Resources - Aquarius-Systems

Aquarius Resource Center

Our up-to-date library of topics affecting lakes, reservoirs, and watersheds.

Study Finds Plastic Chemicals in the Ocean Can Cause Deformities in Marine Life

Biologists in Cornwall have found that chemicals released in the ocean from plastic can lead to deformities in marine animals. The study by biologists from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter’s Penryn Campus found that plastics in the ocean can release chemicals that cause deformities in sea urchin larvae. Read More

Published in Resources, Water Quality & Pollution

Tagged under: environmental impact, marine debris, marine life, microplastics, ocean pollution, plastic pollution, sea urchins, toxic chemicals, water contaminants, water quality

Seagrass Meadows Improve Water Quality and May Help Reduce Marine Plastic Pollution

Seagrass meadows are widespread in shallow coastal waters and are involved in trapping and binding sediment particles that form the seabed. These seagrass meadows also provide important ecosystem services and benefits, such as water quality improvement; CO2 absorption; climate change mitigation; sediment production for seafloor and beach stabilization; coastal protection; nursery and refuge areas for

Published in Resources, Water Quality & Pollution

Tagged under: carbon storage, climate change mitigation, coastal ecosystems, coastal protection, fisheries habitat, habitat restoration, marine plastic pollution, seagrass meadows, sediment stabilization, shoreline protection, water quality

Seagrass and Kelp Can Help Reduce Ocean Acidification by Absorbing Carbon Dioxide

Our carbon dioxide emissions are making the oceans more acidic. As we pump carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, a portion dissolves into the world’s oceans. Once there, the carbon dioxide goes through a series of chemical changes that have an acidifying effect on seawater. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air and through photosynthesis. Underwater

Published in Resources, Water Quality & Pollution

Tagged under: blue carbon, carbon dioxide, carbon sequestration, climate change, coastal ecosystems, kelp forests, ocean acidification, seagrass meadows, underwater vegetation, water quality

Rhode Island Beach Access Debate Highlights Rights to Walk Fish and Collect Seaweed

The issue of beach access is ever present in Rhode Island, but has taken on renewed prominence in the last few years, due at least in some part to a man’s arrest in June 2019. He was collecting seaweed on the beach just east of Charlestown Town Beach. Beachfront property owners had hired a security