![]() ![]() Ships are another source as epoxy resins used in paints and coatings plus polyurethane gradually erode polluting the sea. These find their way into the sea through rivers and rain. Tire wear particles abraded during braking and even driving were also common. Plastics from textile fibers were omnipresent. 14, Article #3707) note their most northern destination as Bear Island in the Svalbard archipelago. The findings published recently in Nature Communications (Vol. Their experimental procedure employed two devices mounted at a 12 meter height at the prow of their research vessel to pump in the air to be analyzed. Norwegian and German scientists have learned that they may originate from land but they are carried over to the ocean atmosphere to be then dispersed by wind currents. And they are far from the only ones as scientists have recently uncovered a new threat.ĭuring stormy weather, sea spray releases microplastic particles into the air. Swallowed inadvertently, pieces can lodge in the stomachs of whales giving them a fake feeling of being full that reduces their food intake until they die of malnutrition. No matter where we go, land or sea, that plastic bottle is with us, often discarded carelessly.īy now, everyone is probably aware of the dangers of plastics to ocean wildlife. There is something about plastic pollution that seems almost insidious. His research focuses on human-robot collaboration. Nourbakhsh also serves as a Global Future Council member at the World Economic Forum. We all must be involved in understanding Earth’s changes and how we can work together to bring about our desired sustainable future into reality.” No single discipline can make sense of all that is now happening and no citizen is free from the consequences of what we all do next. “EarthTime tries to build the common ground that we believe is essential to the discourse that we all must have as stewards of our planet and our joint future,” said Illah Nourbakhsh, Professor of Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University, and Director, CREATE Lab. New data providers are being added constantly. These stories are combined with images from space captured by NASA satellites between 19.Ĭurrent datasets come from the World Bank, the UNHCR, NASA, Berkeley Earth, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Climate Central, S&P Global, Kudelski, the International Renewable Energy Agency and WWF, to name a few. Expert opinions make sense of the data and the connections between them allowing a layering of narratives (e.g., how did rise in the global demand for meat trigger deforestation, a major contributor to climate change?). Users will soon be able to create their own stories.ĮarthTime uses more than 300 free, open-source, geospatial datasets – an unprecedented number for visualizations of this kind. It draws on the Forum’s network of experts to give analyses and to tell stories. You can see them at EarthTime was developed by CREATE Lab (the Community Robotics, Education and Technology Empowerment Lab) at Carnegie Mellon University, in partnership with the World Economic Forum. Other layers will be added in the months and years ahead. Nine expert analyses on global challenges will be launched on World Earth Day (22 April): deforestation, city growth, coral bleaching, fires at night, glaciers, renewables, sea-level rise, surface-water gain and loss and urban fragility. The vision, and long-term goal, is to better inform everyone – including individuals, business heads and policy-makers – about the lives we lead, the decisions we make and the impact we have on the planet. ![]() It uses images captured by NASA satellites since 1984. The platform has already been used in public outreach in schools and museums, and to inform world leaders at World Economic Forum events of major environmental and geoeconomic shifts, from air pollution to inequality. A new website that combines dramatic images from space with expert analysis of how humans are changing the planet will launch on World Earth Day (22 April).ĮarthTime ties together diverse data layers to show the patterns and connections behind some of the major social and political trends of the past two decades – and how they are inscribed into fast-changing landscapes. ![]()
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