Over 25,000 tons of COVID-related plastic waste pollutes world’s oceans, study finds

Over 25,000 tons of pandemic-related plastic waste pollute the global ocean, according to a study published in the journal PNAS on Monday.

Why it matters: Plastic waste poses a major threat to marine life and ecosystems. COVID-19 only increased the demand for single-use plastic, “intensifying pressure on this already out-of-control problem,” the researchers write.

---

• The world has generated over 8 million tons of pandemic-related plastic waste. Most of this waste comes from hospitals and mainly accumulates on beaches and coastal sediments.

Threat level: “The released plastics can be transported over long distances in the ocean, encounter marine wildlife, and potentially lead to injury or even death,” the researchers said.

• “The plastic debris could also facilitate species invasion and transport of contaminants, including the COVID-19 virus,” they added.
• In Brazil, scientists found a protective mask in a dead penguin’s stomach, while other reports have documented fish entrapped in a medical glove.

For the record: A recent study estimated that 1.56 million face masks entered the oceans in 2020. The excess waste will serve a long-term risk, researchers caution.

The bottom line: “We find a long-lasting impact of the pandemic-associated waste release in the global ocean,” the study states.

• “At the end of this century, the model suggests that almost all the pandemic-associated plastics end up in either the seabed (28.8%) or beaches (70.5%).”
• The findings reflect the need to improve medical waste management mechanisms, especially in developing countries, researchers note.

The big picture: Plastic pollution in oceans and other bodies of water could more than double by 2030, per an October assessment by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

• Recycling won’t cut it anymore, the report found.
• “It is vital that we use this momentum to focus on the opportunities for a clean, healthy and resilient ocean,” UNEP executive director Inger Andersen said in a statement.

Worth noting: The study comes as world leaders tackle climate change at COP26 in Glasgow.

• More than 250,000 people have demanded greater action in protests around the world.

Source: https://www.axios.com/covid-plastic-waste-pollution-oceans-5a16aaa2-1bea-43d2-8cdc-176d171eab8d.html
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By: Shawna Chen

! #Headlines, #Axios, #CoronaVirus, #Newsfeed, #Pollution, #ThePlanet, covid19, #Coronavirus, #Health, #News, #Science, #WorldNews

Plastic industry pollution to overtake coal in US by 2030, report says

Enlarge / Smoke billows from one of many chemical plants near Baton Rouge, La. ‘Cancer Alley’ is one of the most polluted areas of the US and lies along the once pristine Mississippi River that stretches some 80 miles from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, where a dense concentration of oil refineries, petrochemical plants, and other chemical industries reside alongside suburban homes. (credit: Giles Clarke/Getty Images)

Plastic pollution usually conjures images of grocery bags blowing in the wind or nurdles lodged in a seabird’s stomach. But soon, plastic pollution may take on another meaning, as a new report forecasts that the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions in the US will outpace those of coal by the end of the decade.

“Unlike the plastic trash choking our waterways and littering our communities, the plastic industry’s devastating impact on our climate is taking place under the radar, with little public scrutiny and even less government accountability,” Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics and a former EPA regional administrator, said in the report.

Plastic is a large but often overlooked source of carbon pollution. Production in the US creates at least 232 million metric tons of greenhouse gases, according to the report by Bennington College and the nonprofit organization Beyond Plastics. Plastic production is expected to emit another 55 million tons by 2025 if the 42 plants currently planned or under construction come online.

Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/10/plastic-industry-pollution-to-overtake-coal-in-us-by-2030-report-says/
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By: Tim De Chant

! #Headlines, #BusinessNews, #Environment, #FossilFuels, #MicroPlastics, #Newsfeed, #Pollution, #TechNews, #ThePlanet, #Health, #News, #Science

Operator in oil spill didn’t shut down for hours after leak alert, regulators say

Federal officials believe the breach might have been caused by an anchor.

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/operator-california-oil-spill-didn-t-shut-down-pipeline-hours-n1280874
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By: Andrew Blankstein and Dennis Romero and David Douglas

! #Headlines, #Accident, #California, #Environment, #FossilFuels, #Newsfeed, #Pollution, #ThePlanet, #News

8 Devastating Aerial Photos of California’s Oil Spill

New information about California’s biggest oil spill in decades continues to emerge, as federal and state officials scramble to contain the damage and lawmakers call for changes and accountability.

