Environment

May, 2018

• 1 May

  Deteriorating Great Barrier Reef hushed: Young fish no longer hear their way home

  

  Degraded coral reefs are far quieter than five years ago, and no longer sound like a suitable habitat to young fish searching for a place to live and breed, according to research published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  
• 1 May

  Researchers study long-term effects of discarded munitions in the oceans

  

  The coastal Baltic and North Seas are widely littered with over 1 million tons of intact and corroding munitions, relict from wars since the early 1900s.   

April, 2018

• 29 April

  Will Sundarbans survive?

  

  Around 200 industrial projects, including the coal-fired Rampal power plant being constructed near the Sundarbans, are threatening the ecological balance of this natural world heritage site.   
• 28 April

  Scientists confirm growing oxygen-less zone in Gulf of Oman

  

  Researchers of a British university have brought to light the existence of a fast-growing “dead zone” devoid of oxygen in the Gulf of Oman, spelling environmental disaster for fish and marine plants in the area, as well as for people reliant on the ocean for food and employment.  
• 27 April

  Shocking video shows impacts of controversial fishing method

  

  Several conservation groups—Sea Legacy, Turtle Island Restoration Network, Sharkwater, and Mercy for Animals—recently released a video clip (above) showing the impact fishing drift nets can have on marine life.  
• 27 April

  Seal pups play tug of war with a sheet of plastic washed up on the beach in Ecuador in startling illustration of growing pollution problem

  

  Photographer Tui De Roy became concerned for the baby seals as they began to poke their heads through holes in the heavy-duty plastic.  
• 27 April

  Since January, 8,000 tonnes of trash removed from Mumbai mangroves

  

  With garbage clean-up at different city beaches having become a popular movement, citizen groups and the state mangrove cell have stepped up efforts to free the aerial roots of mangrove trees from trash.
• 26 April

  Researchers measure a record concentration of microplastic in Arctic sea ice

  

  Experts at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) have recently found higher amounts of microplastic in Arctic sea ice than ever before.  
• 23 April

  Mystery disease spreads, threatens coral reefs in Lower Florida Keys

  

  A mysterious disease hammering Florida’s dwindling reefs was found for the first time this week in the Lower Keys, alarming scientists who have used epoxy Band-Aids, amputated sick coral and even set up underwater “fire breaks” in a four-year battle to contain the outbreak.  
• 22 April

  Earth Day: Amount of straws, plastic pollution is huge, science says

  

  Cities and nations are looking at banning plastic straws and stirrers in hopes of addressing the world’s plastic pollution problem. The problem is so large, though, that scientists say that’s not nearly enough.  
• 22 April

  Ghost net recovered headed for recycling

  

  The Department of the Environment has confirmed that the ‘ghost net’ which was floating off the coast of the Cayman Islands over the last week, has been successfully recovered and is now waiting to be shipped off island for recycling.   
• 21 April

  Mumbai’s construction boom sparks fears for environment

  

  Rampant destruction of mangroves along Mumbai’s coast and reckless quarrying of hillsides in Navi Mumbai are converting the boom in Mumbai and its neighboring suburbs into an environmental doom, said environmentalists.