Quick Dips
Curated topical articles on the Blue Economy
Katharine Gammon, The Guardian Plastics & Pollution
The cleanup was undertaken by a California non-profit which hired scuba divers to clean the top 25ft of the lake.
Read more → (3 minute read)
Djordje Vuckovic & Bill Mitch, The Scientist Plastics & Pollution
Researchers have long suspected that an ingredient in sunscreen called oxybenzone was harming corals, but no one knew how. A new study shows how corals turn oxybenzone into a sunlight-activated toxin.
Read more → (6 minute read)
Valerie Volcovici, Reuters Plastics & Pollution
The decline coincides with a sharp drop in plastic waste exports, which had counted as recycled plastic.
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Salomé Gómez-Upegui, The Guardian Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution
Study in Florida finds ‘widespread’ traces of a total of 58 medications including heart drugs, opioids, antidepressants and antifungals in increasingly rare bonefish and their prey.
Read more → (7 minute read)
Can brands make reusable packaging more attractive than single-use plastic? NFTs could be the answer
Emma Samson, World Economic Forum Plastics & Pollution
The reusable packaging market could be a $10 billion opportunity to eliminate single-use plastic.
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Karen Shapiro & Emma Zhang, The Conversation Plastics & Pollution
Typically when people hear about plastic pollution, they might envision seabirds with bellies full of trash or sea turtles with plastic straws in their noses.
Read more → (4 minute read)
Safi Bugel, The Guardian Plastics & Pollution
UV filters absorbed by Posidonia oceanica may have damaging effects on ecosystems, scientists warn.
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Paddison, L. et al., The Guardian Plastics & Pollution Shipping & Ports
Collaborative investigation shows ships regularly discharge ‘bilge’ water illegally instead of treating it, with toxic effect on marine life.
Read more → (6 minute read)
Declan McAdams & Torleiv Njaa, World Economic Forum Plastics & Pollution
Paint is a major source of microplastics in the ocean, although the scale of the issue has only recently been highlighted.
Read more → (5 minute read)
Karuna Rana, World Economic Forum Plastics & Pollution
Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time, with marine plastics being the most recognizable problem linked to the use of plastic.
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Dan Collyns, The Guardian Plastics & Pollution
As the state, the refinery and tanker owners play the blame game, damage to the region’s ecosystems continues to spread.
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UN Environment Programme Plastics & Pollution
Nations commit to develop a legally binding agreement.
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Jeremy Miller for The Sierra Club Plastics & Pollution
According to an estimate from the World Economic Forum, the number of microplastics that find their way to the ocean every year by way of paint flaking from steel surfaces is equivalent to the plastic of 150 to 225 billion empty plastic bottles.
Read more → (5 minute read)
OECD Plastics & Pollution
The world is producing twice as much plastic waste as two decades ago, with the bulk of it ending up in landfill, incinerated or leaking into the environment, and only 9% successfully recycled, according to a new OECD report.
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Douglas Broom, World Economic Forum Plastics & Pollution
Ocean plastic pollution is set to grow fourfold by 2050, says a new report. And there may be 50 times more microplastics in the sea by 2100.
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Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch Plastics & Pollution
A pipeline leak off the coast of Wales spilled around 500 barrels of oil into the Irish Sea on Monday on the anniversary of one of the worst ecological disasters in Welsh history.
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Anna Turns, The Guardian Plastics & Pollution
First it was PCBs, now it’s PFAS – harmful toxic pollutants that do not biodegrade are affecting ecosystems around the globe.
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Jon Henley, The Guardian Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution
Envoys at Brest summit sign up to measures to tackle fight against illegal fishing and cut pollution.
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Jamie Hailstone, Forbes Plastics & Pollution
Particles of paint account for more than half (58%) of all the microplastics that end up in the world’s oceans and waterways every year, according to a new study.
Read more → (3 minute read)
Charlotte Edmond, World Economic Forum Plastics & Pollution
Nanoplastic has for the first time been discovered at both the poles, indicating these tiny particles are widespread.
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