EARTHWEEK: DIARY OF A CHANGING WORLD
For the week ending Aug. 18
Plastic Meals
Fish are seeking out the microplastic debris polluting the world’s oceans because it smells similar to their natural prey, a study says. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that as plastic floats and breaks apart in the ocean, it becomes covered by biological material such as algae, making the debris look and smell like food. The plastic works its way through the food webs and sometimes winds up in seafood meals for humans.
Greenland Fires
Record heat has sparked freak wildfires in the rugged scrubland of western Greenland, where authorities are warning residents to remain clear of the blazes. The largest in the series of blazes has burned about 3,000 acres.
Looming Famine
Conflict in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and northeastern Nigeria is threatening 20 million people with famine, the U.N. warns. The Security Council asks warring parties to allow aid to reach those affected. The U.N. describes the situation as the largest humanitarian crisis since the world body was formed in 1945.
Ice-free Route
Sea ice has thinned so much along Russia’s Arctic coast in recent years that commercial shipping can now be conducted there with ice-hardened tankers between July and December. There were 19 full Arctic transits between the Atlantic and Pacific last year, but the construction of 15 new ice-going vessels means that number could soon become far greater.
BlottEd by pollution
Pollution from mining in the Coral Sea may be responsible for a species of sea snake turning black, according to researchers. The turtle-headed sea snake typically looks like a black-and-white banded candy cane in its habitat near Australia. But Rick Shine and colleagues at the University of Sydney found that some living in polluted areas northeast of Brisbane, off the French overseas territory of New Caledonia, and in a Queensland barrier reef atoll have turned nearly black. They also found the blackened sea snakes shed their skins twice as often as their lighter counterparts, perhaps in an adaptation to living in polluted waters.