healthy oceans

Tavaha: A documentary on saving European seas

‘Tavaha’ is a nordic expression for taking care of the ocean, and is also the title of a new, short documentary about the saving of the European seas. The new film provides us with insight and inspiration regarding the oceanic conservation around Europe from the Mediterranean to the icy waters of northern Atlantic.

European seas are in crisis. The devastation of life-sustaining ecosystems is a fact resulting from waste, pollution and climate change. Yet, an army of scientists and activists...

https://safety4sea.com/tavaha-a-documentary-on-saving-european-seas/

Call made to accelerate ocean sustainable use

The Belmont Forum called for proposals on ‘Transdisciplinary Research for Ocean Sustainability’. Along with Future Earth and JPI Oceans, they aim to gather researchers and other expertise to advance sustainable use of the ocean and minimize the effects of climate change. The deadline for project pre-registration is 31 January 2019.

Research consortia will bring together natural and social sciences and other societal partners, including the private sector, to design, develop and implement these...

https://safety4sea.com/call-made-to-accelerate-ocean-sustainable-use/

Oceans warm faster than expected, reach heat record in 2018

According to Reuters, it is estimated that the oceans are warming faster in comparison to the past, setting a new record on temperature in 2018, resulting to damaging marine life. Measurements, run by an international network of 3.900 floats that are deployed in the oceans since 2000, revealed an increased warming since 1971, than what it was calculated by the UN assessment of climate change in 2013.

Specifically, as written by the authors in China and the US in the journal of Science of ocean...

https://safety4sea.com/oceans-warm-faster-than-expected-reach-heat-record-in-2018/

5 reasons why oceans could improve in 2019

During 2018, human impacts and global climate change affected the world’s oceans. What is more, the severity of the plastics problem became more clear, with plastics being found 36,000 feet below sea level. However, despite the alarming situation in our oceans, there are reasons to feel optimistic that this will change.

More than 9 billion tons of plastic have been produced since the 1950s, with 7 billion tons ending as waste, in the form of microplastics. They originate mostly from packages and...

https://safety4sea.com/5-reasons-why-oceans-could-improve-in-2019/

How businesses can help the oceans

Decades of industrial pollution and overexploitation of fish stocks have largely affected the ocean’s ecological balance. As this is bad for the planet, NAMEPA suggests ways to businesses to reverse this situation.

In the US, one out of six jobs depends on the oceans, and the country’s ocean-based economy accounts for more than $200 billion each year. Despite the catastrophic damage that has been done, there is still time to save the oceans.

Businesses can help in this, Ginger Reid, NAMEPA notes,...

https://safety4sea.com/how-businesses-can-help-the-oceans/

Oceans absorb 60% more heat energy annually than the past

According to a study conducted by Princeton and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California-San Diego, each year during the past quarter century, the world’s oceans have absorbed an amount of heat energy that is 150 times the energy humans produce as electricity annually. Researchers suggest that the strong ocean warning is caused because Earth is more sensitive to fossil-fuel emissions than previously thought.

Namely, the researchers reported in the journal Nature...

https://safety4sea.com/oceans-absorb-60-more-heat-energy-annually-than-the-past/

Blockchain, AI as new tools to protect high seas

Technologies as Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain could help monitor the high seas aiming the preservation of the biological diversity of the world’s oceans, according to Reuters. Diplomats began negotiations, on September, on a legally binding treaty to protect oceans.

Namely, the meeting that was conducted at the United Nations in New York, aspires to have reached to an agreement by 2020.

The proposed treaty focuses on the ‘high seas’ – an area beyond the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone...

https://safety4sea.com/blockchain-ai-as-new-tools-to-protect-high-seas/

EU to deny citizens longer-lasting and repairable products resulting to e-waste

Major industry lobby groups have pressured the European Commission to leave plans for longer-lasting products despite increasing public support. But EU governments can still rescue the proposals during votes in December and January. The main categories of products concerned are lighting, displays, washing machines, dishwashers and fridges.

To begin with, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration points out that there is not a specific estimate for how much debris at sea is composed of...

https://safety4sea.com/eu-to-deny-citizens-longer-lasting-and-repairable-products-resulting-to-e-waste/

Indonesia: Sperm whale dead having 6kg of garbage in its stomach

A sperm whale was found dead in Indonesia having 115 plastic cups and 25 plastic bags in its stomach. This unfortunate incident raised concerns amongst environmentalists, focusing on the country’s major garbage problem.

Namely, the whale found dead in Indonesia highlighted the huge problem the country is facing on the matter of rubbish. Indonesia is the world’s second biggest contributor to marine debris, following China. It’s estimated that the country produces 1.29 million metric tones of litte...

https://safety4sea.com/indonesia-sperm-whale-dead-having-6kg-of-garbage-in-its-stomach/

Watch: Ocean Cleanup works on solutions to prevent plastic from escaping

Four weeks after the cleaning System 001 was first deployed in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), the largest accumulation of ocean plastic, The Ocean Cleanup informed of some problems in the operation. The plastic is exiting the system once it is collected, so the Foundation is currently working on causes and solutions to remedy this.

Because this is our beta system, and this is the first deployment of any ocean cleanup system, we have been preparing ourselves for surprises. Although we...

https://safety4sea.com/watch-ocean-cleanup-works-on-solutions-to-prevent-plastic-from-escaping/

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