A surprising number of drifting sea creatures were found living in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Translucent, fragile marine creatures that drift through the sea are riding the motion of the ocean to a destination that’s infamous as a home for trash: the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Ocean surface currents have shaped the enormous garbage pile for decades, funnelling human-made debris into a region that extends for hundreds of thousands of square miles in the North Pacific, spanning waters between Hawaii and California.
But that’s not all the currents are transporting. A surprising number of delicate, floating invertebrates, called neustons, are making the Great Pacific Garbage Patch home, according to data from a new study.
In particular, there are violet sea snails in the Janthina genus and bright-blue jellyfish relatives known as sea rafts (Velella genus) and blue sea buttons (Porpita genus).
They’re part of a community of creatures thriving in the 620,000 square miles (1.6 million square kilometres) of plastic debris — an area roughly the size of Alaska — that’s hosting a floating ecosystem.
At the heart of the garbage patch, the abundance of these drifters was comparable to that of neustons in the Sargasso Sea, a region of the Atlantic Ocean named for the quantities of Sargassum seaweed on its surface. The Sargasso was previously the only ocean spot known to host neustons in such high densities, researchers reported Thursday in the journal PLOS Biology.
With neustons so plentiful in the Sargasso, the scientists wondered if there might also be a neuston presence in an ocean region shaped by similar surface current activity: the garbage patch, said marine biologist Rebecca Helm, the study’s senior author and an assistant professor of environmental science at Georgetown University’s Earth Commons Institute in Washington, DC.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch and the Sargasso Sea are both oceanic gyres — marine zones where multiple ocean currents converge to form a vortex (though the Sargasso Sea is known for its floating algae rather than drifting garbage). There are five main oceanic gyres, and the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre is where the best-known garbage patch lies.
Unlike all other seas, the Sargasso has no land boundaries. It’s defined by ocean currents of the North Atlantic Gyre, which flood the Sargasso with multitudes of floating organisms. Perhaps, Helm told CNN, the whirling currents of the North Pacific Gyre were doing the same thing, carrying marine creatures into the garbage patch along with all the plastic trash. It’s not clear if neustons were collecting there before the garbage patch existed, and other researchers who visited the region in recent years focused on plastic rather than on sea snails and jellies, she added.
“No one was looking for and documenting the surface life that they found,” she said.
But when long-distance swimmer and environmental activist Benoît Lecomte swam through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 2019, he and his crew gathered data on floating life as well as drifting litter.
Violet snails in the Janthina genus build floating bubble rafts by trapping air bubbles that they coat with mucus and stick together
In just one day alone, they counted more than 3,000 pieces of plastic, along with a large plastic drum, tangles of rope and multiple “ghost nets” (abandoned fishing nets). Lecomte later told CNN that swimming through the microplastic-filled water was like “looking up at the skies on a snowy day — but in reverse.”
Over the course of the 80-day expedition, Lecomte swam through the plastic-littered water for up to eight hours each day. Meanwhile, the crew was busy collecting samples from the water. In addition to gathering plastic, they towed a small mesh “neuston net” behind their boat to capture the tiny, fragile specimens, which they identified, counted, photographed and then returned to the ocean. Once the journey was over, their data was handed off to the study authors for analysis.
Some of the crew’s trawls captured “a couple of buckets worth” of wee floaters, “more than I’ve seen anywhere I’ve ever been,” said Helm, who didn’t take part in the swim. “The fact that we found so many out in the middle of the ocean was really exciting.”
Helm and her coauthors used computer models to estimate neuston densities in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, relative to plastic bits and other types of ocean life based on the samples collected by Lecomte and his crew. The study team found that the number of sea snails, sea rafts and blue buttons was even higher in the centre of the patch, where there was more plastic in the water than it was around the edges.
“The sheer abundance was so surprising,” Helm said.
And yet the abundance of these animals in the garbage patch is rivalled by the abundance of plastic — at least 87,000 tons (79,000 metric tons) by some estimates, with microplastics distributed throughout the water column. It’s not yet clear how garbage patch neustons are affected by living amid so much litter, though other marine organisms, such as some types of barnacles, have adapted to live on ocean plastic, so answering that question may not be simple, Helm said.
And because jellies such as Velella and Porpita are a favourite meal for sea turtles and seabirds, those animals might also be encountering and swallowing more plastic if they’re following their food deep into the garbage patch, she added.
In other words, finding lots of neustons in the garbage patch is just the first step; further research will be needed to understand their distribution across the region and how their interactions and ecology are shaped by living in a trash-filled marine neighbourhood, the study authors reported.
