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.
President Joe Biden has announced new employer tax credits and other steps to encourage people reluctant to be inoculated to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Along with other celebrities, Venus Williams is partnering with Delos' International WELL Building Institute in order to safely welcome back fans and attendees to live events.
With an increased global appetite for rare, endangered species of cacti and succulents, many fear that one day, we won’t see many unique cacti in the wild anymore.
Microsoft is offering a rare peek behind the "cloud" with virtual tours of its Azure public data centers.
Jim Andrew, global chief sustainability officer at PepsiCo, joined Cheddar to discuss the food and beverage giant's latest attempts at tackling climate change.
Despite a measurable impact that the COVID-19 pandemic made on carbon emissions throughout 2020, researchers are warning that to hold back climate change, nations need to keep pushing for reductions.
The United States and China, the world’s two biggest carbon polluters, have agreed to cooperate to curb climate change with urgency.
NASA's experimental Mars helicopter has taken flight. The little 4-pound helicopter named Ingenuity rose into the thin air above the dusty red surface of Mars on Monday, achieving the first powered flight by an aircraft on another planet.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
Developers and architects have been searching for creative solutions to zoning regulations. What started as a creative solution is now the standard blueprint for all modern apartment construction.
