Group items tagged

With no working computers Fabrice AMEDEO Abandons, DALIN's margin is halved, MERRON, SHIRAISHI Cross Good Hope.

Kenya brings in world's toughest plastic bag ban: four years jail or $40,000 fine.

Marine litter in coastal areas can bring economic, social, and environmental damage, especially the loss of aesthetic value of a tourist site. Therefore, research on the composition of marine litter to identify its sources is important for planning strategic action to minimize the problem. This study analyzed beach litter composition on five beaches (Kondangmerak, Balekambang, Ungapan, Ngudel, and Goa Cina) along the Indian Ocean coastline in the eastern part of the south Java region, Indonesia. All the beaches are known as the famous touristic beaches of Malang City, and receive many visitors, especially during the holiday season. Beach litter composition was obtained by collecting different types of litter in a 5 x 5 m square transect. Five square transects were placed along the beach strandline at each beach, and intervals of 20 m separated each transect. In each transect, the litter was collected and counted based on its category (plastic, paper, rubber, fabric, processed wood, metal, glass, ceramic, and hazardous items) and size (0.5-2.5cm, 2.5-5cm, 5-10 cm, and > 10 cm). There was a statistically significant variation in the number of litters among the sizes (p 10 cm was found least on all beaches (< 15%), while the other three size categories were found in similar numbers (in the range of 20% to 50%). Plastic was the dominating type of litter on all beaches. Based on the Clean Coastal Index, all beaches were considered dirty to extremely dirty. All litter on the beaches was the product of tourism activities, and littering habits play a significant role as the source of marine litter in the study areas. Since this is the first study on the marine litter composition in the eastern part of south Java, the results of this study can be used as a baseline for future studies to prevent marine debris pollution and to

Sand is everywhere and we hardly notice it. Yet it is also in great demand worldwide - and not just in the construction industry. It also plays an important role in the manufacturing of glass and semiconductors and in water treatment. Due to this intensive use in recent years, sand has become a scarce resource that is traded internationally. The effect of the depletion of this resource on coastal regions and the people that live there is the topic of a new research project at the Max PLANCK Institute for Social Anthropology (MPI). Titled "Sand - The Future of Coastal Cities in the Indian Ocean", the project is funded by a 1.3 million euro grant from the German Research Foundation (DFG).