Plastic Pollution

Weather satellite for observing powerful thunderstorms of storms and tornadoes in space orbiting the ... earth. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Getty While we know plastic is terrible for marine life, detecting plastic pollution in the ocean is notoriously challenging. Plastics come in many colors, break down to…

Feature Events 5 things to know about the ocean plastic problem, and how to fix it Events Key takeaways from a recent virtual event on the issue of ocean plastic pollution, in support of 1% for The Planet and co-hosted by Springwise. During a recent digital discussion on the issue…

The world is drowning in plastic. About 60% of the more than 8,700 million metric tonnes of plastic ever made is no longer in use, instead sat mostly in landfill or released to the environment. That equals over 400kg of plastic waste for every one of the 7.6 billion people…

In Tumbes, a village in southern Chile, discarded plastic fishing nets are crammed into gaps between parked cars and market stalls, evidence of a global waste problem that the town is working to resolve.Until recently, most discarded fishing nets in this coastal fishing village were dumped straight into the sea…

An AI system has spotted plastic pollution in the sea by analyzing images from satellites orbiting the earth. The scientists behind the technique claim that it’s the first time patches of plastics in coastal waters have been detected via satellites. The system studies images collected by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellites to spot debris floating in the…

Understanding the extent of our plastic pollution problem is incredibly difficult, largely because the corrosive forces of the ocean break the waste into tiny fragments which are nearly impossible to track. Scientists have again found evidence of these microplastics in the most remote of places, discovering particles lodged in cores…

This article originally appeared on VICE India.The highly contagious COVID-19 has left our society and its socioeconomic systems in the lurch. Even as citizens celebrate the idea of animals reclaiming the streets that were once theirs and a reduced carbon footprint thanks to travel bans and lockdowns, the coronavirus crisis…

Today is the 50th annual Earth Day, an occasion typically reserved for planting trees, recycling, beach clean-ups, and good old-fashioned time in nature. While we remain sheltered in place due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, this year is going to have to look a bit different. But there's still a…

It's not exactly a cause for celebration, though — these events are the result of the coronavirus pandemic, and come with a heavy price. The virus has infected at least 2.5 million people and killed over 176,000, shut down businesses, and locked down countries. The environmental gains have been made…

SINGAPORE — A growing body of scientific research linking tire wear to microplastic pollution, as well as increasing scrutiny from lawmakers in the European Union (EU), has led the $180 billion-a-year tire industry to fight back. The companies have stepped up lobbying with EU lawmakers weighing tougher regulations on tire…