Archive for the ‘Oceans’ Category

19 May

GAO Grapples With Climate Change’s Impact on Infrastructure

Posted by plohnes in Climate Change, Coastlines, Development, Emergency Planning, Environmental Valuation, GAO, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Oceans, Weather Control.

Photo by Wikimedia Commons

Photo by Wikimedia Commons

While the extractive industries and their political handmaidens continue to press the notion that climate change is nothing but a hoax, the actual scientific evidence that it is real continues to mount as inexorably as arctic ice melts and temperatures rise around the globe. Those greedy scientists who invented The Great Climate Change Hoax to get rich off grant money are now telling us that even the ice on Mount Everest which provides a water basin for more 1.5 billion people is melting.

As the “controversy” grinds on, the General Accounting Office and the National Research Council are not sitting idly by, waiting for the last skeptic to be won over. According to a newly released GAO report,  the U.S. already spends billions of dollars every year on infrastructure, but much of that infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, wastewater systems, even NASA centers are vulnerable to climate change. By way of example, the GAO points out that within 15 years segments of Louisiana State Highway 1—providing the only road access to a port servicing 18 percent of the nation’s oil supply – will be inundated by tides an average of 30 times annually due to sea level rise, effectively the port.

The report criticizes national and state decision makers for failing to systematically consider climate change in infrastructure planning. Replacing aging bridges and highways is an expensive and time-consuming task made no easier by piling climate change on top. But such planning is both essential and doable.  The GAO points by way of example to Milwaukee’s efforts to manage the risk of greatly increased rainfall by enhancing its natural systems’ abilities (including local wetlands) to absorb runoff.

The GAO report makes numerous recommendations, including the establishment of an executive agency to work with other state and federal agencies to identify and mitigate future disruptions and provided guidance on how agencies should address such disruption. Amidst all the hand-wringing and sleight-of-hand political distractions surrounding climate change, the report makes for refreshingly direct and level-headed reading. You can find the whole thing here.

10 May

Keeling Over: Carbon Dioxide Levels Higher Than At Any Time In Human Evolution

Posted by plohnes in CO2, Global Warming, Oceans. Tagged: , , , .

Keeling CurveEvery day, millions of tons of carbon dioxide are spewed into our planet’s atmosphere as a result of extracting and consuming fossil fuels. According to the GAO, global CO2 emissions have increased over 2.5 percent a year over the last century. Decades ago, Charles Keeling noted that CO2 levels were increasing steadily over time, along with emissions and global temperatures. Thus was born the “Keeling Curve”, a widely used measure of atmospheric CO2. Now, Keeling’s curve is about to breech a new record. For the first time in human history, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere will reach 400 parts per million. Keeling’s son Ralph, a researcher at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, says “There’s no stopping CO2 from reaching 400 ppm. That’s now a done deal.”

Two hundred, four hundred, a thousand parts per million. What does that number mean, exactly? According to NOAA , before the Industrial Revolution, global average CO2 was about 280 ppm. During the last 800,000 years, CO2  fluctuated between 180 ppm during ice ages and 280 ppm during warmer periods. Today’s rate of increase is more than 100 times faster than the increase that occurred when the last ice age ended.

Andrew Freeman, writing at Climate Central, puts the new CO2 figure in terrifying context: These carbon dioxide levels haven’t been seen on planet earth during the whole of human evolution. In case that 800,000 year figure cited by NOAA doesn’t grab your attention, Freeman points to research indicating such levels haven’t been seen in 15 million years.

‘The last time there was this much carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere, modern humans didn’t exist,” writes Freeman. “Megatoothed sharks prowled the oceans, the world’s seas were up to 100 feet higher than they are today, and the global average surface temperature was up to 11°F warmer than it is now.”

The notion that human evolution has brought our species to the point where we can alter the basic planetary conditions which allowed us to thrive in the first place is sobering, to say the least. Given that the Keeling curve’s trajectory is likely take us beyond 450 ppm or higher, bending that curve down should be a global priority. There’s no guarantee we could survive a precipitous plunge back into a climate like that which prevailed fifteen million years ago.

8 Mar

Energy and Environmental Bills in the Washington Legislature

Posted by John Renehan in Climate Change, Coastlines, Oceans.

Gray wolf. Photo by uhuru1701, some rights reserved.

Today, we’ll look at energy and environmental bills being considered closer to home, in the Washington State Legislature. Energy and climate bills are center stage, but wildlife and land use bills are also on the agenda.

SB 5802 would authorize the Governor to contract with an independent organization to evaluate greenhouse gas reduction strategies and declare an emergency related to greenhouse gases. Its companion bill in the House went to executive session in the House Committee on Environment on Wednesday. Business advocates, however, are concerned that unilateral action in Washington will put state businesses at a competitive disadvantage nationally, and Republicans have proposed a substitute bill that removes “absolute” language on climate change and ocean acidification.

Among this session’s more high-profile bills is SB 5547, does not address climate change directly but rather confronts the ocean’s rising acidity. It would create a Marine Resources Protection Council in the Governor’s Office to consider how to tackle increased acidity and its effect on reef development and marine life. The Washington Farm Bureau, for its part, has pointed to lack of definitive evidence relating local industrial activities to rising acidity, and the bill did not move out of committee.

