Indian Fishermen Use Smartphones to Map a Vanishing Way of Life
the government comes up with a proposal to construct a road or any structure, it is easy for them to encroach on our land,” said the 39-year-old fisherman.“But with the right documentation in the form of maps, we can prove our claims on the land.”($1 = 82.2210 Indian rupees)(Thomson Reuters Foundation
Deep-sea Mining: A New Gold Rush or Environmental Disaster?
major technology and car companies like Google, Samsung and BMW have called for a temporary ban, and there are likely extra costs compared to mining on land."Naturally, the economics of mining certain minerals on land will be preferable to doing that in the deep sea," Lusty said.(The Thomson Reuters Foundation - Reporting by Jack Graham; Editing by Alister Doyle and Kieran Guilbert.
Fishermen Turn to Apps and AI to Tackle Climate Change
change is just going to exacerbate those challenges,” said Alexis Rife, director of small-scale fisheries initiatives at EDF.“That means that their livelihoods are at risk. It means that their food security is at risk ... it’s a pretty dire situation,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.The website has a resource library where fishermen can search for topics of interest, free online courses, a community forum, discussion groups, an events page and a blog section.Although it requires a smart phone or computer and internet connection to access—which is often patchy
Ocean 100: Profits from World's Seas Dominated by 100 Companies
who it is that needs to do the job,” said Henrik Osterblom, who co-authored the paper published in the journal Science Advances.“We have identified who has power to influence the future of the oceans,” Osterblom, science director at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.“Just knowing who they are is the first step in getting them involved in what needs to be done.”The team of researchers including Osterblom and environmental experts at Duke University in the United States focused on eight sea-based industries ranging from container shipping
Boat Made of Flip-flops Sails for Cleaner Seas
people have started local businesses, like hotels along the shores, and contributed to a huge mess - as you can see, the place is littered with plastic bottles," he added.The Flipflopi, built from 10 tonnes of plastic waste, was first launched late last year.Co-founder Ben Morison told the Thomson Reuters Foundation he began working on the project in 2016 "to transmit the message about the impact that plastic is having on marine ecosystems, how this affects us, and most important of all, what we can do about it".Global challengeResearchers estimate the world has produced more than 8.3 billion
Scientist Pool Data to Create the $3B Ocean Map
a map?" asked Larry Mayer, director of the U.S.-based Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, a research body that trains hydrographers and develops tools for mapping."We depend on having that knowledge of what's around us - and the same is true for the ocean," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.With their deep craters and mountain ranges, the contours of the earth beneath the waves are both vast and largely unknown.But a huge mapping effort is underway to change that.The U.N.-backed project, called Seabed 2030, is urging countries and companies to pool data to create a map of
India Plans Deep Dive for Seabed Minerals
sooner or later ... there is no other way," said Gidugu Ananda Ramadass, head of India's deep sea mining project at the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) in the southern city of Chennai."For the future of mankind ... the ocean is the only hope," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.India, Asia's third-largest economy, is going full steam ahead in anticipation of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) - a U.N. body that oversees mining on the high seas - giving the green light for commercial exploitation.Captain Nemo appeared to get one thing wrong, however,
Mexican Wave Energy Project Moving Forward
;s completely untapped, and it has to change,” said Inna Braverman, co-founder of Tel Aviv-based Eco Wave Power.“At the moment we’re a comparable price to solar, but the advantage on top of solar is the availability of the resource... It keeps working 24/7,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.After scanning the coast for optimal wave conditions, the company decided to set up its first Mexican plant near Manzanillo, the country’s busiest cargo port some 845 kilometers (525 miles) west of Mexico City.Situated close to the shore, hundreds of floating buoys connected by arms
Caribbean States Kick Off Green Defense Against Disasters
countries would give start-ups easier access to financing for large projects."Just the fact that we've got ... pretty much every single Caribbean nation signed up and a lot of agencies willing to work with them gives a good chance of speeding the process forward," Branson told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone.Partners include the Inter-American Development Bank, private firms and countries from Grenada to Anguilla and Dominica.The effort kicked off by rolling out a handful of projects, including an announcement that Airbnb, the home-sharing website service, was expanding to the
February 2024
