New species found in Australian reefs
Remember that tongue-eating fish we mentioned? And the dozens of other new species? See them in living color in this story from NTDTV. The species were discovered by an expedition mounted by the Australian Institute of Marine Science. Scientist JulianCaley says they never expected to find so many new species.It’ll take years just to name […]
Obama addresses ocean acidification
Sea Action Fund joined forces with 18 other science organizations to ask the US presidential candidates 14 science questions. Democratic candidate Barack Obama specifically addressed ocean acidification in his answer to the ocean health question. The question asked: "Scientists estimate that some 75 percent of the world’s fisheries arein serious decline and habitats around the […]
Olivia Chantecaille at the Oceans Pavilion in Barcelona
Olivia Chantecaille attended the roll-out of a gorgeous booklet called Gems of the High Seas at the Oceans Pavilion. Chantecaille Cosmetics, of which she is creative director, sponsored the booklet’s publication.Gems of the High Seas focuses on six beautiful and endangered regions of the ocean. Ms. Chantecaille said: "The strongest message that I’ve gotten from […]
Our green aspirations
Click to Play Ben Kalina speaks briefly about our plans to produce a film with a small carbon footprint and a big educational footprint, while making art in the process. Yes, and when we’re finished with that, we’ll be balancing the U.S. budget and drinking to world peace. Thanks to Cameron Hickey from Pattern Films […]
PMEL
NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) Carbon Dioxide Program maintains a site that’s chock-a-block with info about the ocean carbon cycle, including acidification. Technical language, but accessible to the lay person. "The ocean plays a critical role in the global carbon cycle as avast reservoir that exchanges carbon rapidly with the atmosphere, andtakes up a […]
Reunion Island Students at the IUCN Sailing to Barcelona Intiative
Click to Play Two charming students from Reunion Island talk about the importance of maintaining biodiversity. They were generous enough to speak with me in English; of course, they were much more comfortable in their native language (French, in case you didn’t know). I hope to post their commentary for the francophones among us soon. […]
Rising ocean acidity slows marine fertilization
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSSYD16465220080815 Rising acidification of the ocean could reduce fertilization ofmarine invertebrates and might eventually wipe out colonies of seaurchins, lobsters, mussels and oysters, according to a study. Scientists knew that ocean acidification was eating away at theshells of marine animals, but the new study has found that risingacidity hindered marine sperm from swimming to and […]
Sailing to Barcelona
Our hats are off to those who can attend a conference and blog daily. We can only observe dumbfounded as we stumble into bed after a day and evening of screenings, discussions, serendipitous encounters, and hurried visits to email and that huge congress calendar. Luckily someone had the foresight to create a cheat sheet for […]
Sizzle–global warming comes to a theater near you
We just found out about this and are super curious. It’s a comedy! We don’t know how it’s possible to make a funny doc about this subject, but don’t mind finding out. We’re definitely going, as soon as we can. Sizzle is directed by Randy Olson, whose first career was in marine biology. The film […]
Summer Streets in New York City
Regular readers know we don’t limit ourselves to direct reporting on climate change and ocean acidification. No, we gotta take ourselves into the open air sometimes and perk up. Here’s a great carbon-free option for doing just that. Courtesy Streetfilms.
Sylvie Chantecaille at the IUCN World Conservation Congress
The Chantecaille family was well represented in Barcelona, with both mother (Sylvie) and daughters (Alex and Olivia) attending as delegates for the Marine Conservation Biology Institute (MCBI). Mrs. Chantecaille has led the way in leveraging the family’s international cosmetics business into a means of letting women know about marine conservation issues. She said: "We have […]
The Ocean Acidification Network
This is a site we know we’ll be using a lot; it’s jam-packed with info about ocean acidification. Aimed at scientists, but not too technical for the lay person. Organizations involved in the Ocean Acidification Network: the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization-Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO-IOC), the International […]
The ocean before & after acidification
Let’s hope the outcome’s not quite so dire as this animation suggests. (Courtesy IoMidorihana.)