“We’re at the very beginning,” Helm said. “This is like discovering life on Mars.”
, CNN
Mindy Weisberger is a science writer and media producer whose work has appeared in Live Science, Scientific American and How It Works magazine.
A tiny Hawaiian island is finally free of invasive rats. Now scientists are trying to coax back lost seabird colonies.
Scientists are rebuilding a seabird paradise on Lehua Island, a small, crescent-shaped volcanic cone 35 kilometres west of Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i. Before the arrival of European explorers in the 1800s, the island’s steep headlands teemed with hundreds of thousands of raucous seabirds, including albatrosses, terns, and petrels, whose guano oozed down bluffs to enrich waters brimming with fish. Native Hawaiians travelled to the rugged island by canoe to fish and gather shellfish. But the ecosystem began unravelling with the introduction of invasive rats that decimated seabird eggs and chicks, rabbits that displaced birds from their burrows and mowed down native vegetation, and plants that colonized the disturbed ground. Seabird numbers plummeted, and some species abandoned Lehua.
Over the past 20 years, however, Hawai‘i’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife has led a concerted campaign of research, hunting, and aerial poisoning to finally drive off the rabbits and rats. The work, conducted with help from the California-based nonprofit Island Conservation, the National Tropical Botanical Garden, the US Coast Guard, and others, is already paying off. The number of ‘ā (the Hawaiian name for red-footed boobies) and other species that survived the invaders are increasing in the state sanctuary, which is uninhabited by people and closed to most visitors.
Lehua’s newly rat-free status makes it a crucial refuge for seabirds, says Sheri Mann, the Hawai‘i Division of Forestry and Wildlife forester overseeing the restoration efforts. The island is a haven for other reasons, too: its steep and rocky coastline climbs to the height of a 60-story building, safeguarding seabird habitat even as seas continue to rise.
Now, Mann and her colleagues are left with an entirely different challenge: how to bring back the seabirds that have long since abandoned Lehua Island, including the ʻuaʻu (Hawaiian petrel), ‘ewa‘ewa (sooty tern), and hinaokū (blue-grey noddy). Fortunately, the scientists have a sneaky plan to lure them in.
The restoration team is deploying wooden seabird decoys surrounded by mirrors and solar-powered speakers that broadcast bird calls from the island’s steep slopes. The sights and sounds are meant to trick passing birds into thinking the island is a busy breeding colony. Scientists have used artificial social signals to deceive birds elsewhere, including on Oʻahu, Hawai’i, where results have been promising.
“We’re also throwing out calls of birds we’re not sure have ever been there,” says Mann. The critically endangered ‘akē‘akē (band-rumped storm petrel) for instance, has been picked up on the island’s listening devices, but scientists aren’t sure if the species has ever lived on Lehua. If they can lure it in, the rat-free island could be a boon to the petrel’s overall survival.
Alongside their deceptive scheme, Mann and her colleagues are also restoring Lehua’s native vegetation as a nesting and rearing habitat—vital for seabird recovery. The work is expensive and difficult. Botany crews travel to the island’s rough shores by boat or helicopter to remove weeds. Some areas are so steep that crews pack native seeds into dissolvable clay balls, then toss or slingshot them onto the bluffs favoured by birds.
To Patty Baiao, who has worked on Lehua since 2016 as a seabird expert with Island Conservation, the biggest threat is reinvasion by rats, or the introduction of other invasive species, such as mongooses, mice, and fire ants, that are widespread across nearby islands. Though access to Lehua is severely restricted, Baiao’s team is drafting a biosecurity plan to prevent restoration crews from accidentally introducing invasives as people move between islands.
But barn owls don’t need to hitch a ride to Lehua Island. The non-native predators fly in from nearby islands at night to prey on eggs and chicks. A single owl can do so much damage that restoration crews use infrared goggles and seabird recordings as lures to hunt the owls at night.
If the scientists’ scheme works, the return of seabirds—and their prodigious poop—should have trickle-down effects around the island. Divers are surveying coral, seaweed, and fish populations to understand how the marine ecosystem might benefit. Baiao and others close to the project, including Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner Sabra Kauka, who has travelled to the island with scientists to provide traditional blessings, say a healthier ocean environment will help maintain traditional fisheries that Native Hawaiians and others rely on today.
Baiao envisions Lehua as a predator-free island where seabirds are once again abundant, and critically endangered species like ‘akē‘akē and ʻaʻo (Newell’s shearwater) find refuge.
Baiao hopes Lehua can be a model for how to tackle challenging restoration work on other important islands. “The beauty of these projects is they build knowledge,” she says. “Each project is a stepping stone to the next.”
