Category: Blog

A sea riddle

What did the beach say when the tide came in? (2 possible answers!) 1. "Hi (high) Tide!" 2. "Long time no Sea!" Today's riddle is courtesy of Elizabeth Eubanks, teacher, St. Mark Catholic School in Florida.

NBC anchor Wendy Rieger couldn’t get into DC premiere of A Sea Change

This post would belong in the shameless self-promotion category, except that Wendy Rieger wrote the bulk of it; we're just quoting. Anchor of NBC4 in DC, and originator of the "Going Green" strand, she produced a lovely story on A Sea Change. Wendy decided the next day to attend our DC premiere in person, and […]

Washington Post reviews A Sea Change

Ann Hornaday reviews A Sea Change in today's issue of The Washington Post (March 12). An excerpt: "The story of a retired educator who becomes interested in, and finally consumed by, the declining state of the world's oceans, the film [A Sea Change] brings a crucial and little-known issue to the attention of filmgoers. The […]

A taste of the World Premiere of A Sea Change at DC Environmental Film Festival

What an amazing night for A Sea Change! We couldn’t have askedfor a more appropriate venue, one floor beneath the Smithsonian’s newlyunveiled Sant Ocean Hall, with an introduction by coral expert Dr. NancyKnowlton, who holds the Sant Chair in Marine Science at the museum. The room was overflowing with what was rumored to have been […]

NBC DC reports on A Sea Change

Anchor Wendy Rieger produced a story on A Sea Change last week, leading up to our premiere Saturday in the DC Environmental Film Festival. Below is an excerpt. Wendy reports on environmental issues regularly in her series “Going Green” on NBC 4 in Washington.

Alaska youth come to the fore in ocean acidification awareness

Ocean acidification may be a winning topic for some Alaska high school students. Four of them, from the Kodiak High School Tsunami Bowl team, have focused on the subject for a state science competition coming up in early February. If they win at the state level, they’ll go on to Washington, DC, in April to […]

Oceans & climate change

James Baker discusses the impact of global warming on coral reefs, ocean acidification, chemistry of the atmosphere and ocean, and growing public awareness of the issues.  Formerly, Baker was NOAA's Undersecretary of Commerce/Administrator during the Clinton Administration. He currently serves as Director of the Clinton Foundation's Global Carbon Measurement Program.The talk was given at Cornell […]

Bacteria turn excess clean energy into methane for storage

Penn State researchers have found a possible solution to the problem of storing alternative energy. It's a bacterium able to convert electricity into methane gas when combined with CO2. The Cleantechnica blog reports that: "Any surplus power from wind, solar, or tidal sources is fed into thebacteria and combined with CO2 from the atmosphere to […]

Plan B for climate urged by scientists

It’s time to implement Plan B, to use technology to address excess carbon in the atmosphere. That’s the feeling of a growing number of climate scientists polled by The Independent. The Kyoto Treaty has not served to limit the release of carbon dioxide. And recent research reports that the world’s naturally occurring carbon "sinks" are […]

Bush confirms blue legacy with creation of marine protected area

In his last days in office, President Bush has created the world’s largest marine protection area in the Pacific Ocean. The legislation he signed bans commercial fishing and mining in a vast area (195,000 miles) including the Mariana Trench, Rose Atoll in American Samoa, and seven equatorial islands in the Central Pacific. The Times Online […]

Pray for the pteropods

“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” ~ Einstein Fluid, gorgeous little creatures – like winged angels of the sea. Thatʼs how these precious bite-sized beings, the size of a babyʼs fingernail, appeared to Sven Huseby when he first saw them. […]

Climate change naysayers

We discovered this on YouTube, in a series called "Climate Denial Crock of the Week." The video maker is Peter Sinclair, an advocate of environmental awareness and energy alternatives. Here's what he has to say about it: "Climate Deniers S. Fred Singer and Dennis Avery make their livingby confusing and obfuscating the science of climate […]

Concrete as a cure for climate change?

A Scientific American article is reporting on what sounds like a revolutionary technique for partially solving the greenhouse gas problem: using it to produce cement. A new company called Calera claims that, by passing carbon dioxide through seawater, it can produce cement. For example, the waste gas from power plants, now released into the atmosphere, […]

Shell weights reduced by ocean acidity

Reuters reported today (March 9) that a new study at the University of Tasmania in Australia shows that ocean acidification is reducing the shell weights of tiny creatures called foraminifera. Weights are falling between 30 and 35 percent. "William Howard of the University of Tasmania in Australia described the findings as an early-warning signal, adding […]

Al Gore testifies to House E&C Committee, mentions ocean acidification

In his testimony before the House Energy & Commerce Committee April 24, Al Gore said: “Carbon dioxide pollution is changing the very chemistry of our oceans. Ocean acidification is already underway and is accelerating. A recentpaper published in the journal Science described how the seawater off the coast of Northern California has become so acidic […]

Testimonial for A Sea Change from a Climate Project presenter

"I received A Sea Change after I returned home from work Monday. I finally had a chance today to sit and watch it and I was beyond impressed!  It is a wonderful journey of discovery that Sven and Elias takes us on. So perfectly made. BRAVO!!!  I hope with all my heart that as many […]

Center for Biological Diversity sues EPA over ocean acidification

Today the Center for Biological Diversity has filed the first-ever US law suit addressing ocean acidification. The Center is suing the EPA and administrator Lisa Jackson over their failure to recognize the effects of ocean acidification in water off the coast of Washington State. The case is a test of whether the Clean Water Act […]

COP-15 for naught?

You may have noticed the drop off in our blogging. We're finding Twitter a super convenient way to convey info quickly. There's a certain ease in the short-form format; we don't feel the need to craft our language quite as carefully. And it's unbeatable for live coverage of an event. If you've been following us, […]

WORLD OCEAN DAY SCREENINGS

Ocean acidification is a global menace. That’s why we are sparking awareness of the issue with a series of international screenings celebrating World Ocean Day 2009. The “official” WOD is really June 8, but that’s a Monday. So we’re inviting everyone to begin celebrating with A Sea Change on Saturday, June 6. Saturday, June 6, […]

EnviroMom

We just really like EnviroMom a lot. Can't remember how we stumbled on it; it's been a long day. Started by 2 moms, Renee and Heather. Their premise: they're moms and they're busy, but they can still be green. So prolly you can, too. Mind you, they're based in Portland, ME, which strikes as a […]

World Oceans Day Q&A with Filmmakers of A Sea Change

Following a screening of A Sea Change at the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries, Barbara Ettinger and Sven Huseby answer questions about the film and ocean acidification. The plan was to receive tweeted questions and emails from other venues screening for World Oceans Day. Well, we couldn’t get online: Verizon decided to test its […]

EPA reconsiders ocean pH limits, response to Center for Biological Diversity petition

"U.S. EPA is weighing a revision of standards aimed at preventing the acidification of marine waters. The effort marks the first time EPA has invoked the Clean WaterAct to address ocean acidification, and comes in response to a 2007petition from the Center for Biological Diversity. The center notedthat EPA has failed to update the pH […]