'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Research into microplastics in our oceans has found new seasonal patterns of the flow of plastic and developed a way to track massive deposits of the debris — all by observing from space.
Our world is saturated with plastic, and the oceans are no different. It’s estimated that eight million tons of plastic enters the ocean every year, according to a news release, and it poses a threat to marine life and ecosystems.
Although one might imagine floating chunks of trash littering the oceans, the majority of the plastic in our oceans gets shredded down into microplastics. Until now, most of our data on how widespread microplastics are and where they are in our oceans has come from data from plankton trawlers that take in microplastics along with their catch. This method can leave gaps in the data.
But if the plastic particles are so small, how could they possibly be seen from space?
Researchers from the University of Michigan described their technique in a new paper published Wednesday in the journal IEEE Transactions on Geosciences and Remote Sensing.
Using satellites that were designed to track hurricanes, researchers searched for the microplastics by looking for patterns in the water itself.
"We'd been taking these radar measurements of surface roughness and using them to measure wind speed, and we knew that the presence of stuff in the water alters its responsiveness to the environment," Chris Ruf, a professor of Climate and Space Science at the University of Michigan and senior author on the new paper, said in the release.
"So I got the idea of doing the whole thing backward, using changes in responsiveness to predict the presence of stuff in the water."
Essentially, researchers theorized that areas of water that appeared smoother during winds that should have made them rough could contain high quantities of microplastics, which affect how the water moves.
They used wind speeds provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to zero in on these unusually smooth regions of ocean. They then cross-referenced this with existing knowledge and observations by plankton trawlers on where microplastics tend to accumulate, as well as ocean models that predict where plastics should migrate based on ocean currents.
There was a high correlation between these smooth areas and areas that had previous reports of high microplastic content, according to the release.
"We're still early in the research process, but I hope this can be part of a fundamental change in how we track and manage microplastic pollution,” Ruf said.
So what do these space observations tell us?
Researchers observed that there are seasonal changes to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a giant floating collection of marine debris and microplastics found in the North Pacific Ocean. During the summer months, microplastics accumulate in “massive quantities” in the garbage patch, the release said.
Some of these seasonal differences may be affected by “atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns,” the paper stated, explaining that in winter months, there are stronger currents in parts of the Pacific Ocean, and “increased vertical mixing,” which would disrupt microplastic concentration close to the surface of the water.
The northern Indian Ocean also saw higher levels of microplastics in a specific season, with concentration peaking in late winter/early spring. The lowest levels were in early summer, which coincides with monsoon season, which typically stretches from June to September.
The Yangtze River, which is the longest river in Asia, also showed several spikes in microplastic that may indicate that the river serves as a way that a measurable quantity of plastics enter the ocean.
The river has been “long suspected to be a chief source,” the release stated.
"It's one thing to suspect a source of microplastic pollution, but quite another to see it happening," Ruf said. "The microplastics data that has been available in the past has been so sparse, just brief snapshots that aren't repeatable.”
Other rivers that saw episodic spikes were the Qiantang River, which empties near the Yangtze, and the Ganges River, which flows through India and Bangladesh.
Researchers pointed out in their paper that while their results correlate with known areas with high amounts of microplastics, they can’t rule out yet that these smooth sections of ocean are caused by something other than the presence of microplastics, and that more research needs to be done.
But if using satellites does help us find areas that plastic accumulates or places where it is entering the ocean in large quantities, it could help environmental organizations to target their cleanup efforts more efficiently.
Already, researchers are communicating with The Ocean Cleanup, a Dutch organization, to see if their initial findings can be confirmed with some on the ground — or in this case, water — research.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.