The Swedish Institute for the Marine Environment and tanker operator Concordia Maritime have initiated a preliminary study to determine the feasibility of gathering information on the volume of micoplastics in the oceans. By installing a collection device on a tanker, water samples can be collected, while the ship is underway, for subsequent analysis.
The UN development system must be effectively reformed in order to be able to limit the impact of the serious threats that impede the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, said UN Sec-Gen António Guterres, on the sidelines of the annual operational segment of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Under the National Environmental Science Program, the Australian Government has funded a research on the measurement of shipping noise and its potential impact on whales and other marine animals. This would be the first comprehensive nation-wide assessment of shipping noise in Australia.
Nine Baltic marine areas were described as ecologically or biologically significant, on the sidelines of the Regional Workshop to Facilitate the Description of EBSAs in Baltic, in late February, in Helsinki. These include five transboundary areas, covering waters of two or more countries, and extend into 14 of the 17 Baltic Sea sub-basins.
The excess carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere through the combustion of fossil fuels interferes with the health of phytoplankton, which form the base of marine food webs, according to scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego and the J. Craig Venter Institute.
The Dubai Council for Marine & Maritime Industries announced collaboration with HELMEPA, to set up the first of its kind non-profit UAE Marine Environment Protection Association. The two parties signed a Declaration of Voluntary Commitment titled ‘To Save the Marine Environment’, based on HELMEPA’s ‘To Save the Seas’.
To improve the health of the ocean ecosystems and protect the species living in them, Brazil created two new marine protected areas. The protected areas accommodate a rich marine life, including sharks, turtles, rays and whales. This development increases the Brazilian marine protected areas from the 1,5% to 24,5%, surpassing the target set by the Convention on Biological Diversity.
From 1925-2016, the frequency of marine heatwaves had increased on average by 34% and the length of each heatwave had increased by 17%, as a direct result of warming oceans, according to an international study in Nature Communications by ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes and IMAS.
Indonesian state-owned energy giant Pertamina took over the responsibility for an oil spill off Balikpapan, which caused a fatal fire, on 31st of March. The company had initially denied involvement on the incident, but it said Wednesday that the spill was caused by an underwater pipeline that cracked during its clean up operations.
Plastics are the most common form of marine debris. It is estimated that 8.8 million metric tons of plastic waste are dumped in the world’s oceans each year. UN says that plastic debris results in an estimated $13 billion a year in losses from damage to marine ecosystems, including financial losses to fisheries and tourism as well as time spent cleaning beaches.
