Most of us know the Arctic exists, but how many have had the chance to see it for ourselves? In our new series Frozen Islands, Arctic Seas, conservation biologist Joshua Powell gives us a glimpse of the remote Russian High Arctic and discusses issues vital to biodiversity in the region. This week, he talks about the threat of plastic waste, which seabirds often mistake for bits of fish. New episodes every Wednesday - subscribe now so you don’t miss out!

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Talks at Google.

Peter Kohler, founder of The Plastic Tide project, and Dr. Stefan Leutenegger, Lecturer in Robotics at Imperial College London, discuss how the ocean is under siege from an ever-increasing tide of waste, and how technology like machine learning and drones can help us fix the issue.

Threatening not only a vital economic resource worth an estimated $5 trillion a year but also humanity’s very own life support. The Plastic Tide initiative was started almost two years ago, with the aim of quantifying the problem using drone imagery of UK beaches and beyond: raised awareness and precise data will hopefully drive solutions at societal, political, and technological levels.

They have collected a huge database of drone imagery around UK beaches last year, and a prototype algorithm developed already combines a deep-learning-based plastic detection scheme in the images with geo-referenced mapping. The speakers will show early results and present related research in the space of localization, mapping, and drone flight; and furthermore, sketch the way forward to limit the plastic tide swamping our oceans.

Learn more here.

Plastics are durable, light and versatile. However, they take up to 400 years to decompose. This will affect people’s lives for the next 16 generations.

Our excessive use of plastics is impacting ocean health and biodiversity. By 2050, there could be more plastics in the ocean than fish by weight.

The Plastic Oceans remake of the Evian Baby Advert Shocking to see Evian using the Ocean to sell what is causing it so much harm! Please Share to raise awareness of this URGENT issue!

Apr 8, 2021, SustainabilityX magazine

Plastic pollution in the oceans is so widespread that it is becoming a major concern for environmentalists around the world. It is estimated that more than four million tons of plastic waste get into the ocean every year and the number is expected to rise in the next 10 years.

Recently, scientists discovered a huge load of microplastic frozen in the Arctic ocean increasing fear about the harm they may be causing to marine life and humans. They found around 12,000 pieces of microplastic hidden in a sample of one liter of ice seawater. The microplastics were so little that they could easily be ingested by tiny sea animals.

What can we do to tackle this global challenge? Here are five solutions that can help.

The first Coca-Cola bottle made partially from marine litter. #worldwithoutwaste

Sir David Attenborough has an update from Blue Planet II about our plastic consumption.

Sir David Frederick Attenborough; born 8 May 1926)is an English broadcaster and natural historian. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural history documentary series forming the Life collection that together constitute a comprehensive survey of animal and plant life on Earth.

Published on Oct 24, 2012

Published August 30th by Humans and Nature. 

Josephine Mandamin an Anishabaabewe grandmother with a copper pail of water in one hand and a staff in the other, took on a sacred walk, traversing over 10,900 miles around each of the Great Lakes. She is known as the “Water Walker.”

According to the Michigan Sea Grant, the Great Lakes shoreline is equal to almost 44% of the circumference of the earth.  “When you see someone walking with a pail of water, you wonder, where is she going with that water.”

So the message is, water is very precious, and I will go to any lengths to and direction to carry the water to the people.”

“As women, we are carriers of the water. We carry life for the people. So when we carry that water, we are telling people that we will go any lengths for the water. We’ll probably even give our lives for the water if we have to. We may at some point have to die for the water, and we don’t want that,” said Mandamin.

If you think technology is going to be the big fix to address the availability, use and conservation of water, you might want to give a close listen to the idea of a Water Ethic.