Tongue-eating animal lurks in coral
Exciting news this morning, along with the US government’s bail-out of the stock market, was the reporting on the finding of hundreds of new species in coral reefs right off the Australian coast. Evidently they’ve been under our noses this whole time, because the discoveries have been made in popular diving spots. The Age reports […]
US carbon-reduction goals won’t save coral
The Daily Green is reporting that US carbon goals won’t protect corals, according to a study published in Geophysical Research Letters. Chemical oceanographers Long Cao and Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution’s Dept. of Global Ecology have created a computer model which estimates levels of CO2 in the atmosphere threatening to the ocean environment. According […]
Ocean acidifying 10 times faster than previously thought
A just-published BBC article reports that ocean chemistry is changing 10 times faster than previously thought, in response to increased CO2 absorption. Researchers measured the acidity of seawater off the Pacific Northwest coast for eight years. Every half hour, so there’s plenty of data. "Professor Timothy Wootton from the department of ecology and evolution, University […]
Ocean Champion to Head NOAA
President-Elect Obama has put forward Jane Lubchenco to head NOAA. This is awesome news for marine conservationists: a marine biologist herself, Lubchenco has frequently spoken publicly about the importance of restricting carbon dioxide emissions. Lubchenco has "a passion for improving public understanding of science." She would be the first woman to lead the National Oceanic […]
Possible suit against EPA under Clean Water Act to address ocean acidification
The Center for Biological Diversity may bring suit against the EPA for not upholding water standards in the face of ocean acidification. The NGO will take legal action if the EPA fails to act promptly on a petition submitted last year, in which the agency was asked to "impose stricter pH standards for ocean waterquality […]
Scenic Hudson blurb on A Sea Change
"Immense and profound." Ned Sullivan, PresidentScenic HudsonScenic Hudson is a non-profit organization which protects and restores the Hudson River.
Scientists confirm rapid ocean acidification
Remember that conference we missed in Monaco? Environmental Expert.com published a nice summary of the proceedings. To wit, 250 marine scientists from 32 countries agreed that ocean chemistry is changing rapidly. More specifically, it’s "accelerating at an unprecedented rate," becoming more acidic. What can we expect? No one is yet sure, but a significant loss […]
Squids and ocean acidification
Yet another species which may be vulnerable to ocean acidification: Humboldt squid. These giant creatures—they can grow up to seven feet long—dwell in the Pacific Ocean. They play a key role in the food chain, both as predators and as prey for fish and marine mammals. Scientists from the University of Rhode Island report, in […]
Support for A Sea Change from Rob Moir, Ocean River Institute
"A Sea Change [the documentary] could not be more timely. I believe acidification of our oceans is actually a greater threat to our survival than is temperature or sea level rise, the conventional "global warming" threats. Acidification is confusing and difficult to even imagine for most people–we need your film. To imagine a world without […]
That pesky elephant in the room–wait, there’s more than one
Courtesy of Google alerts (yet another reason to be grateful to Google, and I’m wondering when they’re going to ask for my first-born child), I discovered the Gerry’s Elephantine Blog. Loving the name and the writing. Intelligent analysis laced with dark humor: my favorite cocktail. Gerry recently posted on climate change and ocean acidification. To […]
US to lead the world in climate change effort?
Well, we had to read that headline twice. Awesome how much a day can change things: from denying climate change, the US government may be doing an about-face and now leading efforts to diminish emissions. Senator John Kerry, speaking in Poznan, Poland, at the current climate conference, said the USA will take the lead, if […]
Valerie Burgener sums up Sailing to Barcelona
Click to Play Valérie Burgener was instrumental in coordinating the activities of Sailing to Barcelona, one of the initiatives of the IUCN World Conservation Congress. Here she sums up the successes of the initiative. One big problem: the boats were a 40-min. metro ride away from the bulk of the Congress activities (at the Forum). […]