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A Time When We Count Plastic Waves on the Shore

It’s easy to overlook the plastic waste scattered on our beaches or floating in the ocean. But the reality is clear: plastic pollution is suffocating our oceans and destroying marine life

Dipin Damodharan

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Image credit: Naja Bertolt Jensen/Unsplash

What does the reality of our oceans look like today? Plastic pollution. Do we go to the beach without ever noticing a plastic bottle or plastic waste amidst the beauty of the waves and the vast sea? Or have we lost sight of nature’s true state, consumed by the exploitation we have allowed? It’s time we took a moment to reflect.

Today, one of the biggest challenges facing our oceans is plastic pollution. Since 2018, the world has produced 359 million metric tons of plastic. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), approximately 400 million tons of plastic waste are generated annually, with around 36% used for packaging—much of which ends up in landfills. In India alone, around 3.3 million metric tons of plastic waste is generated each year. And a large portion of this, approximately 8 million metric tons, ends up in the oceans annually.

Currently, our oceans are home to about 5.25 trillion plastic items, weighing a staggering 268,940 tons. By 2050, it is projected that there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish, according to a 2016 report presented at the World Economic Forum.

Disaster in the Deep Blue

Why is plastic waste so widespread in our oceans? As we walk along the beach, enjoying the beauty of the waves and the endless blue horizon, have we ever stopped to think about the plastic we might be overlooking? Beneath the surface, our oceans now hold vast quantities of plastic waste that are invisible to the naked eye, often carried by rivers or discarded carelessly by humans.

The plastic waste that litters the oceans consists of both macroplastics (larger objects such as bags and bottles) and microplastics (tiny particles that result from the breakdown of larger plastics). These microplastics, often less than 5 millimeters in size, are created as a result of exposure to sunlight, wave action, and other environmental factors. Even though these particles become so small, they do not disappear completely from the marine ecosystem.

Plastic waste, whether it’s a discarded plastic bottle, fishing gear, or other synthetic materials, poses a major threat to marine life. Marine creatures consume plastic debris, mistaking it for food, and suffer from serious health consequences. The damage is not limited to marine organisms; human beings are also at risk, as the toxic chemicals in plastics enter the food chain.

The Ecological and Economic Impact

The consequences of plastic pollution are far-reaching. For marine ecosystems, plastics lead to habitat destruction, toxic contamination, and loss of biodiversity. For humans, plastic waste affects fisheries, tourism, and coastal economies. Plastic waste also disrupts the functioning of marine ecosystems, which are essential for regulating the climate and providing food and oxygen for life on Earth.

Plastic debris floating on the water’s surface or sinking to the ocean floor threatens marine navigation and ship safety as well. The potential for harm is vast, and addressing the problem is crucial to preserving the future of our oceans.

Why Are We Still Struggling to Tackle Ocean Pollution?

Even as millions of tons of plastic waste flow into the oceans every year, why is there still no effective response to this environmental crisis? One reason is the lack of comprehensive research and detailed studies on the extent of microplastic pollution and its long-term impact on marine ecosystems. To understand the scale of the problem, we need to know how much waste is accumulating in the oceans and where the most significant concentrations are.

While commercial vessels and research ships have gathered some data, using plankton nets to collect ocean samples, this method only covers a small fraction of the vast oceans. The challenge is that the sheer size of the oceans makes it nearly impossible to assess the full scale of plastic pollution using current techniques. Moreover, long-term data on how plastic waste is changing over time is still limited.

The Impact of Plastic on Marine Life and Human Health

The effects of plastic pollution on marine life are devastating. Fish, birds, and other marine creatures often mistake plastic debris for food, leading to ingestion, which can be fatal. Some animals become entangled in fishing nets or plastic packaging, restricting their movement and leading to death. Even more concerning is the potential for toxic chemicals from plastics to enter the food chain, eventually reaching humans.

