This is one of those climate stories that is messy - there is no single villain, the causes and effects are global. While the task is huge, the risks are catastrophic! Join me as I fully nerd out on corals - and uncover some of wierd and wonderful secrets of these underwater cities and outline the threat that is the 4th Global Mass Coral Bleaching event!

This second episode on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch explores the solutions! Should we even bother cleaning it up? From preventing ocean plastics to underwater police robots stopping illegal dumping, we dig into what’s actually effective - and whether enforcement, not cleanup, may be the real key to change.

Sources:

https://eia-international.org/news/new-report-finds-marine-plastic-pollution-clean-up-technology-is-not-all-it-seems-on-the-surface/

https://www.nokia.com/blog/the-ocean-cleanup-nokia-private-wireless-and-mcs-unite-to-clean-the-great-pacific-garbage-patch/

https://www.clearbot.org/class-3

https://www.oceancare.org/en/stories_and_news/high-tech-clean-up/

https://www.ali.fish/blog/ghost-gear-the-hidden-face-of-plastic-pollution-2b3rr?

https://www.ali.fish/blog/what-lies-behind-mexicos-octopus-farm-research-facade-8caew?

https://www.msc.org/standards-and-certification/developing-our-standards/the-fisheries-standard-review/projects/prevention-of-gear-loss-and-ghost-fishing?

https://nettagplus.eu/work-packages/

https://www.inesctec.pt/en/opportunities/underwater-robotics-AE2024-0431#intro

We’re told the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is everyone’s fault - a messy, unsolvable problem caused by billions of small actions. But that's not exactly true? This episode uncovers what the Great Pacific Garbage Patch actually is, and asks one provocative question: could one industry, operating illegally, be largely to blame for the largest accumulation of ocean plastic on Earth?

Sources:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/great-pacific-garbage-patch-swim-science

https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/magazine/entry/charles_moore/##

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IglBJ62Sv3Q

https://www.ranker.com/list/worlds-biggest-ocean-garbage-patches/sarah-blumert

https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20240115-visualising-the-great-pacific-garbage-patch

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/i-went-to-the-great-pacific-garbage-patch?

https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/trash-isles-creators-founded-country-rubbish-tackle-global-crisis/1486119

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-16529-0

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749118302197

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749118302197

https://bit.ly/4jGCCFg

https://bit.ly/4sz5ByV

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast/june14/mw126-garbagepatch.html

https://bit.ly/49B8I0E

In 1966, a coal waste tip collapsed onto the Welsh village of Aberfan, killing 116 children and 28 adults - a tragedy that reshaped mining safety forever. This second episode on the Aberfan disaster explores what has changed since and how we can prevent mining waste disasters from happening again.

I examine the world-first safety regulations that emerged from the disaster, ask whether mining is still necessary in a decarbonizing world, and explore emerging innovations - from advanced sensing and monitoring technologies to “surgical mining” techniques designed to reduce or eliminate waste altogether.

Finally, we return to Aberfan today, honoring the resilience of the community, reflecting on the broader social, environmental, and ethical lessons this disaster continues to teach us.

Sources:

https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Geoscientist/Archive/October-2016/Aberfans-engineering-legacy

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/the-crown-aberfan-real-life/

https://www.history.com/news/elizabeth-ii-aberfan-mine-disaster-wales

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/983056.stm

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242193591_A_REVIEW_OF_CATASTROPHIC_FLOW_FAILURES_OF_DEPOSITS_OF_MINE_WASTE_AND_MUNICIPAL_REFUSE#pf3

http://www.healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/pits/Aberfan/Aberfan2.htm

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/aberfan-disaster-1966-survivor-wales-22422962

https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/769/16-mclean.pdf

The podcast episode delves into the Aberfan disaster in Wales, UK, in 1966, a devastating landslide of coal mine waste that engulfed a primary school full of children, wiping out an entire generation. This episode outlines what happened, the causes of the disaster, and the insensitive mishandling of teh aftermath by those responsible for preventing this disaster.

This wasn’t just a corporate failure - it was a failure that cost lives and stole a community's future, but an event which changed Britain and the world forever.

Sources:

https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Geoscientist/Archive/October-2016/Aberfans-engineering-legacy

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/the-crown-aberfan-real-life/

https://www.history.com/news/elizabeth-ii-aberfan-mine-disaster-wales

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/983056.stm

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242193591_A_REVIEW_OF_CATASTROPHIC_FLOW_FAILURES_OF_DEPOSITS_OF_MINE_WASTE_AND_MUNICIPAL_REFUSE#pf3

http://www.healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/pits/Aberfan/Aberfan2.htm

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/aberfan-disaster-1966-survivor-wales-22422962

https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/769/16-mclean.pdf

Podcast Teaser: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch - a floating island of trash? How smart solutions can prevent plastics from reaching the ocean in the first place.