Read more…

Source: https://gizmodo.com/8-devastating-aerial-photos-of-californias-oil-spill-1847801048
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By: Molly Taft

! #Headlines, #California, #Energy, #Environment, #FossilFuels, #Gizmodo, #Newsfeed, #Oceans, #Pollution, #TechNews, #ThePlanet, #News

Photos show Manila Bay mangroves ‘choking’ in plastic pollution

The Navotas mudflats are among the last of their kind and act as a crucial feeding ground for migratory birds, but they are being buried in plastic

There are stray, abandoned flip flops, old foil food wrappers, crumpled plastic bags, and discarded water bottles. The Navotas mudflats and mangroves in Manila Bay are buried in a thick layer of rubbish.

It is “almost choking the mangrove roots,” Diuvs de Jesus, a marine biologist in the Philippines who photographed the area on a recent visit, said.

Continue reading…

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/05/photos-show-manila-bay-mangroves-choking-in-plastic-pollution
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By: Rebecca Ratcliffe, south-east Asia correspondent

! #Headlines, #Conservation, #Environment, #Newsfeed, #Pollution, #ThePlanet, #Trending, #WorldNews, philippines, #News, #Science

Massive California oil spill may close beaches for months

One of the largest oil spills in recent California history has contaminated a swath of popular beaches south of Long Beach, including Huntington Beach.

Driving the news: The spill of as many as 126,000 gallons of crude oil, which is thought to have emanated from a leaking pipeline about 4.5 miles off the coast of Huntington Beach, was detected Saturday.

---

The latest: Oil began washing up on beaches by early Sunday, and closures may expand and last for months.

• As of Sunday evening, 3,150 gallons of oil have been recovered from the spill area, the Coast Guard said.
• The pipeline from which it leaked has been shut off, Martyn Willsher, CEO of Houston-based Amplify Energy Corp., which owns the pipeline, told the AP.
• The leaking pipeline connects to oil production and drilling platforms, the AP reports, both of which are in federal waters.
• The full scope of wildlife impacts is not yet fully known.

The big picture: A host of extreme weather events amplified by climate change have battered California in recent months, from record heat to some of the largest wildfires in state history.

• For some residents, the spill is just another reminder of how California is ground zero for climate change.
• Wildfire photographer Stuart Palley captured this in an Instagram post: “The forests of my childhood have burned, and now the beaches from youth are covered in oil.”

Go deeper: Major oil spill reaches California beaches, killing wildlife

Source: https://www.axios.com/california-oil-spill-close-beaches-months-amplify-2ea63a7d-7f9b-4e38-ae7d-38c436bb55d9.html
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By: Andrew Freedman

! #Headlines, #Accident, #Axios, #California, #Environment, #FossilFuels, #Newsfeed, #Pollution, #News, #Science, #ThePlanet

California oil spill fouls beaches and kills wildlife – video

A large oil spill off the coast of Southern California has killed wildlife and fouled beaches along the Orange county coast. At least 126,000 gallons (572,807 lites) of oil spilled into the waters off Orange county after it leaked from a broken pipeline connected to an offshore oil rig

• ‘There’s tar everywhere’: large California oil spill fouls beaches and kills wildlife

Continue reading…

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2021/oct/04/california-oil-spill-fouls-beaches-and-kills-wildlife-video
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By:

! #Headlines, #California, #Conservation, #FossilFuels, #Newsfeed, #Pollution, #ThePlanet, #Trending, #News

Fukushima operators to build undersea tunnel to dump contaminated water

Japanese government claims water from nuclear plant released through 1km tunnel will be safe as all radioactive elements will have been removed

Operators of Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant have unveiled plans to construct an undersea tunnel to release more than a million tonnes of treated water from the site into the ocean.

Plans for the 1km tunnel were announced on Wednesday after the Japanese government decided in April to release the accumulated water in two years’ time.

Continue reading…

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/26/fukushima-operators-to-build-undersea-tunnel-to-dump-contaminated-water
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By: Agence France-Presse in Tokyo

! #Headlines, #Disaster, #Earthquakes, #Environment, #Newsfeed, #Nukes, #Oceans, #Pollution, #ThePlanet, #Trending, #WorldNews, Japan, #News

The fungus and bacteria tackling plastic waste

Bacteria, fungus and enzymes can all digest plastic, but can they work at a useful commercial scale?

