Good morning and welcome to Kid News. I'm Kim.

Today is Wednesday, November 10th, 2021.

And we begin with collateral damage from the COVID crisis

turning up in the world's oceans.

A new study is found in the year and a half

we've been battling the virus.

57 million pounds of pandemic plastic

has landed in our waterways.

According to CBS News, face masks, face shields,

and gloves make up most of the mess.

But large quantities of packing materials

are also junking up seas thanks in large part

to the increase in online shopping.

Like all of the plastics that came before,

marine life takes the biggest hit.

Fish stuck in medical gloves,

Dutch birds using masks to line their nests.

Researchers are urging nations to better manage their PPE

and develop more environmentally friendly solutions

to collect, treat, and recycle their COVID trash.

One SpaceX crew is back from the International Space Station

and another is just hours from taking its place.

...