Quick Dips
Curated topical articles on the Blue Economy
Liz Allen, Forbes Plastics & Pollution
While we know plastic is terrible for marine life, detecting plastic pollution in the ocean is notoriously challenging.
Read more → (3 minute read)
Kevin Dickinson Plastics & Pollution
The researchers hope to develop a no-trace plastic to curtail marine pollution and ghost fishing.
Read more → (4 minute read)
David Hume, World Ocean Initiative / The Economist Group Energy Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution Shipping & Ports
Guest blogger David Hume, marine energy manager with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in the US, considers the role of innovation hubs in nurturing blue economy businesses.
Read more → (6 minute read)
IUCN Plastics & Pollution
Plastic pollution is the most widespread problem affecting the marine environment. It also threatens ocean health, food safety and quality, human health, coastal tourism, and contributes to climate change.
Read more → (4 minute read)
Tatiana Schlossberg, NYT Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution
Machine-learning applications are proving to be especially useful to the scientific community studying the planet's largest bodies of water.
Read more → (6 minute read)
Sarah Elizabeth Richards, NYT Plastics & Pollution
Dimitri Deheyn’s lab has become a hub of novel research on the microfibers found in our waterways and even the air we breathe.
Read more → (7 minute read)
Amy Woodyatt, CNN Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution
Marine life in the world's oceans could recover to healthy levels in the next thirty years if decisive and urgent action is taken, an international review has found.
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Prachi Patel Plastics & Pollution
Plastic made of starch and cellulose is strong and water-resistant but breaks down in the ocean over time
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UN Environment Program Plastics & Pollution
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) World Conservation Monitoring Centre and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology teamed up to undertake a microplastics research and Ocean Literacy project linked to the Japan-Palau Goodwill Yacht Race—celebrating 25 years of Palau’s independence.
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Britta Denise Hardesty and Chris Wilcox of CSIRO Plastics & Pollution
You’ve probably heard that our oceans have become a plastic soup. But in fact, of all the plastic that enters Earth’s oceans each year, just 1% has been observed floating on the surface. So where is the rest of it?
Read more → (5 minute read)
World Ocean Initiative, The Economist Group Plastics & Pollution
Ambitious plans to tackle marine plastic pollution were announced by the G20 last year. The World Ocean Initiative assesses its progress and focuses on Japan ahead of the World Ocean Summit in Tokyo on March 9th-10th.
Read more → (6 minute read)
James Richen, Responsible Investor Energy Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution
James Richens, editor of The Economist Group’s World Ocean Initiative, takes stock of Responsible Investor’s survey of investment risks and opportunities in the blue economy.
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Global Maritime Forum Plastics & Pollution
At least $1 trillion of capital investment in land-based and ship-related infrastructure required to halve international shipping’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.Read more → (5 minute read)
Beth Gardiner, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Plastics & Pollution
A world awash in plastic will soon see even more, as a host of new petrochemical plants — their ethane feedstock supplied by the fracking boom — come online. Major oil companies, facing the prospect of reduced demand for their fuels, are ramping up their plastics output.Read more → (9 minute read)
Martin Koehring, The Economist Group- World Ocean Initiative Energy Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution Shipping & Ports
Safeguarding and harnessing the ocean’s ability to provide for people and the planet is crucial for sustainable development, says Martin Koehring, head of the World Ocean Initiative.
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Jennifer Lynch, SEVENSEAS Media Plastics & Pollution
A new study on the Pacific Ocean’s floating trash indicates not only a significant accumulation of microplastics in the Hawaiian Islands, but that larval fish are eating the debris.
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Mindy Weisberger Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution
When workers with a whale strandings agency in Scotland performed a necropsy on a recently beached sperm whale, they found a gruesome surprise: The animal had died with around 220 lbs. (100 kilograms) of trash in its stomach.Read more → (4 minute read)
Olivia Rosane Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution
Discarded plastic fishing equipment, dubbed "ghost gear," is especially dangerous to marine life because it was designed to trap and kill it.Read more → (3 minute read)
Noah Smith, Bloomberg Plastics & Pollution
Most environmental problems are concentrated in the area where the pollution is produced. This is good, because it’s a lot easier for a single city or country to deal with an environmental challenge than it is for the international community.There are two huge exceptions to this. The first is global warming, which (as the name implies) affects everyone. The second is the world’s oceans, most of which are not claimed as the territory of any nation or the property of any individual.
Read more → (3 minute read)
Ocean Conservancy Plastics & Pollution
You’ve probably seen videos of these impacts first hand, like a sea turtle with a plastic straw embedded in its nose or a whale entangled in a fishing net, approaching divers that release it from harm. Some of these incidents have happy endings, but in reality, many more do not. Plastic has been found in more than 60% of all seabirds and in 100% of sea turtles species, that mistake plastic for food. And when animals ingest plastic, it can cause life-threatening problems, including reduced fitness, nutrient uptake and feeding efficiency—all vital for survival. Every year, 8 million metric tons...
Read more → (2 minute read)
