Sperm Whales Found Dead In Germany, Stomachs FULL Of Plastic And Car Parts

The whales’ deaths are symbolic of humanity’s shocking disregard for marine life.

In January, 29 sperm whales were found stranded on shores around the North Sea, an area that is too shallow for the marine wildlife. Only recently were details of the animals’ necropsy released. 

However, scientists were deeply disturbed by what they found in the animals’ stomachs. According to a press release from Wadden Sea National Park in Schleswig-Holstein, many of the whales had stomachs FULL of plastic debris, including a 13-meter-long fishing net, a 70 cm piece of plastic from a car and other pieces of plastic litter. 

Some suggest that the animals thought the items were food, such as squid, which is their main staple. Others, however, believe that the travesty is largely a result of humanity’s shocking disregard for marine life, which has resulted in an overabundance of plastic in the oceans. Said Robert Habeck, environment minister for the state of Schleswig-Holstein: 

“These findings show us the results of our plastic-oriented society. Animals inadvertently consume plastic and plastic waste, which causes them to suffer, and at worst, causes them to starve with full stomachs.”

Nicola Hodgkins of Whale and Dolphin Conservation echoed that statement. She stated: “Although the large pieces will cause obvious problems and block the gut, we shouldn’t dismiss the smaller bits that could cause a more chronic problem for all species of cetacean – not just those who suction feed.” 

This isn’t the first time a sperm whale has been found dead with innards full of inedible contents. In 2011, a young whale was found floating dead off the Greek island of Mykonos. Its stomach was so distended, biologists thought the animal swallowed a giant squid. However, when its four stomachs were dissected, nearly 100 plastic bags and other pieces of debris were found. It should be noted that the plastic is not what killed the young male sperm whales. 

According to National Geographic, they died of heart failure. This was a result of mistakenly swimming into the North Sea, likely in search of squid, and then not being able to support their own body weights in the shallow water. As a result, their internal organs collapsed. Regardless, the fact that many of their stomachs were full of pollution is a horrible indictment of humans. As has been reported in the past, 80% of the plastic which is discarded on land ends up in the oceans, where it is consumed by wildlife or swirls for years in great garbage patches. 

The fact that mankind – a species with a smaller brain than a whale – is responsible for such a travesty is ironic and saddening.

Until humans learn the value of living sustainably while respecting all life forms, travesties such as this one will continue to take place. What are your thoughts? Please comment and share this news! 

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Floating Garden Purifies The Water Of The US’ Most Polluted Waterway

An oasis of greenery is floating on the Gowanus Canal in New York City, purifying the water and brightening the murky waterway.

The Gowanus Canal in New York City is known to be one of the most polluted waterways in the United States. You can imagine everyone’s surprise, then, when an oasis of greenery was spotted sprouting on the surface of the river three weeks ago.

Not only is the brackish water’s appeal improved with the improbable garden, the stream is being cleansed at the same time.

Called GrowOnUs, the project is an experiment in “floating infrastructure” that utilizes a process called phytoremediation to purify the waterway. Over thirty different kinds of plants act as sponges to clean, desalinate, and mitigate the chemicals affecting the murky canal.

The flora is grown inside the very same metal culvert piping used to carry sewage waste into the waterway, reports GoodNewsNetwork. The “test tubes” are made buoyant by environmentally sustainable construction materials like coconut fibers and bamboo.

New York company Balmori Associates, which specializes in creating eco-friendly sustainable infrastructure, is responsible for taking action on the GrowOnUs project after receiving a $20,000 grant from the Cornelia & Michael Bessie Foundation. Diana Balmori explains in the video above that three attempts had already been made to produce a sustainable patch of vegetation in the waters, but the pollution had been too much for the plants.

Now, using tougher, more conditioned greenery, the garden is thriving and benefiting the canal.

Ideally, project GrowOnUs will deliver a positive change in shoreline protection, wildlife activity, and financial income for the city. Some even hope it becomes the next wave in locally-grown food.

Said Balmori in a press release:

“We have pioneered floating landscapes, we now want to learn what can make these floating structures financially sustainable. Dr. Michael Balick at the New York Botanical Garden suggested we grow herbs, low maintenance crops.”

“In a few years NYC restaurants may be serving meals and drinks infused with herbs [and fruits] grown on one of these islands.”

How innovative and refreshing! 

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Deforestation In Brazil’s Amazon Rainforest Has Plummeted Almost 90% In The Past 10 Years

The number of square miles of rainforest cleared in a single year has been reduced from 10,500 in 2005 to 1,850 in 2015.

Brazil is seeing a lot more green – especially after slashing its rate of Amazonian deforestation by almost 90% within the past decade. 

The decline began in 2005 after Brazil became more aggressive in its efforts to protect the Amazon basin. The country began creating protected areas and designated more than half of that land for use in national parks. 

As GoodNewsNetwork reports, Brazil also placed a moratorium on soybeans, a highly-prized crop grown on deforested Amazon land. In addition, satellites were – and still are being – used to monitor farming and industrial activity, and the country has employed people on the ground to enforce environmental laws.

Conserve, an eco-conscious blog, has collected and shared a lot of information on how all of this was accomplished. For example, immense pressure was put on multi-national corporations to stop the clear-cutting, causing them to eventually agree to throttle back their operations.

