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. […]
First US greenhouse gas auction
Yesterday the first carbon auction in the U.S. took place. But we don’t yet know what happened: that news will be released Monday. The auction was organized by a coalition of 10 northeastern states. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative was scheduled to begin online sales carbon credits, sales which would then continue on a quarterly […]
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 […]
Fraser River salmon returns at lowest ebb in 50 years
The Vancover Sun reports that sockeye salmon in the Fraser River are at their lowest count in 50 years. "The department [Fisheries and Oceans Canada] warned as long ago as December 2007 that this year’srun would be exceptionally weak, based on a low number of fish -521,000 – that made it back to spawning grounds […]
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 […]
A marine census in the works & some early findings
Remember our rant about ocean ignorance? In fact, at a cocktail hour put together by Oceanblue Divers this summer, Dave Gallo (Woods Hole Director of Special Projects) said that when he first started studying the ocean in the 70s, we had explored 3 percent. And now, in 2008, we’ve explored 3.5 percent. No wonder we’ve […]
More data on coral vulnerability to increasing CO2
New Australian research suggests some coral reefs could be gone before 2050. Previous studies have underestimated the damaging effect of excess carbon dioxide on coral. Bleaching, or destruction of coral, caused by other factors such as pollution, evidently interacts with and is exacerbated by, the effect of ocean acidification, according to Ove Hoegh-Gulberg of the […]
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 […]
A Sea Change at American Geophysical Union fall meeting
Plans are finalizing to screen an excerpt of A Sea Change at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting this December. We’ll be part of a panel including Vicki Fabry, who first documented the effects of acidic seawater on pteropods. The AGU expects at least 15,000 geophysicists from around the world to attend. Awesome. The meeting’s […]
More location stills for A Sea Change
Are you a member of the press? Or just curious to see more of the gorgeous locations we shot in? Check out our photo album.
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 […]
A Sea Change at the 2008 Waterfront Conference in New York
ASC has just joined the Waterfront Alliance in New York. We’ll betabling at the 2008 Waterfront Conference on Nov. 13 with posters &flyers, showing the trailer to anyone who’s interested. "From thepaddlers of the Sebago Canoe Club on Jamaica Bay to the InternationalShippers of the New York Shipping Association, over 300 organizationsdedicated to a healthy, […]
More words of support for A Sea Change
"Your wonderful film is still resonating deeply with me. I love the way you have created a journey of discovery that is so real and so current in its telling. The use of googling . . traveling . . visiting grandchildren . . . scientists . . . venture capitalists . . . and mentors […]
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 […]
A Sea Change at the Seafood Summit next February
We’ve just been invited to screen A Sea Change in a session at the Seafood Summit. Following will be a panel discussion, including Brad Warren of Sustainable Fisheries Partnership and scientist Vicki Fabry (queen of the pteropods). We’re thrilled. This is exactly the sort of opportunity we hoped for: to present the film to its […]
New study focuses on Caribbean ocean acidification
Research just published confirms significant ocean acidification across much of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. It reports strong natural variations in ocean chemistry in some parts of the Caribbean that could affect the way reefs respond to future ocean acidification. "Such short-term variability has often been underappreciated and may prove an important consideration when […]