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57733178
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By:

! #Headlines, #Conservation, #Environment, #MicroPlastics, #Newsfeed, #Pollution, #Sustainability, #TechNews, #ThePlanet, #News, #UK, #WorldNews

17-million-gallon sewage spill closes miles of beaches in California

About four miles of beaches from El Segundo to the southern end of Playa del Rey were closed indefinitely while officials conducted tests on the water.

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/17-million-gallon-sewage-spill-closes-miles-beaches-california-n1273808
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By: The Associated Press

! #Headlines, #California, #Conservation, #Environment, #Newsfeed, #Oceans, #Pollution, #ThePlanet, #News

Hundreds of syringes found washed up on New Jersey beaches

Beach patrollers discovered hundreds of syringes washed up on the beaches of the Jersey Shore over the weekend, causing numerous safety closures on Sunday following days of intense storm…

Source: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/562607-hundreds-of-syringes-found-washed-up-on-new-jersey-beaches
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By: Rachel Scully

! #Headlines, #Environment, #Health, #NewJersey, #Newsfeed, #Oceans, #Political, #Pollution, #Summer, #ThePlanet, #News

We Now Know How Exxon Secretly Fights Crackdowns on Plastic Pollution

A senior Exxon lobbyist was caught on tape admitting that the company has been running a behind-the-scenes campaign to combat regulation on plastics and PFAS, a video released Thursday shows. The tape is the second installment of an undercover investigation conducted by Unearthed, the investigative arm of Greenpeace…

Read more…

Source: https://gizmodo.com/we-now-know-how-exxon-secretly-fights-crackdowns-on-pla-1847220288
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By: Dharna Noor

! #Headlines, #BusinessNews, #Energy, #FossilFuels, #Gizmodo, #MicroPlastics, #Newsfeed, #Pollution, #Science, #TechNews, #News, #Politics, #ThePlanet

New Zealand to ban most single-use plastics by 2025

Ban on plastics including cotton buds, packaging, cutlery, straws and fruit labels to be phased in from next year

New Zealanders will be farewelling their plastics – bags, ear buds, spoons and straws – as the government attempts to match the country’s reality to its “clean green” reputation.

Currently one of the top 10 per-capita producers of landfill waste in the world, New Zealand has announced it will ban a swathe of single-use plastics, including cotton buds, bags, cutlery, plates and bowls, straws and fruit labels.

Continue reading…

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/28/new-zealand-to-ban-most-single-use-plastics-by-2025
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By: Tess McClure in Wellington

! #Headlines, #Conservation, #Environment, #Newsfeed, #NewZealand, #Politics, #Pollution, #ThePlanet, #Trending, #News

Researchers harness a NASA satellite to track microplastics in the Atlantic

Researchers from the University of Michigan have devised a way to use data collected by NASA satellites to track the movement of tiny pieces of plastic in the Atlantic Ocean. The plastic they’re tracking is known as microplastics and forms when plastic trash in the ocean begins to break down from a combination of sun rays and the motion of … Continue reading

Source: https://www.slashgear.com/researchers-harness-a-nasa-satellite-to-track-microplastics-in-the-atlantic-27680108/
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By: Shane McGlaun

! #Headlines, #Environment, #MicroPlastics, #Newsfeed, #Oceans, #Pollution, #Science, #TechNews, #TechnologyNews, #ThePlanet, NASA, #News

Protests grow in South Korea over Japan’s Fukushima water plan

Fishing communities worry water will contaminate the seas despite promises it will be cleaned of radioactive substances.

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/3/protests-grow-in-south-korea-over-japan-fukushima-disposal-plan
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By:

! #Headlines, #Environment, #Korea, #Newsfeed, #Nukes, #Oceans, #Political, #Politics, #Pollution, Japan, #News, #WorldNews

Scientists find 25,000 barrels at dump site for toxic DDT chemicals off L.A. coast

Marine scientists announced Monday they’ve uncovered at a former industrial waste site off the Southern California coast some 25,000 barrels that their research indicates contain the toxic chemical DDT.