In result, the number of square miles of rainforest cleared in a single year has been reduced from 10,500 in 2005 to 1,850 in 2015. As TrueActivist has shared before, individual and collective effort does matter – no matter how futile activism might seem in the present moment. For example, Shell recently declared it will stop drilling in the Arctic! Clearly, magnificent things can happen when people work together. 

Overall, the Amazonian deforestation rate in Brazil is now one-sixth of what it was in 2004. It has dropped from a peak of 27,400 square kilometers cleared per year to just 4,800.

This momentous achievement, according to research at Tropical Conservation Science, makes it easier to envision a future in which that rate is dropped to zero within the next decade.

As the Amazonian rainforest produces one-fifth of the world’s oxygen, protecting the valuable resource is in everyone’s best interest.

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Americans Are Sending Trash To Landfills 2x Faster Than Thought

According to Yale researchers, the average American tosses about 5 pounds of trash per day...

Yikes. If the amount of garbage piling up in US landfills was divided amongst all 316 million Americans,  it would mean each individual is responsible for tossing out about five pounds of trash per day. This inexcusable amount of waste is causing a staggering amount of trash to pile up in landfills and is negatively affecting the environment.

According to Yale researchers who calculated the actual (instead of just estimated) volume of garbage that landfills were reporting to the Environmental Protect Agency (EPA), US residents are actually throwing out twice as much trash as previously thought.

Perhaps it’s pure laziness or ingrained habit; whatever it is, Americans need to be made aware of this stat so they can reform their ways.

As Phys.org reports, in 2010, the EPA required a large number of municipal landfills to report how much trash was coming onto the property and being dumped. The requirement was mainly to monitor, and hopefully lower, dangerous methane emissions. However, the data proved to be useful in other ways.

According to the EPA, 135 million tons of trash was accumulated in 2012. The Yale researchers who pored over the data found that what was actually being thrown away was closer to 289 million tons. In 2013, numbers crept up another 5 million tons.

Thomas Kinnaman of Bucknell University, who studied the economics of recycling and waste, suggests that these numbers really aren’t as shocking as they appear to be. He argues that landfills have a lot of room to expand to accommodate the rising tons of waste. But just because space is still available, should Americans continue wasting so much? The common sense answer is “No.” 

If these numbers are correct, it could be assumed that Americans aren’t recycling as much as they should. The EPA estimates that recycling activity is near 34.5%, but John Powell of the Yale study says that the data represents more of a 21.4% ballpark. With 12.8% of landfill trash supposedly coming from construction and demolition debris, it would seem there’s still a lot of waste Americans produce that could be reused or repurposed.

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Earth Could Go 100% Renewable By 2050, Says New Report

According to a new report from Greenpeace, the world could be 100% renewable by 2050, and 85% renewable within just 15 years.

A new report from Greenpeace declares that the world can be 100% renewable by 2050, and 85% renewable in just 15 years.

According to the non-profit’s 2015 (R)evolution report, the path to 100% renewable is cost-neutral for the first time ever. Not only that, no new technological advancements are needed at this point to make the vision a reality.

The report is the latest in a series that has offered the most accurate projections of any major analysis, worldwide.

Emily Rochen of Greenpeace said:

“It’s basically political will. The primary premise of the Energy [R]evolution scenario is we have all of the solutions already on the table to get there.”

Under the scenario outlined in the report, global CO2 emissions would be stabilized by 2020 and would approach zero in 2050. Of course, during this period, fossil fuels would be phased out starting with the most carbon-intensive sources. 

The report predicts that by 2030, two-thirds of the word’s electricity could come from renewable sources such as wind and solar. 

It’s been shared many times before that transitioning to renewable energy is the only way to significantly decrease carbon emissions. In the United States, for example, a third of emissions come from the electricity sector. Another quarter comes from transportation, and industry – largely through electricity use and fossil fuel consumption – accounts for another 20%.

As part of its participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Untied States has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28% by 2030. And in December, global leaders will meet in Paris with the intention to develop a broad climate treaty to prevent average global temperatures from climbing past 2°C.

Some countries are already doing their part to benefit the environment and become carbon-neutral as fast as possible. Denmark, for example, produced 140% of its energy needs via wind power in one day, and Germany recently generated 78% of its electricity from renewable sources. 

Although economic considerations are often cited as the major hurdle to transitioning to renewable energy, the report relays how the shift is will actually benefit the job market. According to the Greenpeace report, at every point during the transition there would be more energy jobs than before. Rochen also pointed out that during the economic downturn, the solar industry experienced a double-digit job growth. She said,“Renewable energy definitely means more on the jobs front.”

By 2030, renewable energy will account for 87 percent of the jobs in the energy sector, the report says. The authors estimate there will be 9.7 million people working in solar PV.

“The cost of developing renewable energy sources has fallen steeply in recent years, and, at this point, the fuel savings are “cost neutral” with investment in renewable energy,” Rochon said.

That’s incredible news, especially considering that worldwide, governments pay $5.3 trillion annually to subsidize fossil fuels, according to a study by the International Energy Agency.

“Despite the fact that the playing field isn’t level and is tilted in the favor of fossil fuels, renewable energy sources are still winning,” Rochen said.

Think Progress shares that policies that support renewable energy, such as federal tax credits and net metering for residential solar installations, are considered critical drivers of renewable industries in the United States. The solar industry’s tax credit is set to expire at the end of 2016. None of the fossil fuel tax credits are set to expire at this time.

As Rochen says, a renewable energy future is within reach. Now, it’s really up to our political leaders to say, “Yes, we can do the work to get there.” 

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