Tim Lydon
Climate models warn of more extreme weather events as the world’s ocean surface temperature hits record high
Climate change is not a vague and distant threat anymore, it is happening now, and its consequences are becoming more severe and frequent with each passing day. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and natural disasters have become commonplace worldwide. According to the latest reports from around the world, climate change is wreaking havoc on the global weather system, and the news paints a bleak picture of what’s to come.
Examples of these are already all around us. The U.S. state of California has been relentlessly hit by severe weather conditions, including heavy rain, strong winds, and thick snow, over the past three months. The state was previously facing a drought, but these recent events have led to devastating floods, and blizzards that have paralyzed the region, and numerous deaths.
Recently released data indicates that the state has received the most significant snowpack on record. This has prompted discussions with atmospheric and climate scientists, who shed light on the factors driving the surge in wet weather and how the state could be affected by a warmer future.
Add to this scientists’ warning on devastating tornadoes that have ripped through parts of the eastern and southern US could be a sign of the damage that will become more common due to global heating. Over a period of two weeks, more than 50 people have lost their lives due to tornadoes and thunderstorms, with the latest storm system causing widespread destruction in states such as Alabama, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
And this is just the United States, many other countries are facing similar weather-related catastrophes like the dry European winter drying canals in Venice and the African coast being hit by the longest-lasting tropical cyclone. US government data has now indicated that the temperature of the world’s ocean surface has reached a record high since the beginning of satellite records, leading to marine heatwaves across the planet.
According to preliminary data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the average temperature at the ocean’s surface has been 21.1C since the start of April, surpassing the previous record of 21C set in 2016 (figure above). Climate scientists warn that this is a concerning trend and could have severe consequences for marine ecosystems and the planet as a whole.
The oceans’ temperature is a particular cause of concern, with recent reports indicating that the world’s ocean surface temperature is headed off the charts. The oceans absorb a significant amount of the heat that is trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere by greenhouse gases. The rising ocean temperatures are not just a threat to marine life and habitats but also have serious implications for human health and food security.
And this is where it makes it scary, all these events are interconnected. Hotter oceans not only have a limited capacity to absorb atmospheric heat, but they also provide more energy for storms, as well as putting ice sheets at risk and pushing up global sea levels, caused by salt water expanding as it warms. Thus the gigantic atmospheric rivers that poured down over California and devastating tornadoes over the mid-western U.S.
And talking about ice sheets, Global warming is accelerating the melting of ice in Antarctica, and the increased amount of freshwater flooding into the ocean is disrupting the flow of the Antarctic overturning circulation. As a result, a major ocean circulation that forms around Antarctica could be headed for collapse, risking significant changes to the world’s weather, sea levels, and the health of marine ecosystems.
Why is this important? You see, the Antarctic overturning circulation is a vital component of a worldwide system of currents that transport heat, oxygen, and nutrients across the planet (figured below). In the vicinity of Antarctica, frigid, saline water descends to depths surpassing 4,000 meters. The descent of the dense, oxygenated water stimulates the deepest movement of the overturning circulation. The water flows north, carrying oxygen and nutrients to the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans. A comparable process also takes place off the coast of Greenland.
However, indications suggest that the overturning circulation is decelerating, disrupted by the rising volume of meltwater originating from Antarctica, which is diluting the waters, making them less salty and, therefore, less dense, causing them to sink with reduced force. Additionally, the melting process is intensifying due to elevated levels of greenhouse gas emissions, predominantly from burning fossil fuels, that are heating up the atmosphere and oceans.
And now Climate scientists are also indicating an increased likelihood of an El Niño emerging later this year — a phenomenon characterized by Pacific Ocean warming that can heighten the chances of devastating weather events across the planet. Certain models are suggesting the potential emergence of an extreme, or “super El Niño,” later this year. This variety is distinguished by exceptionally high temperatures in a central area of the Pacific encircling the equator.
The previous super El Niño in 2016 was a contributing factor in driving global temperatures to unprecedented levels, exacerbated by human-induced global warming that triggered floods, droughts, and epidemics. In a recent report, the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia stated that all seven models it evaluated, including those from weather bureaus in the US, Japan, and the UK, indicate that ocean surface temperatures will surpass the El Niño threshold by August.
Needless to say, the latest news from around the world paints a grim picture and highlights the urgent need for action to mitigate the effects of climate change and transition to a more sustainable future. Governments, corporations, and individuals all have a role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adopting sustainable business practices, and reducing our environmental footprint. It is time for us to take action to secure the future of our planet.