Another set of bills address energy use. SB 5297, SB 5298, HB 1221, and HB 1222 would allow utilities to purchase coal transition power while still meeting the reduced cost cap for renewable energy investments, and to lower the obligations under I-937 that state utilities gradually increase the amount of new renewable resources in their electricity supply. HB 1301 promotes renewable energy by adjusting incentives. It modifies a tax credit to encourage energy consumers to meet on-site electricity demands by installing renewable energy systems, and would establish a fund to encourage clean energy manufacturing in the state.

On the other side of the mountains, Eastern Washington legislators are apparently very concerned about gray wolves. A total of ten senate and house bills have been proposed that for the most part would expand the ability of ranchers and counties to lawfully kill wolves that have killed livestock. Most of these bills are not making progress, though.

Finally, SB 5295, designed to reduce the burden of permit applications mandated by the Shoreline Management Act, is stalled in committee.

21 Dec

New England Fisheries to Reopen, and the Missing Identity of Most Seafood

Posted by John Renehan in Aquaculture, Environmental Activism, Food & Beverage, Food Labeling, Marketing Claims, NOAA, Oceans, Sustainability.

Photo by Jim Maragos, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Some rights reserved.

Photo by Jim Maragos, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Some rights reserved.

The New England Fishery Management Council opened 5,000 square miles of protected waters off the coast of New England Thursday to new applications from commercial fishermen. These areas were closed in the 1990s to preserve habitat on the seafloor and give cod, haddock, and other species a safe place to spawn.

Fishermen have cheered the move, saying the 2010 adoption of a quota-based protection system made the geographic conservation areas an unnecessary restriction. Worried that 2013 will bring drastic cuts to the quotas for cod, haddock, and yellowtail flounder, industry groups will have to wait until January for the Council to review further fish stock data.

Environmentalists and scientists are concerned in particular because the protected areas provide a haven for older female fish that help increase stocks – but hope that the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, which has to approve the vote and is expected to act by May, will be more cautious.

Fish are also noteworthy this week with the news – or reminder – that seafood fraud is widespread. That means seafood is often labeled as something it is not, usually a cheaper look-alike. A new report by Oceana, an international organization dedicated to ocean conservation, finds that 39% of seafood from 81 grocery stores in New York City was not what appeared on the label, and that 100% of the 16 sushi restaurants investigated sold mislabeled fish. Last year, a Boston Globe investigation found a problem of similar scope.

The problem goes beyond economic duping. Consumers and diners are buying fish whose incorrect labeling might mean it was caught illegally or contains unlisted and illegal chemical additives. Enforcement, however, has focused on health claims, and individual restaurants know that they are at little or no risk of being caught.

Personally, I was glad to read the tuna steak I bought last week had been injected with carbon monoxide to keep its bright red hue. Many of us in Seattle enjoy our inexpensive Japanese cuisine, but the New York wholesaler quoted in the Times is right: “People want cheap sushi, and this is what happens.”

7 Nov

CCAMLR Delays Decision on Antarctic Reserve in the Southern Ocean

Posted by Kyle Hargus in CCAMLR, Oceans.

Photo by micheal clarke stuff. Some rights reserved.

Last week, the Commission for Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, a coalition of the EU and 24 member states, gathered in Hobart, Australia to discuss the proposal to build an 872,000 square mile ocean wildlife reserve in Antarctica. The reserve would serve as a refuge to the diverse and fragile ecosystem in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica, home to whales, seals, penguins, and other endangered species, where fishing and mineral harvesting would be outlawed and a focus would be placed on the protection of the aforementioned fragile ecosystem.

Unfortunately for the whales, seals, and penguins, a final decision on whether or not to go through with the establishment of the reserve was deferred until next July, when “all the relevant science will be considered.” The commission, which meets behind closed doors and whose meeting notes are not available for the public, did note that it passed a proposal supported by the US and the EU that institutes mandatory inspections of all fishing vessels present in the Southern Ocean. The Pew Environment Group acknowledged this as closing “an important gap” in the protection of this area.

China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Ukraine have been cited as the dominant forces opposing the reserve.  The commission is set to reconvene at an inter-annual meeting set for July in Bremerhaven Germany, where (hopefully) a final decision will be made.

26 Sep

Oceana Report Sounds a Warning Bell For Dwindling Fish Populations

Posted by Kyle Hargus in Climate Change, Oceans.

Photo in the public domain. Some rights reserved.

A new report released this week by Oceana (the non-profit group based in Washington D.C.) raises some alarming points about potential food insecurity across the globe, as ocean acidification due to climate change continues to damage fisheries in areas where fish and seafood are “a primary source of protein,” such as in the Maldives (where more than half of residents’ protein intake comes directly from seafood), Iceland, and Japan. The situation only worsens in impoverished areas where seafood is a common dietary staple, such as in Haiti, Madagascar, and Eritrea, where daily salaries often settle at around 1 US Dollar per day.

