Namely, the UK Research and Innovation presents eight developments that had or will have a great impact in increasing our awareness of how to improve the situation in our oceans:
- A new satellite takes the Earth's temperature more accurately enabling a better understanding of climate trends.
- Wind provided 15% of the UK’s electricity last year.
- A new polar research ship, RRS Sir David Attenborough, will help to research the oceans, ice and atmosphere.
- Researchers are taking a new approach to studying the health effects of exposure to water contamination, to better understand and predict the onset of disease.
- Scientists have engineered an enzyme which can digest some of the most commonly polluting plastics.
- Biodegradable microbeads could replace harmful plastic ones, up to 100,000 of which are estimated to enter the ocean after a single shower.
- Using underwater robots, researchers can listen to the oceans as never before, allowing them to measure wind speed, listen to sounds made by marine life and pick up human activities.
- Boaty McBoatface may have generated headlines and a social media buzz, but oddly-named ships are not just a phenomenon of 21st century social media.
