Old fish few and far between under fishing pressure

Like old-growth trees in a forest, old fish in the ocean play important roles in the diversity and stability of marine ecosystems. Critically, the longer a fish is allowed to live, the more likely it is to successfully reproduce over the course of its lifetime, which is particularly important in variable environmental conditions.

A new study by University of Washington scientists has found that, for dozens of fish populations around the globe, old fish are greatly depleted — mainly because of fishing pressure. The paper, published online Sept. 14 in Current Biology, is the first to report that old fish are missing in many populations around the world.

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The garbage spot in the Pacific frightens with its scale – expert

Recently, a new discovery of a massive amount of plastic floating in the South Pacific was shocking. It is yet another piece of bad news in the fight against ocean plastic pollution. This patch was recently discovered by Captain Charles Moore, founder of the Algalita Research Foundation, a non-profit group dedicated to solving the issue of marine plastic pollution, tells National Geografic.  


“The garbage spot in the Pacific, which was recently discovered, scares with its scales. Its area is 2.5 million square meters. These are frightening figures and this is just what we happened to see. The oceral picture of the actual scale of pollution is still outside the field of view of mankind. Mankind is rapidly breaking down the planet and its inhabitants. According to the study “National Geografic” from 2014, in the World Ocean there are 5.25 trillion plastic particles with the total weight of 269 thousand tons. It is believed that the natural way of plastic decays for 450 years. These figures are frightening. Plastic in soil and water carries a huge threat to nature and wildlife. It becomes a reason for the death of many terrestrial and marine animals. The problem lies with each of us, from the plastic manufacturer to its consumer. This is a huge problem that must be solved at all costs” – told Alexandra Batiy, vice president of Eastern Europe Association of the Greens.

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What are pesticides doing in our eggs

In case you missed the news this week, here’s what we know so far: during the first week in August, the Dutch food safety authority (NWMA) announced that they discovered tens of thousands of eggs contaminated with fipronil – a toxic anti-lice pesticide, banned in food production in the EU. Dutch and Belgian police have made arrests at the homes of buyers of the fipronil-laced pesticides.

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Earth Overshoot Day: From this day on we’re using an unsustainable amount of the Earth’s resources

Today marks Earth Overshoot Day – the day by which the human race will have used more of Earth’s natural resources than the planet can renew in the whole year.

Put simply, we use more ecological resources and services than nature can regenerate and this puts the Earth on an unsustainable trajectory.

Through overfishing, overharvesting forests, and emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than forests can sequester, humans are demanding more from the earth than it can produce.

Every natural resource that we use from this day – 2 August – onwards is in effect unsustainable in the long term. Over the course of a year we use 170 per cent of the world’s natural output.

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US will join climate talks despite quitting Paris accord

The US State Department has officially informed the United Nations it will withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, but has left the door open to re-engaging if the terms improved for the United States.

The State Department said in a press release the United States would continue to participate in United Nations climate change meetings during the withdrawal process, which is expected to take at least three years.

“The United States supports a balanced approach to climate policy that lowers emissions while promoting economic growth and ensuring energy security,” the department said in the release.

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France passes ‘pioneering’ food waste bill to ban supermarkets from binning unused food

France passes new food waste bill obliging supermarkets to hand over unused food to charity and not destroy leftover products, claiming the law will be “unique in Europe”

France has passed a law banning supermarkets from binning unused food

France is to enact a law to reduce the estimated 7 million tons of food wasted in the country each year.

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