Faisal Khan / Medium
The Albanian government has declared the Vjosa River as the first wild river national park in Europe, following an almost decade-long campaign by environmental NGOs. The Vjosa River is one of the last free-flowing waterways in Europe and is home to over 1,000 animal and plant species, including the critically endangered Balkan lynx and the endangered Egyptian vulture. The river flows 168 miles from the Pindus mountains in Greece through narrow canyons, plains, and forests in Albania to the Adriatic coast.
The creation of the national park is the result of a collaboration between the Albanian government, international experts, NGOs from the Save the Blue Heart of Europe campaign, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and outdoor gear company Patagonia. The 12,727 hectare (31,500 acre) park aims to ensure that the Vjosa River and its unique ecosystems are safeguarded. The park has been given IUCN category II park status, a high level of protection similar to that of a wilderness, covering “large-scale ecological processes”, species and ecosystems, crucial to ensuring dams and gravel extraction are banned. It is expected to be operational in 2024.
The creation of the national park has been described as a “truly historic moment” for nature as well as social and economic development by Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama. He announced the park at a ceremony at Tepelenë castle overlooking the river, attended by stakeholders and ministers. Rama emphasized that “protecting an area does not mean that you enshrine it in isolation from the economy”, citing that national parks attract 20% more tourists compared with non-protected areas. Albania hopes to regenerate villages in the Vjosa region through ecotourism. The country attracted 7.5 million visitors last year, more than twice its 2.8m population.
The park will encompass the 118 miles of the Vjosa River in Albania, three main tributaries, and some land, including areas at risk of flooding. Phase II will add other tributaries. Unlike the IUCN’s Wilderness Protected Areas, which limit the number of visitors, it will allow recreational tourism and some other activities such as local fishing, particularly for 60,000 residents in the catchment.
The Albanian government is also starting a joint process with the Greek authorities to create the Aoos-Vjosa transboundary park, aiming to protect the entire river across both countries, who agreed in January to sign a memorandum of understanding specifying the next actions.
Boris Erg, director of the European office at IUCN, commended the Albanian government for its leadership and ambition and invited other governments to show similar ambition to protect 30% of the planet by 2030. Europe has the most obstructed river landscape in the world, with barriers such as dams, weirs, and fords, estimated to number more than a million, according to a 2020 EU study in 28 countries. Fragmenting of rivers affects their ability to support life.
Ulrich Eichelmann, a conservationist and founder of Riverwatch and part of the Save the Blue Heart of Europe campaign, praised the creation of the national park as a blueprint for wild rivers elsewhere. He stated that most people in central Europe have never seen a wild, living river, free from human interference, that isn’t diverted or dammed or built up with embankments and where biodiversity is low as a result. In contrast, the Vjosa River is full of complexity and without interference.
Karen McVeigh/The Guardian
The largest river and wetland restoration initiative in history was launched at UN Water Conference
A coalition of six countries, namely Colombia, DR Congo, Ecuador, Gabon, Mexico, and Zambia, have launched the Freshwater Challenge, the largest ever initiative to restore degraded rivers, lakes, and wetlands to tackle the world’s worsening water, climate, and natural crises.
The coalition aims to restore 300,000km of rivers and 350 million hectares of wetlands by 2030, with freshwater ecosystems providing a wealth of benefits to people and nature, including mitigating and adapting to climate change and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
A third of the world’s wetlands have been lost over the past 50 years, with rivers and lakes the most degraded ecosystems in the world, pushing fish populations, many of which are vital for community food security, to the brink.
The initiative calls on all governments to commit to clear targets in their updated National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, National Determined Contributions, and National Implementation Plan for the SDGs to urgently restore healthy freshwater ecosystems.
The Freshwater Challenge is a country-driven initiative with an inclusive, collaborative approach to implementation, where governments and their partners will co-create freshwater solutions with indigenous people, local communities, and other stakeholders.
A breeding pair of Eurasian beavers are set to return to west London's Paradise Fields, Ealing, marking the first time in 400 years that beavers will inhabit the area. The conservation groups behind the project received £40,000 from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to create a publicly accessible reintroduction site. This initiative, which is part of the urban rewilding project, aims to challenge perceptions and demonstrate how beavers can be managed in an urban setting while monitoring the flood mitigation effects.
The project is viewed as an important step in rewilding efforts as wild beaver populations in Kent and Oxfordshire move closer to London. The wetland will provide an opportunity to study how beavers interact with an urban river catchment and with urban communities. The chair of the Ealing Wildlife Group, Dr Sean McCormack, hopes that the project will encourage people to remember how close they once lived alongside these ecosystem engineers.
