Oceans
From tackling marine plastic pollution to coral reef restoration, learn about humanity’s latest efforts to protect ocean habitats and marine wildlife.
Beer giant phases out plastic rings for eco-friendly alternative
We’ve all seen the dismal photos of distressed wildlife trapped in various single-use plastic, or worse, strangled by those infamous plastic rings that come with many six-packs of beer. Well, major beverage company Molson Coors has decided to take action, announcing last week that the Read More...
Automated and eco-friendly! “Green” water taxi launches in Amsterdam
In 2020, The Optimist Daily wrote about a fully automated water cab in development by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions. In October 2021, prototype models of the Roboat were launched and are now navigating Amsterdam’s Read More...
Study shows female elephant seals have built-in GPS
Most of the year pregnant female elephant seals are journeying 10,000 kilometers for 240 days across the Eastern North Pacific Ocean. This trek is not only long and has to be perfectly timed so the mothers can give birth within five days of their arrival to the breeding beaches at Año Nuevo Read More...
These wind-powered offshore chargers could change shipping
Wind energy is a major part of our energy future. As the technology develops it opens up new possibilities in different areas of our economies. The biggest CO2 emitter for offshore wind farms is the diesel boats that drive out for maintenance on the turbines. Scottish firm Oasis Marine Power Read More...
This non-profit aims to harness the power of weather events on land and sea
When it comes to hurricanes, wildfires, and other environmental hazards, early alerts are key to minimizing risk to people from these high-powered natural phenomena. What if there were a system that both warned individuals of weather events like these and then converted their power into usable Read More...
These buoys will be able to charge ships at sea with offshore wind energy
A lot of the world’s commerce is done at sea by huge cargo ships that burn enormous amounts of fuel idling near ports waiting to load up. This may change in the future with the development of Stillstrom charging buoy, a wind-powered solution. Offshore wind-powered charging Read More...
Tapping the creative force, art changes minds in a changing climate
“The arts matter because we matter, and our stories matter. We are moving miracles, walking creators engaging in a cosmic dance. The art we express is timeless.” –Mohammed Sheriff, Division Coordinator at the National Endowment for the Arts (USA) By Oliver Kammeyer At The Optimist Read More...
Two-thirds of seafloor life is waiting to be discovered
Most of our planet is filled with water. Amazingly, though, two-thirds of life occupying the seafloor is still waiting to be discovered, finds a recent study published in Science Advances. DNA sequencing techniques also revealed that there is at least three times more life on the seafloor than Read More...
Sunlight helps dissolve oil spills
In a recent study of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, researchers discovered that approximately 10 percent of oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico was dissolved by sunlight. Oil can partially dissipate and dissolve in seawater through natural processes, which scientists account for. These Read More...
Thailand’s pristine Maya Bay reopens with eco-restrictions after tourism ban
If you haven’t been there yourself or seen it in tourism ads, you may recognize the iconic Maya Bay from the 2000 film The Beach, by Danny Boyle starring Leonardo DiCaprio. In the movie, Maya Bay is the setting of a jealously guarded secret beach, whose location cannot be exposed to the public Read More...