Why it matters: Scientists had previously detected in the area near Santa Catalina Island “high levels of DDT in marine mammals including dolphins and sea lions,” with exposure to DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, per a statement from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

---

After surveying 36,000 acres of seafloor off the coast of Los Angeles in an area reported to have been a chemical dumping ground, Scripps researchers have identified over 27,000 possible barrels, and 100,000 total debris objects on the seafloor. Read more: https://t.co/wsarZnW01H pic.twitter.com/4d8nMHCZG8

— Scripps Institution of Oceanography (@Scripps_Ocean) April 26, 2021

• These long-banned chemicals have been linked to cancer in sea lions.
• Lihini Aluwihare, who co-authored a 2015 study finding high levels of DDT and other man-made chemicals in the blubber of dead Bottlenose Dolphins, noted in a statement, “These results also raise questions about the continued exposure and potential impacts on marine mammal health, especially in light of how DDT has been shown to have multi-generational impacts in humans.”

Driving the news: Expedition chief scientist Eric Terrill, who’s also director of the Marine Physical Laboratory at Scripps, said in a statement “the basin offshore Los Angeles had been a dumping ground for industrial waste for several decades, beginning in the 1930s.”

• The Los Angeles Times reported last year that shipping logs from a disposal company Montrose Chemical Corp., a Californian DDT-producing firm, indicated that 2,000 barrels of sludge containing the chemical had potentially been dumped each month from 1947 to 1961 into a designated dumpsite.
• Other logs show many other industrial companies in Southern California “used this basin as a dumping ground until 1972, when the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act, also known as the Ocean Dumping Act, was enacted,” Scripps notes in its report.

What they did: From March 10-24, a research team led by Scripps in collaboration with NOAA mapped more than 36,000 acres of seafloor known to contain high levels of DDT between Santa Catalina Island and the Los Angeles coast.

• The scientists used sonar technology to capture high-resolution images of the barrels at depths of 3,000 feet.

Of note: Terrill told the L.A. Times he believed researchers could have found even more evidence if they’d extended the expedition period.

• “I was pretty shocked that it just kept extending as far as it did,” he said. “We couldn’t keep up with the flow of data coming in.”
• Terrill shared the team’s research findings in a briefing to Congress Monday.

What to watch: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who led the briefing, will ask the Justice Department to “look into companies that may have illegally dumped waste into the ocean and whether they can be held accountable,” per the L.A. Times.

• Terrill said in his statement that scientists are “hopeful the data will inform the development of strategies to address potential impacts from the dumping.”
• University at Buffalo chemistry professor Diana Aga, who wasn’t involved in the study, told AP if the barrels are proven to contain DDT but have no leakage, they could be relocated to a safer disposal site.
• Researchers could take samples from the area to assess damage if they have leaked, Aga added.

Threat level: Up to “half a million barrels could still be underwater,” per the L.A. Times, citing old records and a 2019 UC Santa Barbara study.

Source: https://www.axios.com/25000-barrels-dump-site-ddt-chemicals-off-california-bd302def-346c-49a7-9aac-af0c050098cd.html
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By: Rebecca Falconer

! #Headlines, #Axios, #California, #Crime, #Discoveries, #Environment, #Newsfeed, #Oceans, #Pollution, #ThePlanet, #Health, #News, #Politics, #Science

Time to clean up the space junk

Companies and governments around the world are racing to figure out how to clean up human-made junk that is cluttering space.

Why it matters: Trackers are seeing more and more close calls between satellites, as companies work to deploy constellations of hundreds to thousands of small spacecraft, adding to fears that those small satellites could become junk themselves.

---

• Cleaning up junk requires finding new ways to remove it from orbit — and experts say regulations and policy need to be clarified to prevent more from accumulating.
• At the moment, NASA estimates there are hundreds of thousands of untrackable pieces of junk in orbit around the Earth that threaten operational satellites and even people in space.

What’s happening: Companies are starting to prove out the technology needed to actively remove debris and failing satellites from orbit.

• Last month, Astroscale’s ELSA-d spacecraft launched on a mission to test its technology designed to latch on to a piece of junk and hurtle it back through the Earth, burning up harmlessly as it enters the atmosphere.
• Northrop Grumman also used its MEV-2 mission this month to dock with a satellite in orbit, in order to extend its life and keeping it from becoming space junk faster.
• “From a technology standpoint and from a market visibility standpoint, the development of satellite servicing and the related ecosystem will contribute to the viability of the active debris removal concepts,” Ian Christensen of the Secure World Foundation told Axios.

