Green For All
Greening the US plus jobs for the job-less. A win-win if I ever saw one. increasing the flow of green to the disenfranchised in the forms of jobs hence income increasing American’s use of green energy http://www.greenforall.org/
The Eur-Oceans Project offers ocean acidification 101
A short video intro to the basics of ocean acidification, courtesy of the Eur-Oceans Project, a network of research teams co-funded by the European Union. A bit dry but some nice graphics. Also available in French for our francophone friends.
Half US corals reported at risk
In a 569-page document released Monday at the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium, NOAA reports that almost half of all coral reef ecosystems under U.S. jurisdiction are in poor or fair condition. Threats to corals include coastal development, fishing, sedimentation,recreational use, and climate-related effects of coral bleaching,disease and ocean acidification.
The Gore 10-Year Challenge
Al Gore threw down the gauntlet yesterday, challenging the U.S. to go completely carbon-free in its energy sources within ten years. We have the technology to do it, he claimed, speaking in DC to an enthusiastic crowd. The 50-year goals politicians have been setting, eg, at the recent G8 meetings, just don’t cut it: they’re […]
House passes ocean acidification bill
The US House of Representatives passed H.R.4174today, ocean acidification-related legislation. Details: Title: To establish an interagency committee to develop an oceanacidification research and monitoring plan and to establish an oceanacidification program within the National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration. Sponsor: Rep Allen, Thomas H. [ME-1](introduced 11/14/2007) Cosponsors (17) Related Bills:S.1581Latest Major Action: 7/9/2008Passed/agreed to in House. […]
Up-to-date info on climate issues from scientists
RealClimate is a commentary site on climate science by working climate scientists for the interested public and journalists.Their goal: " to provide a quick response to developing stories and provide the context sometimes missing in mainstream commentary." They eschew discussion of the political and economic implications of their reports; however, their posts often engender extensive, […]
Interns & volunteers invited
Great news: we’re building up momentum and A Sea Change isn’t out yet. We knew the public would care about ocean acidification once they knew about it. We’re being proved right. But that means we could use some help, especially with outreach. And what the heck is outreach? Just letting our core audience know about […]
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 […]
1 million tons an hour dissolving in the ocean
We were staggered to hear this statistic in KQED’s recent story on ocean acidification. Yup, that’s the rate at which carbon dioxide is dissolving in the ocean. Treehugger’s got the story running with a nice little slide show. The focus is research being conducted at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI).
Just before the IUCN World Congress
First day in Barcelona. I arrive in the morning, get oriented by the friend I’m staying with.He’s had the foresight to rent an apartment in the old city, walking distance from the harbor. Around 5 pm I go down to Port Vell to meet with Valérie Burgener of the IUCN Sailing to Barcelona Initiative. She […]
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 […]
A Sea Change at World Conservation Congress
We were delighted earlier this week by an invitation to screen the trailer for A Sea Change in Barcelona next month. The occasion is the World Conservation Congress, a four-yearly gathering sponsored by IUCN. They expect thousands of attendees from civil society, academia, and governments around the world. The structure is a four-day Forum, with […]
McCain weighs in on ocean health
John McCain has now stepped up to the plate presented by the Sciencedebate2008 folks. Hats off to them, by the way, for posing 14 questions to both U.S. presidential candidates.They’ve lined up the answers online, for maximum ease in comparing and contrasting. We of course went right to McCain’s answer on ocean health. FYI, the […]
A Sea Change coming
Look for the world premiere in early 2009. Meanwhile, watch the trailer here. Or if you have trouble viewing it, please visit our YouTube channel. Editor Toby Shimin iscutting away in upstate New York. We’ve nearly got a fine cut. The story has emerged and we”ve found the balance we were looking for between the […]
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 […]
Carbon caveat
http://oceanacidification.wordpress.com/2008/08/21/carbon-caveat/
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 […]
Champagne anyone? CO2 vents provide a glimpse of the future
Natural CO2 vents on the floor of the ocean cause increased acidity in their neighborhood. Examining these microcosms gives a suggestion of what the sea floor could look like in 2100: a nice, green lawn. This particular locale features cool CO2 vents, so is particularly interesting. One researcher described diving at the site as "swimming […]
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 […]
CO2 could worsen whale sonar problems
Increased absorption of CO2 by seawater changes how sound travels. Which in turn affects how whales communicate. Research published last week in Geophysical Research Letters studied the relationship between audio absorption and ocean pH. In their paper "“Unanticipated consequences of ocean acidification: A noisier ocean at lower pH,” ocean chemists Peter Brewer, Keith Hester, and […]
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 […]
Colder down under
"first significant effects of ocean acidification are likely to be seenin the cold polar oceans, especially the Southern Ocean. The acid stateof the ocean is driven by a collection of chemical processes but amajor driver in them is the amount of carbon dioxide that is dissolvedinto the ocean form the atmosphere. Anthropogenic emissions of carbondioxide […]
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 […]
Cut greenhouse gases to save coral reefs
A new document called the Honolulu Declaration was just released at a U.S. conference on coral reefs in Hawaii. Reefs are considered sentinel ecosystems, key sign of environmental degradation. The document states: "The most logical and critical action to address the impacts of ocean acidification on coral reefs is to stabilize atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration." […]
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. […]