The Rewild London Fund has supported 22 projects across the capital, including this beaver reintroduction initiative. Khan stated that he is committed to reversing the trends of declining biodiversity and the destruction of nature and that rewilding is an exciting way to create healthier ecosystems and allow humans and wildlife to live together more harmoniously.
Beavers have hunted to extinction in Britain 400 years ago for their fur, glands and meat. However, they have begun to reappear in the country through government-licensed beaver releases within enclosures, as well as illegal releases. In 2022, beavers were given legal protection in England, as they are now recognised as native wildlife. Environmentalists hope that the upcoming beaver strategy will pave the way for these animals to be released to roam wild.
Canada lags behind the U.S. on spending to protect the Great Lakes
The federal government says it's making Canada's largest investment ever in protecting the nation's sources of fresh water — including the Great Lakes.
Commitments announced by the government during U.S. President Joe Biden's visit and in the recent budget bring the federal government's total investment to $750 million, said Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.
"[It brings] us very close to our commitment to invest $1 billion ... in this mandate. So we're not quite there yet," he told CBC News.
The government announced during Biden's visit it will be spending $420 million to clean up and restore the Great Lakes. That money is part of the $750 million total.
During the 2021 election campaign, the Liberals committed to spending more than $1 billion over ten years to protect and restore freshwater bodies, including rivers, large lakes and the Great Lakes.
Last week's budget earmarked $650 million over ten years for the Fraser River, the Mackenzie River, Lake Winnipeg, the Lake of the Woods, Lake Simcoe, the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes.
The money is intended to support monitoring, assessment and restoration work, to prevent the release of harmful chemicals and to reduce the frequency of algae blooms.
Canada's freshwater sources face ongoing threats from plastic and toxic chemical pollution, algae blooms from excessive agricultural fertilizer runoff, and invasive species. In the Prairies, they're threatened by shrinking glaciers and drought.
These threats affect plant and aquatic life and the communities that rely on these bodies of water for drinking water and recreation. Canada is home to 20 per cent of the planet's supply of fresh water; Guilbeault said Canada hasn't always lived up to the responsibility.
And he admits Canada needs to catch up to U.S. investments in freshwater source protection and restoration.
"[The Americans] have, in the past few years, made very significant investments early in the Great Lakes," Guilbeault said. "We had made the commitment to invest more."
Michelle Woodhouse, program manager for water at Environmental Defence, agreed Canada needs to match U.S. efforts to protect the Great Lakes.
"Very fair to say we have been lagging behind," she said, "It has been decades of chronic underfunding."
According to calculations by environmental groups, the United States has invested $3.8 billion US in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative since 2010. By comparison, the Canadian government has allocated $44.84 million to the Great Lakes Protection Initiative. Even on a per capita basis, Canada is trailing.
Environmental groups and U.S. mayors applauded Canada's funding commitment, despite the gap.
"Representing an international border community on the shoreline of the Great Lakes, I am thrilled to see this kind of cooperation and coordination between the U.S. and Canadian governments to enhance the health of the Great Lakes," said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan in a statement from the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative.
The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) manages the nine watersheds that run through the Greater Toronto Area.
In 1987, the Toronto waterfront was named as one of 42 areas of concern by the International Joint Commission. The IJC is a bi-national commission established by Canada and the U.S. to regulate cross-border projects that affect water bodies along the border. The IJC identifies "areas of concern" as locations within the Great Lakes that have experienced high levels of environmental damage.
Since then, the TRCA has been working to clean up Lake Ontario. Although it has made progress, it still has to close beaches occasionally and deal with algae blooms and concerns about wildlife habitat. The TRCA also maintains restrictions on fish consumption.
Namrata Shrestha, a senior manager at the TRCA, said investments by the federal government are welcome.
"We do have a lot of issues with our Great Lake system, especially Lake Ontario," Shrestha said. "There a lot of issues on water quality and its implications on not just the ecosystem per se … but also the cascade effect of it, of what that means for us as a community."
The Toronto waterfront is among 12 of 14 Canadian areas of concern that Environment and Climate Change Canada is promising to clean up by 2030. The department says that over the next decade, it will focus on the following contaminated or degraded areas:
- Thunder Bay
- Nipigon Bay
- Peninsula Harbour
- St. Mary's River
- St. Clair River
- St. Clair River
- Detroit River
- Niagara River
- Hamilton Harbour
- Toronto and region
- Bay of Quinte
- St Lawrence River
Three Canadian areas of concern have already been restored and delisted: Collingwood Harbour, Severn Sound and Wheatley Harbour.
By David Thurton
CBC Senior reporter
Hidroelectrica established a joint venture partnership with Masdar from the United Arab Emirates for the development of renewable energy projects.
