The Perfect Loaf
We stumbled on this bread shop close to where the filmmakers for A Sea Change are staying in Copenhagen. No sign outside, we just happened to peer in and saw these scrumptious loaves. They are as good as they look. The crust is chewy yet crisp, and the loaf itself moist. Yeast-free: the bread rises […]
Coral Reefs Vulnerable to Ocean Acidification
Coral reefs may be even more sensitive than previously thought to ocean acidification. See this recent news on a study conducted by USGS.
Niijii Films in Copenhagen
Barbara, Sven, Angela and Gwen have landed in Copenhagen. We have at least 4 screenings of A Sea Change planned during the COP-15 conference, and we plan to do everything we can to put the oceans on the agenda of discussion for our nations’ leaders. While there is little likelihood of a significant treaty being […]
NOAA defines ocean acidification
This is a detailed, clean explanation of what ocean acidification is. Straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, i.e., from the NOAA website. NOAA is the U.S. government agency specifically charged with studying ocean and climate, fyi. You pronounce the acronym just like that guy from the Bible: remember the ark? It stands for […]
Subcommittee Reviews Legislation to Research and Monitor Ocean Acidification
(Washington, DC) th Today, the House Committee on Science andTechnology’s Subcommittee on Energy and Environment held a hearing toreview H.R. 4174, the Federal Ocean Acidification Research andMonitoring Act. Committee Members examined the current status ofscience on ocean acidification and research and monitoring activitiesfocused on ocean acidification and its potential impacts on marineorganisms and marine ecosystems. […]
Sustainable tech info on the web
ok, this is very cool: a website about sustainable technology put together by Mykel Pereira. a high school student. Wind, solar, tidal, bioplastic, and more. Plus the site design is clean, though I’d shorten the line lengths a tad for easier scanning. Definitely worth a visit. A method for dealing with excess carbon dioxide in […]
The ocean as a limestone dump
Here’s a solution to the problem of ocean acidification: dump in a bunch of limestone to neutralize it. Evidently it works, according to Danny Harvey at the University of Toronto. You’d have to dump in quite a lot, though. Try 4 billion tons. Per year. Over decades. Even assuming its ecological side effects are relatively […]
They get it in Europe
The European Union is stepping up to the plate. Even though the full ramifications of ocean acidification aren’t yet known, they’re not waiting around. Rather, they’re launching an EU-wide initiative to study the phenomenon. Ocean acidification is happening today and it’s happening on top of global warming, so we are in double trouble" stated [Jelle] […]
Too close for comfort
Now it’s in the U.S. backyard: elevated pH levels in the Pacific, within 20 miles of the coast, documented for the first time. The data are reported in a study authored by Richard Feely, Christopher Sabine, J. Marting Hernandez-Ayon, Debby Ianson, and Burke Hales, summarized in Science Express. The area studied is known for its […]
A refreshing take
I stumbled across this on YouTube today. I was definitely ready for something slightly cheerful on this topic, with all this dark news. Ok, the first act, the seafood parade, could be slightly shorter. Granted. But stay with it, cause the animation that follows is not only cute, it’s on the money with the facts. […]
What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger
Some organisms seem to be adapting to ocean acidification. Live Science is reporting on a study conducted by scientists at the University of Washington of tiny plants called coccolithophores. A kind of algae, they respond to increased acidity by building thicker shells. This does not mean go out and buy that Hummer you’ve been thinking […]
Devil (fish) in the details
This week the European Union’s initiative for studying ocean acidification kicks off in Nice, France. The name’s a bit unwieldy—the European Project of Ocean Acidification (EPOCA)—but we’re just glad a governmental entity’s paying serious attention and putting some resources and publicity behind the effort. It’s truly an international effort focused on filling in "the numerous […]
Will Bush turn blue? Possible blue legacy in the works
National Public Radio has just reported that President Bush is considering the creation of a number of marine reserves. If created, they would represent a huge conservation program, one of the largest ever. This would be cool, if it happens. Evidently it’s all still in the planning stages, and the Bush administration has not commented […]
Green screen in NYC
We’re glad to see the New York City Mayor’s Office giving support to lightening the production footprint. The website offers tips and resources for saving energy while making movies in the Big A. Many of the tips apply more to big-budget features; however, those are the folks making the most waste, so it makes sense. […]
Will Florida lead the way?
A coalition of major conservation groups published a report outlining key steps the state of Florida can take to respond to pressing environmental concerns, including the big OA. The full report can be downloaded from docuticker. The summary alludes vaguely to "restoring coastal and marine ecosystems so they can better cope with the stress of […]
On the radar screen
It seems that, just in the past few weeks, ocean acidification has come into focus in public awareness. We have a google alert going for the topic and are finding that each alert is jam-packed. Folks have been especially picking up on the upwelling issue blogged about earlier, the "corrosive" 50-year-old seawater. There’s expanding coverage […]
Republicans block U.S. Senate’s global warming bill
Last night Democrats failed to break the Republican filibuster of major global warming legislation. The bill would have capped carbon dioxide coming from power plants,refineries and factories, with a target of cutting greenhouse gasemissions by 71 percent by the middle of this century. Notably crossing the aisle was John Warner (R-VA), arguing that the bill […]
What we know is a drop in the ocean
It’s darn expensive studying the ocean, as two Australian scientists pointed out recently. That’s the reasonwe know a lot more about what’s going on above sea level. ‘"Marine ecosystems are undoubtedly under-resourced,overlooked and under threat and our collective knowledge of impacts onmarine life is a mere drop in the ocean,’ wrote Dr Anthony Richardson,from The […]
Islands in the line of fire
It seems that, just as island nations have to come to terms with global warming before the rest of us, the same may be true of ocean acidification. When you think about it, it stands to reason: many islands are protected by coral reefs from storms and cyclones. If the reefs are endangered, so are […]
Perusing the Peterkin Papers
The more I read about possible solutions to the problem of oceanacidification which involve adding things to the ocean, the more I’mreminded of a chapter in The Peterkin Papers, a classic collection ofchildren’s stories. The Peterkins are a large family, characterized bytheir complete lack of commonsense. One morning, Mrs. Peterkinmistakenly adds salt to her tea […]
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 […]