Moreover, plastic waste that floats on the surface or sinks to the bottom of the ocean poses a threat to navigation and shipping, making it difficult for vessels to safely navigate through affected areas. As plastics degrade over time, they release harmful chemicals into the water, further exacerbating the environmental damage.

Using Satellites to Track Plastic Waste

Understanding the extent and movement of plastic waste in the oceans is key to mitigating its impacts. Researchers at the University of Michigan once proposed an innovative solution by leveraging satellite data to monitor plastic pollution. NASA’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS), launched in 2016, has been used to track microplastics in the ocean, helping scientists better understand their location and movement. The research conducted by the University of Michigan on using NASA’s satellite data to monitor and track plastic waste in the oceans was published in 2020.

This method utilizes radar to measure surface roughness, which can indicate the presence of plastic debris. Since microplastics tend to float on the ocean surface and are influenced by wind patterns, this system can help identify areas with high concentrations of plastics, allowing for more effective cleanup efforts.

Satellites that record wind speed can also detect changes in the distribution of microplastics. Through satellite imagery, researchers have observed that plastic pollution in the northern hemisphere’s oceans peaks during the summer months, while in the southern hemisphere, it rises during January and February. This data offers critical insights into seasonal changes in plastic distribution and can guide future cleanup operations.

Researchers have also used satellite data to monitor pollution flowing from rivers, such as those in China’s Yangtze River, and how it affects nearby ocean regions. This type of research can be crucial in understanding how industrial growth and population density contribute to increasing plastic waste.

Satellite Data for Cleanup Efforts

One of the key benefits of satellite-based research is its potential to aid ocean cleanup organizations. By identifying areas with high concentrations of plastic, cleanup operations can be more focused and efficient. These organizations can deploy specialized vessels equipped to collect and recycle plastic debris, significantly reducing waste in targeted regions.

However, the relationship between ocean surface roughness and microplastic concentrations is still under study. While the researchers have observed a pattern, they caution that the link may not always be direct. Other factors, such as surfactants in the water, could also be influencing surface conditions, so more research is needed.

The use of satellite-based systems like CYGNSS is still a developing area of study, and researchers are continuing to improve the accuracy of detecting microplastics and understanding the seasonal variations of their distribution

As of now, the research has shown promising results, but the methodology is still under refinement. The findings have been used to create maps identifying regions with high levels of microplastics. These maps are helping organizations and cleanup efforts focus their resources more efficiently.The use of satellite-based systems like CYGNSS is still a developing area of study, and researchers are continuing to improve the accuracy of detecting microplastics and understanding the seasonal variations of their distribution. Researchers are also working on refining cleanup technologies based on this satellite data to increase their effectiveness in addressing plastic pollution.

Time to Address Ocean Pollution

Plastic pollution is a growing threat, and the time to act is now. Governments, industries, and individuals all have a role to play in reducing plastic waste and preventing further harm to our oceans. Stronger regulations on plastic production and disposal, increased public awareness, and innovation in biodegradable materials are all part of the solution.

As we continue to confront this crisis, it is essential that we understand the full extent of plastic pollution in our oceans, track its impact on marine ecosystems, and work toward sustainable solutions that protect the environment for future generations. The health of our oceans is directly tied to the health of our planet—and it is up to all of us to make a difference.

It’s easy to overlook the plastic waste scattered on our beaches or floating in the ocean. But the reality is clear: plastic pollution is suffocating our oceans and destroying marine life. As we continue to pollute, we risk not only the health of our oceans but also the survival of countless species, including our own. It is time to take action before the waves of plastic drown the beauty of the seas we cherish.

Dipin is the Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of EdPublica. A journalist and editor with over 15 years of experience leading and co-founding both print and digital media outlets, he has written extensively on education, politics, and culture. His work has appeared in global publications such as The Huffington Post, The Himalayan Times, DailyO, Education Insider, and others.

