends are the result of two human influences: climate change from greenhouse gas emissions and the depletion of the ozone layer.  
• 26 September

  Climate change kills Antarctica’s ancient moss beds

  

  Emerging from the ice for a brief growing season every Antarctic summer, the lush green mosses of East Antarctica are finally succumbing to climate change.  
• 26 September

  Finally, a world map that’s all about oceans

  

  The Spilhaus Projection may be more than 75 years old, but it has never been more relevant than today. Even though it’s over 80 years old, this projection reminds us that saving the planet is pointless if we don’t also save the seas. 
• 25 September

  Distressing photographs show manta rays struggling to swim in a cloud of plastic waste dumped into the sea in Bali

  

  Upsetting photographs show manta rays struggling to swim through a cloud of plastic waste dumped into the ocean at Manta Bay in Bali.  
• 25 September

  Over 150 scientists warn of Med ‘overfishing crisis’

  

  More than 150 international scientists have signed NGO Oceana’s “Mediterranean Statement” urging the EU and its member states to end what it calls an environmental crisis in the Mediterranean, it said.  
• 21 September

  Climate change modifies the composition of reefs

  

  Corals devastated by climate change are being replaced naturally by other species such as gorgonians, which are less efficient in acting as a carbon sink. A study by the ICTA-UAB analyzes for the first time why gorgonians are more resistant than corals to human impacts and global climate change.   
• 20 September

  Thawing permafrost may release more CO2 than previously thought, study suggests

  

  The amount of carbon dioxide released from thawing permafrost might be greater than previously thought because of a process called mineral weathering, according to a new study by University of Alberta ecologists. 
• 20 September

  Microplastics may enter foodchain through mosquitoes

  

  Mosquito larvae have been observed ingesting microplastics that can be passed up the food chain, researchers said Wednesday, potentially uncovering a new way that the polluting particles could damage the environment.  
• 18 September

  Bombay high court orders protection of mangroves

  

  The Bombay high court on Monday ordered the protection of mangroves and a 50-meter buffer zone around such plots across the state. 
• 18 September

  Gulf of St. Lawrence may soon be unable to support marine life: study

  

  The Gulf of St. Lawrence has warmed and lost oxygen more rapidly than almost anywhere else in the Earth’s oceanic waters thanks in part to climate change, raising the possibility that it could soon be unable to fully support marine life, according to a new study.