Hawaii is known for great beaches, beautiful water and lots of marine life, but the coral reefs around Hawaii are suffering from a killer all their own: tropical invasive algae, one of the most invasive species in the oceans today.
By now, we all know that plastic is bad for the environment. Besides the damage to marine life who mistake it for food, the chemicals that can be released into soil and groundwater (and then move up the food chain), a new study shows that when plastics are exposed to sunlight, they release greenhouse gasses.
Plastic in the ocean is a problem. It’s no mystery that fish, seabirds, and turtles all eat it, and often become ill or even die. Coral also eats it, but the mystery is why they do so. For a long time, scientists thought that coral ate anything they could reach, but new studies have found that coral might prefer plastic.
Vanuatu is a nation in the South Pacific, northeast of Australia. Vanuatu includes 13 larger islands and about 70 smaller ones, covering about 1300km. Most of the islands are mountainous, and covered in lush rain forests. Many are protected by coral reefs.
In 2015, Hannah Herbst was an eighth-grader in Boca Raton Florida. She got a letter from a nine-year-old pen pal in Ethiopia who had no access to lights, a steady flow of fresh water to drink, and other necessities.