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Glaciers Are Dying: Global Conference in Tajikistan Sounds Alarm on Looming Water Crisis

Glaciers currently store about 70% of the world’s freshwater. Their meltwater sustains hundreds of millions downstream during the dry season

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The accelerating disappearance of the world’s glaciers—often called the “water towers” of our planet—is now a full-blown global emergency, warned experts and leaders gathered in Tajikistan for the International Conference on Glaciers’ Preservation. Underway in Dushanbe from 29 May to 1 June in Dushanbe, the event has brought together heads of state, UN officials, scientists, and development partners in a clarion call to put glacier protection at the top of the global climate agenda.

“Glaciers preservation is not just a problem of countries with glaciers but rather a global crisis that deserves the immediate attention of the international community,” said Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon in his opening address.

The urgency is clear. According to a statement issued by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), five of the past six years have seen the most rapid glacier retreat on record. Glaciers are now the second largest contributor to sea-level rise after ocean warming.

“Our glaciers are dying,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo. “The death of a glacier means much more than the loss of ice. It is a mortal blow to our ecosystems, economies, and social fabric.”

Recent disasters highlight the stakes. Just this week, a glacier collapse in the Swiss Alps unleashed a torrent of ice and debris that buried parts of the village of Blatten. Early warnings prevented fatalities—but many developing nations lack such systems. “We need to bridge science and services, and forecasts and action,” Saulo urged.

Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, and Emomali Rahmon, President of Tajikistan. Image credit: WMO

The conference will culminate in the release of the Dushanbe Glaciers Declaration, a strategic document outlining commitments and partnerships to be presented at COP30 in Brazil later this year. It is a key milestone in the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed cited devastating findings from the WMO’s latest climate report. “2021 to 2024 represents the most negative three-year glacier mass balance period on record,” she said, pointing out that glaciers have lost over 9,000 billion tons of ice since 1975—equivalent to an ice block the size of Germany, 25 meters thick.

Glaciers currently store about 70% of the world’s freshwater. Their meltwater sustains hundreds of millions downstream during the dry season. But that lifeline is fading. In the Himalayas, a 2023 report from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) warned that the region could lose up to two-thirds of its glaciers by 2100. Tajikistan alone has lost nearly 30% of its glaciers over the last century.

The Vanj Yakh Glacier (formerly Fedchenko), the largest continental glacier, has retreated by over 1 km and shrunk by 44 km²—enough to fill 6.4 million Olympic swimming pools.

“Melting glaciers threaten lives on an unprecedented scale – including the livelihoods of more than 2 billion people in Asia alone,” said Asian Development Bank Vice-President Yingming Yang. “ADB is committed to helping the region adapt and transition to clean energy without compromising development.”

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay highlighted the cultural and ecological loss as well. “In 2022, a UNESCO study found that glaciers in one third of world heritage sites are projected to disappear by 2050,” she said. “It is a stark reminder of the need for bold and immediate climate action.”

Key conference themes include scientific monitoring, water cooperation, and adaptation investment. The message is clear: the world cannot afford to lose its glaciers—or the freshwater, stability, and security they provide.

As Celeste Saulo put it: “Observing, predicting, and effectively communicating glacier changes are vital to mitigating their impacts on people, economies, and ecosystems.”

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Researchers Unveil SeaSplat: A New Imaging Tool That Reveals True Colours of Underwater Worlds

The new tool, called SeaSplat, corrects for optical distortions like light scattering and colour fading, offering marine biologists a powerful new way to explore and monitor ocean ecosystems

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A new color-correcting tool, SeaSplat, reconstructs true colors of an underwater image, taken in Curacao. The original photo is in the left, and the color-corrected version made with SeaSplat is on the right. Credits:Image: Courtesy of the researchers

Scientists at MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have developed a novel imaging technique that effectively “removes” water from underwater scenes, revealing the true colours of marine environments. The new tool, called SeaSplat, corrects for optical distortions like light scattering and colour fading, offering marine biologists a powerful new way to explore and monitor ocean ecosystems.

“One dream of underwater robotic vision that we have is: Imagine if you could remove all the water in the ocean. What would you see?” said John Leonard, MIT professor of mechanical engineering, in a media statement.

