The rate of Arctic sea ice decline is accelerating, and ice extent remains small. It’s predicted that in the future, Arctic sea ice will practically disappear during the summer months. Observations are actively being conducted to survey this declining Arctic sea ice and predict future changes. However, there is an unknown region in the central Arctic Ocean due to historically limited winter observations, and action is being taken to address this limitation through international cooperation. This article covers various related initiatives and discussions by researchers in the current political situation.

Plastic pollution is already a global environmental issue, and discussions and efforts to address this are accelerating through various international conferences. In this article, I would like to demonstrate changes the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) made in approaching the marine plastic problem and discuss actions being taken to end plastic pollution.

The beautiful Seto Inland Sea has large amounts of plastic trash washing onto its shores which have been neglected for decades. There are more than 500 of those trash-strewn beaches in Ehime Prefecture alone. Most of these places go unnoticed since they cannot be seen from land, but if we continue to neglect this, the plastic will turn into microplastics which will impact marine organisms. I would like to tackle this marine debris issue and report widely on how urgent it is.