A major hurdle to cleaning up space junk has been figuring out who is responsible for removing debris and how it is regulated.

• A new study from the Aerospace Corporation shared exclusively with Axios recommends that if a company wants to remove a certain failed satellite or piece of junk from orbit, they should simply ask permission first — a way of avoiding the thorny issue of creating an international framework around the removal of debris, at least for now.
• “Once a debris owner provides permission to somebody to remove a piece of debris, a lot of things can be worked out with the existing regulatory regime,” Josef Koller, one of the authors of the new paper, told me.

The big picture: Experts also hope the Biden administration will create new policies that will help limit the creation of space junk as more and more players send their wares to space.

• “The first four years of this Biden administration need to include action on debris,” Luc Riesbeck of Astroscale US told me. “The U.S. is licensing a lot satellites to go up, and when you do that as a country, you are accepting that liability for the risk of those systems.”
• Reports now suggest that in order to keep certain orbits around Earth safe for new satellites in the coming years, there will need to be active cleanup, with companies and countries removing debris.
• And that becomes even more urgent as companies like SpaceX continue to launch hundreds of satellites to orbit that are threatened by space junk and could contribute to junk themselves.

Yes, but: It’s still not clear if there’s money to be made for the companies looking to remove debris from orbit.

• Questions around liability and responsibility for cleaning up orbit remain, and the technology still needs to prove effective in real-life scenarios.
• The coming year or two will demonstrate whether or not these companies will be able to make money and who exactly is willing to pay them to remove junk from space.

Source: https://www.axios.com/space-junk-clean-up-23d95cd1-f214-4589-98a9-ca2450f66853.html
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By: Miriam Kramer

! #Headlines, #Axios, #Newsfeed, #Pollution, #Science, #News

Light pollution map of the world

Light pollution map is exactly as promised, and works like Google Earth: scroll, zoom and bring up various different datasets and legends to make sense of it all. I’m always stuck by that dead-straight transition between light and dark in North America, from Winnipeg to Austin. — Read the rest

Source: https://boingboing.net/2021/04/23/light-pollution-map-of-the-world.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=light-pollution-map-of-the-world
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By: Rob Beschizza

! #Headlines, #Environment, #Newsfeed, #Politics, #Pollution, #Random, #ThePlanet, #News

Four in 10 Americans live in counties with unhealthy air pollution levels

• Fairbanks, Alaska, Los Angeles and California cities get F rating
• American Lung Association tracks particle and ozone pollution

New research from the American Lung Association find that more than four in 10 people – a whopping 135 million in the US – live in counties with unhealthy levels of particle or ozone pollution.

In their 22nd annual “State of the Air” report, released on Wednesday, the group examined federal data on the two most widespread types of air pollution to create a comprehensive overview of toxic air across the country. The annual air quality “report card” identifies the parts of the country with the more polluted air, and gives them a letter grade (from A to F). This year, it also found that people of color were three times as likely to live in the nation’s most polluted places.

Continue reading…

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/21/us-air-pollution-report-american-lung-association
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By: Paola Rosa-Aquino

! #Headlines, #Conservation, #Environment, #Newsfeed, #People, #Pollution, #ThePlanet, #Trending, #News, #Science

Sewage island: how Britain spews its waste into the sea

Untreated waste regularly flows into waters across England and Wales. Is it time to radically rethink sewerage – or do away with sewers altogether?

The pandemic has not been the only crisis we’ve been wading through over the past 12 months: 2020 was a banner year in much of Britain for sewage spills. Last July a Guardian investigation revealed that raw sewage had been pumped into English rivers via storm overflows more than 200,000 times in 2019. In November, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) published data showing that untreated wastewater was discharged on to English and Welsh beaches on 2,900 occasions in a year.

Continue reading…

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/19/sewage-island-how-britain-spews-untreated-waste-rivers-sea
Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you.
The Article Was Written/Published By: Amy Fleming

! #Headlines, #Environment, #Newsfeed, #Oceans, #Pollution, #Sustainability, #ThePlanet, #Trending, #UK, water, #Coronavirus, #News