Traditionally, capturing the real appearance of underwater scenes has been difficult due to two main challenges: backscatter, which creates a cloudy haze by reflecting light off tiny ocean particles, and attenuation, which causes certain colors to fade with distance. SeaSplat overcomes both by analyzing how each pixel in an image is affected and correcting for those effects.

“With SeaSplat, it can model explicitly what the water is doing, and as a result it can in some ways remove the water, and produces better 3D models of an underwater scene,” said Daniel Yang, an MIT graduate student and co-developer of the tool.

SeaSplat combines a colour-correcting algorithm with a 3D imaging technique known as 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) to generate immersive, high-fidelity, virtual environments from underwater photographs. The results are detailed three-dimensional models that retain accurate color no matter the viewing angle or distance.

The researchers tested SeaSplat using imagery from a variety of ocean locations, including the Caribbean, the Red Sea, the Pacific near Panama, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In each case, SeaSplat produced vivid, true-color 3D environments that could be virtually navigated.

“Once it generates a 3D model, a scientist can just ‘swim’ through the model as though they are scuba-diving, and look at things in high detail, with real color,” Yang said in the statement.

Marine scientists could soon use this technology to monitor sensitive environments such as coral reefs. Traditional cameras often misrepresent signs of distress like coral bleaching, but SeaSplat’s color-accurate imaging could change that.

“Bleaching looks white from close up, but could appear blue and hazy from far away, and you might not be able to detect it,” noted Yogesh Girdhar, a WHOI associate scientist. “Coral bleaching, and different coral species, could be easier to detect with SeaSplat imagery, to get the true colors in the ocean.”

Although the current version of SeaSplat requires significant computing power and is too bulky to run onboard an autonomous underwater vehicle, it is well-suited for tethered operations where data can be transmitted to a ship-based computer in real time.

“This is the first approach that can very quickly build high-quality 3D models with accurate colors, underwater, and it can create them and render them fast,” Girdhar said. “That will help to quantify biodiversity, and assess the health of coral reef and other marine communities.”

Yang, Girdhar, and Leonard will present their work at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA).

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122 Forests, 3.2 Million Trees: How One Man Built the World’s Largest Miyawaki Forest

Meet the man who has created 122 forests—including the world’s largest Miyawaki ecosystem. His 3.2 million trees are cooling Indian cities, reviving water tables, and restoring biodiversity.

Dipin Damodharan

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RK Nair. Image credit: By special arrangement

In an era when deforestation and climate change threaten ecosystems worldwide, one man from Gujarat—a state on the west coast of India—is rewriting the narrative of environmental restoration.

Dr. Radhakrishnan Nair, fondly known as Nairji, has created 122 forests across India, transforming barren landscapes into thriving ecosystems. His most remarkable achievement, Smritivan (a memorial forest) in Gujarat—recognized as the world’s largest Miyawaki forest—stands as a testament to his vision. Spanning 470 acres and home to over 500,000 trees, this forest is not just a memorial but a beacon of ecological hope. Nair’s work demonstrates how one individual’s determination can combat global warming, restore biodiversity, and inspire communities to embrace a greener future.

Image credit: smritivanearthquakemuseum

From entrepreneur to green crusader

Born in Kasaragod, Kerala, R.K. Nair’s path to becoming India’s “Green Hero” was anything but conventional. After failing his 12th-grade exams, he took on a series of odd jobs, eventually rising to become a successful entrepreneur in the garment industry. But a pivotal moment came in 2011, in Umargam, Gujarat, when he witnessed the felling of 179 ancient trees for road construction. The cries of displaced birds and the destruction of their habitat struck a deep chord.

“I felt the birds were speaking to me,” Nair recalls. “That day, I vowed to create forests where no one would harm them.”

