SOUTH AFRICA

Pay up time

Clean-up time

Sinking planks

Phytoplankton production could damage oceanic ecosystems

‘Humanity’s signature’: Study finds plastic pollution in world’s lakes can be worse than in oceans

Researchers sampled 38 lakes and reservoirs around the world and plastics and microplastics were found at every site, including very remote locations.

Warming Bay: An ongoing heatwave in India’s eastern sea is causing extreme rain in its northwest, say experts

A warmer Bay of Bengal is likely playing a role in increasing faster timescale depressions and reducing slower timescale depressions  

Seabed mining could sink the fishing industry

If unchecked, deep sea mining could impact fish stocks and Pacific Island communities along with it.

Sea butterflies are threatened by climate change. Here’s how this can impact Antarctic marine ecosystems

Ocean acidification more dangerous for shelled, smaller sea butterflies but can impact entire ocean foodweb  

Total weight of humans is 10 times that of all wild mammals put together

The weight distribution is also skewed: 40% global biomass of wild land mammals is concentrated in only 10 species

Fisheries institute spent Rs 10.18 crore on old vessel but didn’t use it for student learning: CAG

The average utilisation of the vessel in a year was just five days between 2014-15 & 2020-21

Plastic pollution in aquatic systems may triple by 2040: UNEP

Around 23-37 million tonnes of waste could end up in the ocean a year by 2040, up from 9-14 million tonnes a year in 2016 

DTE impact: Orissa High Court panel visits Gahirmatha to study Olive Ridley conservation

A survey found nearly 800 dead sea turtles on the Odisha coast, DTE reported February 4

DTE impact: Orissa High Court notices to officials on death of Olive Ridley turtles

A survey found nearly 800 dead sea turtles on the Odisha coast, DTE reported February 4

Tagged Oliver Ridleys return to Gahirmatha after a decade

Around 4.6 lakh turtles have already laid eggs at Gahirmatha marine sanctuary, while their mass nesting started in February 

WHO should take a holistic view

Though the global health organisation talks about chemical residues in food, it has not put special emphasis on pesticides. It is also silent on …

Overusing water

Here is the message of a recent piece of research: we are extracting too much water from rivers, streams and lakes. The implication is significant:…

Science and Technology - Briefs

A million-year-old marine DNA can reveal how climate change will affect Antarctica

New form of analysis helps scientists study long-term responses of ocean ecosystems

Olive Ridley breeding season: Locals clean up Gahirmatha beach

Over two tonnes of trash, mostly plastic items, was collected from the beach

The world was in high fever in 2020

The State of the Global Climate 2020 lists the major global warming milestones

India needs a national action plan soon to conserve sharks: scientists

The country has been witnessing a steady decline in shark catch since 1998

Kerala prepares data bank on marine biodiversity

Initiative enters second phase; first phase covered 20 km of coastline

Multi-powered craft

Bleached to death

As ocean waters get warmer, coral reefs look even paler this year

‘Statistically impossible’ heat extremes are here — we identified the regions most at risk

At-risk regions include Afghanistan, several countries in Central America and far-eastern Russia