'Unseen' News and Views – By Baher Kamal & The Like
Straws are rarely recycled and can take more than 100 years to degrade in the water. And when they do, they release potent greenhouse gases in the process.
Each year, up to 13 million tons of plastic reach the oceans and affect marine biodiversity and human health.
Hawai’i University researchers report the unexpected discovery that the most common plastics emit traces of methane and ethylene when exposed to sunlight.
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Photo from UN Environment.
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24 August 2018 (UN Environment)* – Authors of a study conducted at Hawai’i University recently reported another good reason to redouble global efforts to beat plastic pollution: as plastics decay, they emit traces of methane and ethylene, two powerful greenhouse gases, and the rate of emission increases with time.
The emissions occur when plastic materials are exposed to ambient solar radiation, whether in water or in the air, but in air, emission rates are much higher.
20 August 2018 (The Conversation)* – Awareness is rising worldwide about the scourge of ocean plastic pollution, from Earth Day 2018 events to the cover of National Geographic magazine. But few people realize that similar concentrations of plastic pollution are accumulating in lakes and rivers.
Debris pulled from a Lake Erie marina during a cleanup, June 9, 2012.NOAA Office of Response and Restoration, CC BY
One recent study found microplastic particles – fragments measuring less then five millimeters – in globally sourced tap water and beer brewed with water from the Great Lakes.
12 July 2018 (Greenpeace)* — Seven years ago we launched the Detox My Fashion campaign to stop companies from polluting rivers and oceans with toxic chemicals used in their production.
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33 people whipped off their clothes in Chatuchak market, Bangkok © Athit Perawongmetha / Greenpeace
When some of our favourite global brands told us that they didn’t know which companies in their supply chain were producing their clothes, and that change wasn’t possible, you didn’t accept no for an answer.
Significant production increases foreseen over coming decade – Sector faces major challenges.
Rome, Italy, 9 July 2018 (FAO)*– Global fish production will continue to expand over the next decade even though the amount of fish being captured in the wild has levelled off and aquaculture’s previously explosive growth is now slowing, says a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Photo from UN Environment.
But the experience taught her a valuable lesson: ingredients for truly sustainable products must be sourced locally.
Fast-forward five years, and twenty-eight-year-old Kagetsu, now Chief Executive Officer of Saathi pads, has teamed up with co-founder, twenty-six-year-old Tarun Bothra, to turn their attention to a more pressing environmental and social problem.
9 June 2018 — Unless there is a change of course, the amount of plastic waste in the world’s oceans will outweigh the fish that live in them, by 2050, said the United Nations Secretary-General on Saturday, declaring that the world now faces a “global emergency” over the oceans.
“The facts are clear. Our oceans are a mess,” said António Guterres at an outreach event, that was part of the Group of Seven – or G7 – Summit of industrialized nations, taking place over two days, in Charlevoix, Canada.
The G7 group of advanced economies, consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
8 June 2018 (FAO)* — Ghost fishing. Sounds eerie, right? Unfortunately, it is indeed as eerie as it sounds. Ghost fishing occurs when lost or abandoned fishing gear stays in the ocean and traps fish or other marine life, indiscriminately killing whatever it catches.
“Ghost fishing” happens when lost or abandoned fishing gear stays in the ocean and traps fish or other marine life. © World Animal Protection | Photo from FAO.
The purpose of the Day is to inform the public of the impact of human actions on the ocean, develop a worldwide movement of citizens for the ocean, and mobilize and unite the world’s population on a project for the sustainable management of the world’s oceans. They are a major source of food and medicines and a critical part of the biosphere. In the end, it is a day to celebrate together the beauty, the wealth and the promise of the ocean.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 