This classroom resource provides clear, concise scientific information in an understandable and enjoyable way about water and aquatic life. Spanning the hydrologic cycle from rain to watersheds, aquifers to springs, rivers to estuaries, ample illustrations promote understanding of important concepts and clarify major ideas. Aquatic science is covered comprehensively, with relevant principles of chemistry, physics, geology, geography, ecology, and biology included throughout the text. Emphasizing water sustainability and conservation, the book tells us what we can do personally to conserve for the future and presents job and volunteer opportunities in the hope that some students will pursue careers in aquatic science. Texas Aquatic Science, originally developed as part of a multi-faceted education project for middle and high school students, can also be used at the college level for non-science majors, in the home-school environment, and by anyone who educates kids about nature and water. To learn more about The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, sponsors of this book's series, please click here.

An estimated 8 million metric tons (MMT) of plastic waste enters the world's ocean each year - the equivalent of dumping a garbage truck of plastic waste into the ocean every minute. Plastic waste is now found in almost every marine habitat, from the ocean surface to deep sea sediments to the ocean's vast mid-water region, as well as the Great Lakes. This report responds to a request in the bipartisan Save Our Seas 2.0 Act for a scientific synthesis of the role of the United States both in contributing to and responding to global ocean plastic waste. The United States is a major producer of plastics and in 2016, generated more plastic waste by weight and per capita than any other nation. Although the U.S. solid waste management system is advanced, it is not sufficient to deter leakage into the environment. Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste calls for a national strategy by the end of 2022 to reduce the nation's contribution to global ocean plastic waste at every step - from production to its entry into the environment - including by substantially reducing U.S. solid waste generation. This report also recommends a nationally-coordinated and expanded monitoring system to track plastic pollution in order to understand the scales and sources of U.S. plastic waste, set reduction and management priorities, and measure progress.

After a decade of attempts to control pollution with broad, sweeping legislation on a national scale, recent efforts have recognized the need to evaluate waste disposal on a case-by-case or regional basis, incorporating new knowledge about the consequences of disposal. This book examines the major uses and effects of waste disposal in the ocean, paying particular attention to California's coastal waters. The contributors, representing public agencies, academe, and research institutions, take into account environmental concerns while they focus on developing management strategies of using the oceans for waste disposal. The book is a result of the 1982 symposium "Ocean Disposal in the 1980s," which was sponsored by the Southern California Academy of Sciences

"Project MMS-Beach was designed to test the effectiveness of MARPOL Annex V in reducing the quantity of man-made debris littering Gulf of Mexico barrier island gulf beaches, specifically those in Texas. Annex V of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 (MARPOL) became international law on 31 December 1988. The Annex prohibits the discharge of plastics into the ocean and limits the discharge of other solid waste pollutants within varying distances from the U.S. coastline. The U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) needs to know if users of the Gulf of Mexico are observing Annex V. If so, then this should manifest itself in a reduction in the quantity of certain types of litter found on Gulf beaches. These materials include those readily identifiable with various operations of interest to MMS, for example, items from the off shore oil and gas exploration and production industry. The objective of this study was to compare results of beach-debris surveys done two years after, with those done two years prior to Annex V entering into force. The methods of surveying the beach had been devised by the author and were to be repeated in the post-MARPOL Annex V period. The investigator started looking at litter on Mustang Island (Texas) gulf beach (Figure 1.1) in 1978 when a survey was initiated to monitor the bird population with the advent of beachfront development. At first the references to litter and debris were anecdotal, in the form of notes and sporadic measurements. In 1983 an attempt was made to estimate the quantities of both man-made and natural debris using some 40 categories of debris types. Estimates were based on the investigator's knowledge of the common items after five years and over 500 observations to that date. An index system was devised based on a 0 to 5 scale of magnitude. This method is still employed on the survey (now with 2,100 observations) and is useful in gauging the seasonality of materials washing up on the beach, especially in some categories. This method does not yield quantitative data (although curves have been fitted to some common items after numbers were counted independently and graphed against the estimates). The counts were started in 1987 with some financial assistance from the Texas A&M University Sea Grant Program. In addition to the beach-bird surveys (BEACHobs), special garbage surveys (GARBGobs) covering the same 11.8-km stretch of beach were done at an eight-day interval. Items large enough to be seen from a slowly moving vehicle are counted; about a hundred categories of litter and debris are logged. It was on the basis of this study, done in 1987 and 1988 before the enactment of MARPOL Annex V (in force 1 January 1989), that the investigator proposed to MMS to repeat this survey some two years after MARPOL Annex V. This report contrasts the ‘before’ and ‘after’ data to see if there is any indication that MARPOL has affected the littering of Texas beaches. A direct link between Annex V and changes in litter on beaches cannot be forged. However, looking at the nature of the debris items before and after MARPOL may give clues to its successful implementation and adherence to by seagoing vessels. This survey is referred to as the ‘Weekly Counts’. About 200 such counts were made, 175 of which are used in this report (the others were special counts done in conjunction with National Cleanups and other events). To examine smaller items, another survey called ‘Weekly Collections’ was made in 1987-88 and repeated in 1991-1992. All debris and litter items were collected from three sites in the same beach area at the same time that the counts were done. Sites were 10-m wide and stretched from the shoreline to the high-tide line. This study was designed to quantify the smaller litter items and the ‘uncountable’ natural debris items such as seaweed and tar. After 1988 the arduous GARBGobs counts were continued sporadically through 1990. So as not to lose the continuity of data gathering, selected easily counted items were added to the BEACHobs bird counts and done on a bi-daily schedule. These are called the ‘Count of Five’ for the five targeted items. Finally, to identify sources of marine debris in detail, we made monthly collections of all containers on San Jose Island to the north of Mustang Island. San Jose Island is inaccessible except by boat and there is no cleaning of its gulf beach"--Introduction.