This epiphany led to the founding of Forest Creators with his friend Deepan Jain in 2014. Using corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds, Nair began planting trees—starting with 1,500 saplings on a single acre. Today, he has planted over 3.2 million trees across 12 Indian states—from Gujarat to Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan to Uttar Pradesh. His approach blends the Japanese Miyawaki method, known for rapid and dense forest growth, with a localized adaptation he calls Bharatavanam, tailored to India’s diverse ecosystems.

Smritivan: A green miracle in the Desert

Nair’s crowning achievement is Smritivan, a sprawling forest in Bhuj, Gujarat, established in memory of the 13,805 victims of the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. Originally conceived in 2004 but long stalled, the project gained new life when Nair took charge. Despite the 470-acre terrain being arid and hilly, he began planting in July 2021. “By August 2022, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the memorial, the forest had reached an astonishing 16 feet in height, with 223,555 saplings planted in the first phase alone. Today, Smritivan houses over 525,000 trees, with plans to add 40,000 more,” Nair says, in an interview with EdPublica.

A report from the Gujarat Ecology Commission, accessed by EdPublica, highlights Smritivan’s ecological transformation. Now home to 117 tree species, the forest supports 79 bird species, 28 types of butterflies, 21 reptiles, nine mammals, and two species of fish. The dense canopy and mulched soil prevent erosion, retain moisture, and enrich the land with organic matter. “With an 86% tree survival rate, species like neem and casuarina are flourishing,” according to the report published in 2023.

Image credit: By special arrangement

The forest has also led to localized temperature reductions, while its 50 check dams help replenish groundwater. A one-megawatt solar plant further bolsters its sustainability, making Smriti Van a global model of eco-restoration.

A report from the Gujarat Ecology Commission, accessed by EdPublica, highlights Smritivan’s ecological transformation. Now home to 117 tree species, the forest supports 79 bird species, 28 types of butterflies, 21 reptiles, nine mammals, and two species of fish

Industrialist Anand Mahindra recently shared a viral post on X, praising Nair for building the world’s largest Miyawaki forest.

Ecological impact: Restoring balance

Nair’s forests are more than green patches—they are ecological engines. “In Chhattisgarh, the coastal forest of 103,000 trees raised groundwater levels dramatically—from 160 feet to just 12 feet—reviving wells and sustaining communities,” Nair claims. Across India, his forests have restored biodiversity, attracted wildlife, and helped rebuild natural food chains.

The Gujarat Ecology Commission underscores Smriti Van’s role in carbon sequestration, a vital tool against climate change. Experts recommend ongoing assessments to quantify its carbon storage potential, which could significantly offset emissions.

Nair’s method ensures long-term ecological success. He doesn’t merely plant trees—he nurtures ecosystems. By selecting native species suited to local conditions, his forests are resilient and sustainable. They grow 10 times faster than natural forests, mimicking 150-year-old ecosystems in just 10–15 years. Dense planting (3–4 saplings per square meter) encourages vertical growth, mimicking natural competition for sunlight.

A Vision for the future

Nair’s ambition is bold: planting one billion trees by 2030. Backed by governments, corporations, and citizens, Forest Creators is scaling up to meet this audacious goal. His work has earned international acclaim, including an invitation to represent India at a NASA conference and a UNESCO Prix Versailles award for Smritivan.

Yet, Nair remains grounded—dressed in his signature white mundu, shirt, and cap—a nod to his Malayali roots and the spirit of India’s farmers.

Beyond ecology, Nair’s forests are also community spaces. Smriti Van has become a popular destination for its tranquil trails and vibrant festivals, with 94% of surveyed visitors citing its fresh air and peacefulness. Future plans include guided tours and educational programs to engage youth in environmental stewardship.

A Global inspiration

R.K. Nair’s story is a clarion call for individual action in the face of global crises. His 122 forests—especially the monumental Smritivan—showcase what one person’s vision and persistence can achieve. By restoring biodiversity, cooling urban climates, and sequestering carbon, Nair’s work supports global efforts to fight climate change. As he marches toward his billion-tree goal, he reminds us that a single seed, planted with purpose, can grow into a forest of change.

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