Plastic production is increasing globally and in turn there is a rise of plastic waste lost into the coastal and marine environment. To combat this issue, there is an increase in policies that target specific types of plastic waste (such as microbeads and plastic shopping bags). Given that such anthropogenic waste have environmental impacts, reduce the tourism income of an area and result in human health issues, identifying effective abatement policies is imperative to reducing waste and litter before it enters the ocean.

The Ocean Cleanup's System 001/B has successfully captured 60 1-cubic-meter bags of plastic from the Great Pacific garbage patch and returned it safely to Vancouver, British Columbia, where the organization held a press conference today to discuss its plans to develop the plastic into reusable products. We spoke with CEO Boyan Slat about what needs to be done next.

Students will have fun analyzing sample water for eight different test factors: pH, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, temperature, turbidity, nitrate, phosphate, and coliform bacteria. This complete kit includes a manual with step-by-step, diagrammed instructions; an easy-to-use laminated color chart, and all the necessary apparatus and non-hazardous TesTabs to test ten water samples (three samples for coliform).

This widespread problem of water pollution is jeopardizing our health. Unsafe water kills more people each year than war and all other forms of violence combined. Meanwhile, our drinkable water sources are finite: Less than 1 percent of the earth's freshwater is actually accessible to us. Without action, the challenges will only increase by 2050, when global demand for freshwater is expected to be one-third greater than it is now. Still, we're not hopeless against the threat to clean water.

Students investigate causes of water quality degradation and analyze the relationship between harmful algal blooms, toxic algae, and dead zones. They explore water quality "success stories" and actions to improve water quality.

Streams, rivers, wetlands and lakes are home for many small animals called macroinvertebrates. These animals generally include insects, crustaceans, molluscs, arachnids and annelids. The term macroinvertebrate describes those animals that have no backbone and can be seen with the naked eye. Some aquatic macroinvertebrates can be quite large, such as freshwater crayfish, however, most are very small. Invertebrates that are retained on a 0.25mm mesh net are generally termed macroinvertebrates.

Water-quality samples collected from drainage canals, from Lake Pontchartrain, La., and from flood waters contained contaminants typically found in waters influenced by urban runoff. Pesticides and wastewater compounds were detected in all water samples, but none exceeded U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) drinking water or aquatic life criteria. Although metals were detected in all samples, copper, nickel, and silver occurred in concentrations greater than water-quality criteria for salt water.

Located in Maryland, USA, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is part of the largest area of tidal marsh within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and is of regional ecological significance for its wetlands and for the wildlife populations it supports. However, over 5,000 acres of tidal marsh have converted to open water on the refuge since 1938... In December 2016, 26,000 cubic yards of sediment was pumped in a thin-layer application over approximately 40 acres of tidal marsh on the refuge.

"Located in Maryland, USA, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is part of the largest area of tidal marsh within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and is of regional ecological significance for its wetlands and for the wildlife populations it supports. However, over 5,000 acres of tidal marsh have converted to open water on the refuge since 1938... In December 2016, 26,000 cubic yards of sediment was pumped in a thin-layer application over approximately 40 acres of tidal marsh on the refuge. The purpose of this project is to raise the elevation of the existing marsh platform."

Recently the possibilities for creating wetlands in and around towns and cities have been given more attention, following the disappearance in recent decades of large stretches of wet nature, and thus also natural buffers, as a result of urban expansions and land drainage. Wetlands are created to buffer some of the run-off from precipitation and slow the rate at which it drains away. This is a new approach compared with rapid drainage systems using ditches and pipes.