Turkey’s president promised Saturday to rescue the Marmara Sea from an outbreak of “sea snot” that is alarming marine biologists and environmentalists.
A huge mass of marine mucilage, a thick, slimy substance made up of compounds released by marine organisms, has bloomed in Turkey's Marmara, as well as in the adjoining Black and Aegean Seas.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said untreated waste dumped into the Marmara Sea and climate change had caused the sea snot bloom. Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city with some 16 million residents, and five other provinces, factories and industrial hubs border the sea.
Marine mucilage has reached unprecedented levels this year in Turkey. It is visible above the water as a slimy gray sheet along the shores of Istanbul and neighboring provinces. Underwater videos showed suffocated coral covered with sea snot.
Erdogan said he instructed the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization to coordinate with relevant institutions, municipalities and universities. Teams are inspecting waste water and solid waste facilities, along with other potential sources of pollution, he said.
“We will save our seas from this mucilage calamity, leading with the Marmara Sea,” Erdogan said. “We must take this step without delay.”
Marine experts say that human waste and industrial pollution is choking Turkey’s seas. They say the rise in water temperatures from climate change is contributing to the problem.
The shift from China to the U.S. has convinced some long-time bitcoin miners that renewable energy and crypto mining may actually be a better match for each other than expected.
Colorado wildlife officials say an elusive elk that has been wandering the hills with a car tire around its neck for at least two years has finally been freed of the obstruction.
A popular Southern California beach that was closed for more than a week after an undersea pipeline leaked crude into ocean waters has reopened and it happened far sooner than many expected.
Amplify Energy’s emergency response plan for a major oil spill like the one unfolding in coastal Southern California depended heavily on a quick shutdown of its pipeline if sensors pick up a sudden loss of pressure.
A Russian actor and a film director have rocketed into space to make the world’s first movie in orbit.
Drugmaker Merck said Friday that its experimental COVID-19 pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half in people recently infected with the coronavirus and that it would soon ask health officials in the U.S. and around the world to authorize its use.
Video-sharing tech platform YouTube on Wednesday announced immediate bans on false claims that vaccines are dangerous and cause health issues like autism, cancer or infertility.
Alex Bell, a Post-Doctoral Scholar at UCLA, joins 'Cheddar Reveals' to discuss how exposure to innovation influences who becomes an inventor and how much genius has been lost over the years.
President Joe Biden is urging those now eligible for COVID-19 booster shots to get the added protection.
COVID-19 has now killed about as many Americans as the 1918-19 Spanish flu pandemic did — approximately 675,000.
