The 1985 report of the discovery of an "ozone hole" over Antarctica focused attention on the idea that humans can have a significant impact on the global environment. This discovery, along with evidence that ozone is being lost at nearly all latitudes outside the tropics, has prompted much research into the causes of ozone depletion and the biological effects...
Some scientists warn growing levels of human-caused noise in the oceans from military sonar, ships, oil exploration and drilling, offshore construction, motor boats, and jetskis is disrupting and/or killing whales, dolphins, and other marine life. In 2001, 16 whales and a dolphin were stranded on the northern coast of the Bahamas. Six of the whales and the dolphin died;...
Marine debris and litter has become both a significant coastal and open ocean problem. Considerable portions of this debris is made of persistent synthetic materials such as plastics, and is not biodegradable as past product waste has been. Surveys have indicated that nearly 80 percent of marine debris originates from land-based activities.
The increasing influx of people into coastal zones...
Although only a small percentage of oil enters the ocean from major oil spills, it is from studies during those events that we understand the extreme toxicity oil has on marine animals. A smaller spill at the wrong time/wrong season and in a sensitive environment may prove much more harmful than a larger spill at another time of the...
Millions of global citizens live in areas where toxins shorten lives. Here are perhaps ten of the most polluted cities in the world. The primary pollutant in each city is noted in parentheses:
10. Sumgayit, Azerbaijan (petrochemicals)
This is another city that suffered from generations of environmental neglect in the former Soviet Union. The indiscriminate discharge of industrial pollutants into the...