Ahead of its stock market listing, Romania’s largest electricity producer Hidroelectrica is founding a renewables firm with Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company – Masdar, ZF reported. The state-owned hydropower producer’s shareholder assembly has supported the initiative. The joint venture would develop, invest in, build and operate green energy facilities, the article reveals.
The government controls 80% of the utility.
In December, Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA) and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) joined Mubadala Investment Co., the emirate’s investment fund, as shareholders in Masdar. The state-controlled company from the United Arab Emirates has ambitious worldwide ambitions in the renewables business including green hydrogen.
Masdar is expanding its presence in the green energy sector throughout the world
According to Masdar, it operates in more than 30 countries with a portfolio, including investment pledges, of more than USD 30 billion. It pointed to Hywind Scotland, the world’s first floating offshore wind farm, and the Sharjah Waste-to-Energy Project, the first commercial facility of its kind in the Middle East.
Masdar has a stake in the largest wind power plant in Romania’s neighbor Serbia.
Hidroelectrica, which is diversifying its business, has posted a 40% jump in revenues for last year, to EUR 1.85 billion at the current exchange rate, while net income surged 32.7% to EUR 813 million. The company sold 14.33 TWh of electricity, 16% less than in 2021, but the average price spiked 65% to EUR 114 per MWh.
Hidroelectrica is diversifying its portfolio and pledging major investments ahead of its long-awaited initial public offer
The Romanian utility is also entering the green hydrogen sector. It is the most likely candidate to win the concession for Europe’s biggest solar power project, according a report. Hidroelectrica is reviving dormant hydropower projects as Romania is rushing to use grants and soft loans from the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility. One of the endeavors is for two such systems on the Danube, which would be installed in cooperation with Bulgaria.
Minister of Energy Virgil Popescu said earlier that Masdar is interested in investments in energy corridors in Romania. After visiting the UAE, he said he discussed joint endeavors in establishing gas routes from the Persian Gulf, the installation of green energy plants, energy efficiency measures and the introduction of hydrogen.
By Igor Todorović
Balkan Green Energy News
China releases rare fish into Yangtze River
China released 200,000 Chinese sturgeon into the Yangtze River, the country's longest river, on Saturday, as part of its efforts to protect the rare fish.
The first batch of 100,000 fish was released in Yichang City of Hubei Province, with two more batches to follow, said China Three Gorges Corporation, noting that it has conducted the release every year since 1984.
With a history of 140 million years, Chinese sturgeon is among the most ancient vertebrate species on earth and is under Class-A protection in China.
The fish is mainly protected through artificial breeding followed by release into the natural environment.
Sturgeon released this year are between six months to 14 years old, a design aimed at fostering the restoration of the wild population, said Jiang Wei, chief engineer of the company's research center for the species.
Before the release, larger sturgeon nearing sexual maturity were branded with satellite tracers for analyzing environmental impacts on the species' survival in the wild, in order to inform future protection measures.
In recent years, China has put solid effort into ecological conservation along the Yangtze River, with a 10-year fishing ban launched in pivotal waters along the river at the beginning of 2021.
In December 2020, China promulgated the Yangtze River Protection Law, providing legal guarantee for biodiversity conservation in the river.
Register Now for the International Water Conference!
Event Time: June 1th, 2023
Event Address: Vikarijat, 58 Josipa Jurja Strossmayera, 31000 Osijek, Croatia
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We are pleased to announce International Water Conference (IWC) and invite you to the 2023 session.
This year we are supported by the City of Osijek (Croatia) and Rotary clubs and district governors from Serbia & Montenegro, Croatia and Hungary.
IWC is, since 2003, raising awareness of water problems and offering scientific solutions to these problems. It is an excellent opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience in the field of water and its challenges.
We are honoured to have participants representing Globcal International (Berea, Kentucky, US) and the Eco Warriors Club (Nairobi, Kenya). This year we will focus on the construction of sustainable water wells in the villages of the Maa people in Kenya.
We invite you to participate. Please check the registration form HERE !
We are grateful to all supporting the conference and would like to emphasize the importance of support and sponsorship, institutional or private sector alike.
Looking forward to meetings at the International Water Conference, we are sure of a fruitful and memorable experience.
Dragan Dabić
IWC Organizing Committee
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The international waters of the High Seas, that lie outside any country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), make up 64% of our global ocean and cover 46% of Earth’s surface. Nearly half of our planet is beyond the reach of any enforceable law or governance. It is estimated that just 1.3% of the High Seas is protected, compared to 17% of the land.
