Living in the dead zone By MELISSA HOLMAN, Point of VueJune 2012  Dr. Nancy Rabalais spends a lot of time on the water. It’s where she’s at peace with nature—and it’s also where her lifelong passion lives ... or dies.  Late U.S. Sen. John Heinz once used the phrase “shared ideals realized” to express his [...]

Oceans of pollution By Dahr Jamail, Aljazeera18 Jun 2012 Plastic pollution in the oceans has risen alarmingly over the past four decades [EPA] A drumbeat of recent scientific studies emphasises an increasingly alarming convergence of crises for Earth's oceans. The amount of plastic floating in the Pacific Gyre - a massive swirling vortex of rubbish - [...]

Gulf Coast energy, fishing industries should adapt now to climate change, new report says By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune6 June 2012 The energy and fishing industries along the Gulf of Mexico must begin now to adapt to the effects of climate change, including rising sea levels, more intense hurricanes, loss of coastal wetlands, and the biological effects of warmer water [...]