MarineDebris VCC News
[Jan. 18, 2025] The worst way of dying: In the article “‘The worst way of dying’: scientists urge coordinated effort to stop whales getting tangled” by Donna Lu published in the Guardian, it is stated that at least 45 whales were entangled by fishing ropes and line on the east coast of Australia in 2024. A better management of fishing gear in Australia is urgently needed to prevent marine suffering.
[Nov. 20, 2024] Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW) is the biggest Plastic Waste Producer: In her article “Five firms in plastic pollution alliance ‘made 1,000 times more plastic than they cleaned up’” published today in the Guardian, Sandra Laville reports that the five fossil fuel members of the AEPW, ExxonMobil, Dow, Shell, TotalEnergies and ChevronPhillips, are not only some of the largest plastic producers, they also produced 1,000 times more than they promised to remove from the environment. Another article by Emma Howard also published today in the Guardian points out that the AEPW works with partners in the developing world and that a featured facility in Bali “was swamped with garbage from an adjacent landfill and struggling with broken machinery and poor finances.”
Platform News
[Jan. 28, 2025] Doomsday Clock set at 89 seconds to midnight, closest ever to human extinction: A press release in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists states:
“Humanity Edging Closer To Catastrophe”: Iconic Doomsday Clock moves one second closer to midnight as global existential threats rage. Clock factors include nuclear weapons, climate crisis, artificial intelligence, infectious diseases, and conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
[Jan. 25, 2025] CHC VCC opened: The "US Community Health Care.Net VCC" has been initialized and is open now.