In March 2022, representatives of the world’s governments gathered at the United Nations in New York to negotiate the final terms of a new High Seas Treaty on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (the BBNJ). Unfortunately, member states failed to reach a consensus. An additional round of meetings was held in August of 2022, but still to no avail. “Despite an extra two-week negotiation session, countries ran out of time yet again, stalling over differences on sharing marine genetic resources,” commented an article by China Dialogue.
Now, member states hope to reach an agreement in New York during a new round of negotiations that began on 20 February and is expected to run for two weeks until 3 March.
“With the accelerating climate and biodiversity crises, time is not a luxury we have to put ocean health back on track,” commented Sarah Bevis from the High Seas Alliance in a statement. She added: “This time around, we need to seize the moment and get an ambitious treaty over the finish line, so we can roll up our sleeves and work on the crucial tasks of getting the treaty ratified and implemented.”
If adopted, the legally binding treaty would outline measures to protect global ocean health, foster climate resilience, as well as safeguard food security for people around the world, amongst other factors.
A letter from the High Seas Alliance and other partners to world governments present at the negotiations read: “Expectations are high that all States will accelerate international cooperation and demonstrate the flexibility required to finally deliver a strong and ambitious Treaty, marking the culmination of many years of discussion on this issue.”
It went on to say: “The new Treaty must deliver a set of vital conservation measures and tools to align global governance with modern scientific understanding of ocean ecosystems and the levels of protection required to safeguard them. Through a new, global decision-making body, various sectors and regional interests can be coordinated to ensure due consideration is given to marine biodiversity. This includes legal frameworks to designate marine protected areas (MPAs), including highly and fully protected areas, and strengthen assessment and management of human activities outside protected areas.”
With all eyes on New York in the coming days, the High Seas Alliance implemented a ‘treaty tracker’ to rate each country’s negotiating positions and keep track on the progress of the talks. While at least 49 countries have committed to achieve an outcome at the talks, it is yet to be seen what exactly this will entail. One of the main issues to figure out is how the new international body that would be set up following an agreement, would be working alongside other organisations.
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OCEANOGRAPHIC STAFF
Archeologists in China have found the remains of what may be the world's oldest known flush toilet.
Broken parts of the 2,400-year-old lavatory, as well as a bent flush pipe, were unearthed last summer by a research team among ancient palace ruins in the Yueyang archaeological site in the central city of Xi'an, according to Chinese state media.
Details of the find were released last week, sparking widespread interest in China and offering a rare insight into the privileged and comparatively advanced world of the country's ancient ruling elite.
Described by researchers as a "luxury object," the toilet was thought to have been located inside the palace, with a pipe leading to an outdoor pit, according to state-owned China Daily.
Liu Rui, a researcher at the Institute of Archeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who was part of the excavation team, told state media the toilet would have likely been reserved for high-ranking officials during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) and the later Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). He added that servants would likely have poured water into the toilet bowl every time it was used.
"The flush toilet is concrete proof of the importance the ancient Chinese attached to sanitation," Liu said, adding that there were very few records of indoor toilets in ancient times.
Access to clean, flush toilets remain an issue in parts of modern China. Early in his tenure, Chinese leader Xi Jinping promised to "revolutionize" the country's restrooms, as part of efforts to improve rural hygiene.
"The toilet issue is no small thing, it's an important aspect of building civilized cities and countryside," Xi said in an article in the state-owned People's Daily in 2018. "This work should be advanced as a specific task of rural revitalization and such shortcomings that affect the quality of people's life should be filled with great efforts."
Prior to the newly announced discovery, the invention of the first flush toilet was widely credited to English courtier John Harington, who supposedly installed one for Queen Elizabeth in the 16th century, though 4,000-year-old drainage systems that might have been connected with toilets have been found in northwest India.
The ruins from Yueyang, the former capital of Qin State and later the first capital of the Han Dynasty, were discovered in the 1980s. The recent find is part of a broader effort to understand ancient Chinese dynasties, including how people lived and how their cities were constructed, the Institute said in a statement announcing the discoveries.
Archaeologists are now analyzing soil samples collected from the toilet in hopes of finding out what people ate during that time, according to China Daily.
Written by
Tara Subramaniam, CNN
Denmark, the nation that built the world’s first offshore wind farm, has agreed to an ambitious plan for another global first – an energy island in the North Sea which could eventually be capable of supplying energy to a history-making 10 million homes. The move will create a critical boost to the world’s offshore wind capacity.
The first “hub and spoke” energy scheme will involve building an island 80 kilometres off the Danish coastline to act as the transmission centre for hundreds of wind turbines surrounding it. At $34 billion, it’s the largest construction project in Danish history.
