They are invisible to the naked eye, present in every ocean on Earth, and accumulating in the tissues of marine organisms from plankton to whales. Microplastics — plastic fragments smaller than five millimetres — have become one of the defining environmental challenges of our era. Understanding their sources, behaviour, and impacts is the first step toward meaningful action. Where Do…
Category: Marine Pollution & Remediation
Understanding the sources and impacts of ocean pollution, and the science behind restoring affected marine environments.
Ocean Acidification: The Other CO2 Problem
When we think about the impacts of rising carbon dioxide emissions, we often think of warming temperatures and changing weather patterns. But the ocean’s role as a carbon sink — absorbing roughly 30 percent of all CO2 emitted by human activity — has a profound and often underappreciated consequence: ocean acidification. As the ocean absorbs more CO2, it becomes chemically…
Nutrient Pollution and Dead Zones: When Too Much of a Good Thing Becomes a Crisis
Nutrients are essential for all life in the ocean. Nitrogen and phosphorus fuel the growth of phytoplankton that form the base of marine food webs, producing the oxygen we breathe and supporting fisheries that feed billions. But when nutrient levels in coastal waters are artificially elevated through human activity, the consequences can be catastrophic — triggering algal blooms, depleting oxygen,…