Quantity and type of coastal debris pollution in Taiwan: A rapid assessment with trained citizen scientists using a visual estimation method

Good news or bad news? The portrayal and evolution of marine pollution issues in Taiwan's news coverage

News coverage is crucial in increasing public awareness and encouraging engagement with marine environmental issues. However, there are notable gaps in knowledge regarding reporting on marine pollution. Previous studies often focused on environmental themes but neglected the dynamics of themes and stakeholders within societal contexts. Therefore, this study analyzes the long-term trends and implications of marine pollution in Taiwan's news coverage. A total of 3482 news articles related to marine pollution over the past 20 years were analyzed using qualitative content analysis (QCA) and multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). The results showed that negative news coverage predominated. However, as the government and citizen groups proposed policies and initiatives to mitigate marine pollution, neutral and positive coverage has increased recently. News coverage also highlights the spatial characteristics of marine pollution. Oil pollution primarily occurs in coastal industrial zones and international ports, whereas areas near tourist attractions are more prone to accumulating marine debris. Additionally, this study indicates that differences in the amount of news on various types of pollution lead to distinct attention patterns. Marine oil pollution is an event-driven attention pattern. It usually spikes media attention during significant incidents, further prompting the government to revise emergency plans and related regulations. However, marine debris is a progressive attention pattern. Citizen groups initially spearheaded efforts regarding marine debris, gradually attracting public involvement, gaining media attention, and prompting government action. Overall, news coverage effectively illustrates the evolution of themes and the dynamic interactions among stakeholders related to marine pollution issues.

Harnessing citizen science to tackle urban-sourced ocean plastic pollution: Experiences and lessons learned from implementing city-wide surveys of plastic litter

Plastic litter is an endemic problem within all regions, particularly cities. Much of this litter reaches the world's oceans with well documented environmental impacts. However, the monitoring of urban litter is often piecemeal at best. Citizen science, the action of utilising the public to support research, has been used to excellent effect for both research and engagement, usually for area clean-ups such as beach cleans. However, to date very few studies have assessed plastic pollution at a city scale. This study presents a novel citizen science approach, using a smartphone application to collect geolocated photographs of plastic litter during 5 city-wide surveys. The study has compiled a significant dataset of photographs (n = 3760), classified by plastic type to assess patterns of plastic pollution Portsmouth, UK. The method is shown to have significant potential for further development to facilitate detailed analysis of plastic litter in urban centres across the world.