The project is also a potential blueprint for other coastal nations to develop their own green energy sources. “It’s in Danish waters, yes, but it could conceptually be in any other country,” said Peter Larsen of the North Sea Wind Power Hub Programme.
Energy hub for the world
The initial phase for the artificial island is around the size of 18 soccer pitches. Initially, the North Sea hub will be capable of producing 3 gigawatts of electricity, but the plan is to scale up to 10 gigawatts, which is nearly one-and-a-half times Denmark’s current needs.
As well as supplying other European countries with electricity, the goal is to use the new offshore island to produce green hydrogen from seawater, which can also be exported. Large batteries on the island will store surplus electricity for use when demand is high.
Although the Danish government will own a majority stake, private companies will be invited to join a public/private partnership to build the project. Power will be supplied by as many as 600 giant wind turbines, each standing up to 260 metres tall.
Such efforts are key given new climate-first commitments from countries around the world. As Reuters has reported, the European Union intends to depend entirely on renewable energy by 2031, increasing its energy capacity 25-fold by 2050.
Offshore wind installations saw a slight dip in the mid-2000s, but have been growing ever since. In fact, 2020 saw record-breaking financial investments into offshore wind, according to new data from The Renewables Consulting Group
Scaling up while holding hands
The scaling up of offshore wind should be the catalyst for other ocean-based economic activities worldwide, according to Thomas Thune Andersen, Chairman of Danish green energy company Ørsted, which built the Vindeby wind farm.
“Setting up wind farms does have an impact on the local environment,” he told the World Economic Forum’s 2021 Davos Agenda virtual event. “But it’s also an opportunity to do other things,” he said.
There is a need “to set ambitions high” when it comes to offshore renewable energy, Andersen said, and to enable other activities in the same area, such as mariculture.
Governments, NGOs and businesses “all need to hold hands in order to do this,” he said. “We have seen very good examples already of seaweed farming, talking to fishermen about how we optimize that, how we build reefs and how we create other kinds of nurseries for fish.”
Andersen is one of more than 65 global leaders from business, civil society, international organizations, and science and technology who comprise the Friends of Ocean Action, an initiative convened by the Forum to fast-track solutions to the most pressing challenges facing our oceans.
By Douglas Broom
https://www.weforum.org/
Bots that attract small pieces of plastic waste could one day help remove the millions of microplastics floating in the sea.
A fish-shaped robot that can collect tiny pieces of plastic waste has been developed by scientists at Sichuan University, China. The bot uses light from a laser to flap its tail side-to-side and has a body that can attract molecules found on microplastics, causing them to stick to it as it swims past.
The robo-fish was, in part, inspired by marine life – its moving body uses a structure similar to a naturally strong and flexible substance found on the inside surface of clam shells: mother-of-pearl.
Mother-of-pearl, also known as nacre, is a layered material that looks almost like a brick wall under the microscope. It's this structure that the team mimicked in their robot, as the sliding layers enabled it to move its tail but the strength of the overall design made it more durable.
Now that the team have proven the robo-fish concept works, they'll move onto developing its ability to dive deeper and carry more microplastics out of the ocean.
All items that contain plastic can release microscopic amounts of plastic debris, which are called microplastics. These small bits of material – less than 5mm in size – build up on the seafloor. There, they can be mistaken for food and get stuck in an animal’s digestive tract, leading to starvation. Some plastics have been treated before use, and as their coating degrades it can release toxic chemicals into the water that poison nearby marine life.
No-one knows exactly how much plastic is in the world’s oceans. The most recent figures, published in 2015, estimate that somewhere between 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes of plastic enter the seas each year.
While reducing plastic waste and filtering wastewater before it gets to the ocean can help minimise the amount of microplastics in our seas, cleaning the already-tainted water is difficult. The tiny particles can get lodged deep within cracks and crevices on the seafloor, areas that are hard to reach using large and inflexible robots.
Science Focus
The new robo-fish, however, is just 15mm long. Its clever design also allows it to swim in all directions using a light source as its power. When a laser is shone on the fish's tail, the light deforms the material, causing it to bend. Done several times in succession makes the tail flap side to side, and the robo-fish can swim up to 2.67 times its own body length per second.
Its body also contains molecules that are slightly negatively charged, which attract the parts of the microplastics that are positively charged. This means the robo-fish is so 'sticky', that it doesn't need to get so close as to touch every single microplastic to collect it.
Currently, though, the team have only tested the fish on microplastics that float in water. The next test will be to see if the robot can attract plastic in as challenging an area as the seafloor.
By Amy Barrett