The report, titled “Ocean-Based Food Security Threatened in a high CO2 World,” states that “by 2050 the global demand for seafood is expected to rise” as a result of overpopulation, while at the same time a rise in global temperature threatens to wreak havoc on the fragile balance of marine life as the temperature ranges of our oceans continue to rise, and their pH levels continue to drop. America is expected to lose 12% of its annual catch by 2050, while some small coastal and island countries are expected to lose as much as 40% of their catch, at a time when coral reef eco-systems are in a state of rapid decay.

The Persian Gulf is well represented in the report’s rankings of “Most Vulnerable Nations to Food Security Threats,” with areas in the Middle East such as Iran, Libya, Kuwait, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates ranking high on the charts, just below small island nations such as The Maldives and Comoros. The report used factors such as Exposure levels, dependence on seafood, and adaptive ability to make these rankings.

7 Sep

Wave-Energy Generation: The Beginning

Posted by John Renehan in Coastlines, Oceans, Renewable Energy, Technology.

A lot of energy in every wave. Photo by David Spinks, some rights reserved.

Many words are written on developments in the wind and solar energy industries day in and day out, but this week another alternative energy source is making waves. The New York Times reported Monday that the first commercially licensed grid-connected wave-energy device in the country will be launched in October. The New Jersey-based company, Ocean Power Technologies, is sending a barge to carry a 260-ton generator to its anchorage off the central coast of Oregon.

The Pacific coastline from Northern California through Washington State is particularly well-suited for wave-energy generation due to consistent swell from never-ending northern Pacific winds. The weather, though, presents a problem of its own: stormy seas in the winter. Just 15 years ago, in fact, one of the first test-buoy generators sank shortly after it was launched off the Oregon coast.

Wave-energy technology is so new that OPT engineers and observers do not know what exactly to expect. The buoy has an onboard computer that collects input from ‘wave riders’ floating farther out in the ocean to adapt the generator to each incoming wave, as well as to gather data to help engineers understand the tiny differences between waves. While the OPT buoy floats on the surface, there are other ways to generate electricity from waves – other concepts have put generators on the ocean floor or rising vertically through the surface.

The near future of energy development could also hinge on the OPT buoy’s success. The federal permit issued last month approved up to 10 generators, which would produce enough energy to power 1,000 homes, but more important perhaps is the potential for future investment. Big power companies have mostly stood on the sidelines while smaller companies worked on wave energy generation, so Ocean Power Technologies has relied on grant money from public and private sources. If OPT proves the concept, private investment could flow into the industry, not just in the Pacific Northwest but in other spots with long fetch for ocean swell like parts of the coast of Western Europe and South America.

16 May

The Most Beautiful Beaches in the World Are in Danger!

Posted by Kyle Hargus in Coastlines, Oceans.

Photo by fmschmitt. Some rights reserved.

Troubling news for the U.S. tourism industry arrived this week in the form of a new report filed by the United States Geological Survey on the Historical Shoreline Change in the Hawaiian Islands. The report monitors shoreline changes on Kauai, Oahu, and Maui, Hawaii’s three most densely populated islands, over the last century. In this time,  9% (about 14 miles) of the coastline of these islands has disappeared, and 70% of their beaches show signs of retreat. Maui is showing the highest rate of decay, with 81% of its beaches showing signs of erosions.  The study reports varying rates of erosion depending on the island and the beach; the range runs the gamut from a few inches per year up to a few feet per year, depending on a multitude of factors including degree of tourism in the area, vulnerability to coastal storms, and the ever-increasing rise of sea level.

“The inevitable fate of the Hawaiian Islands millions of years into the future is seen to the northwest in the spires of French Frigate Shoals and the remnants of other once mighty islands, ancestors of today’s Hawaii, but now sunken beneath the sea through the forces of waves, rivers, and the slow subsidence of the seafloor,” explained USGS Director Marcia McNutt in an agency press release.

So what’s the solution? Obviously the findings of this report hold a great significance to the future of the Hawaiian way of life, both the indigenous Polynesian culture and the booming tourism industry of the islands. The common practice of re-building beaches with imported sand is also dicey in the Hawaiian islands as, because of its geographical remoteness, imported sand is 10 times more expensive than the global average. William J. Aila Jr., Chairperson of Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources recommends, above all else, moving commercial construction and infrastructure away from the beaches and towards the mainland. ”This will vastly improve upon public safety and will ensure that Hawaii’s beautiful beaches will be protected from inappropriate shoreline development.”

29 Mar

All of the Above? NRDC Wants None of It

Posted by Hester Serebrin in BOEMRE, DOI, Endangered Species Act, Environmental Impact Statements, Natural Gas, NRDC, Oceans, Offshore Drilling, Oil and Gas Sector.

Photo by NOAA's National Ocean Service. Some rights reserved.

Quick on the heels of an upbeat Department of the Interior Press Release came an equal-and-opposite reaction from the National Resources Defense Council.

The commentary focused on a recently released Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement from DOI’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that evaluates potential significant environmental effects of multiple geological and geophysical “G&G” activities in support of oil and gas exploration and development, renewable energy, and marine minerals in the Mid- and South Atlantic. All part of Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy, according to the DOI, which called these steps “critical,” and the PEIS “a milestone […] consistent with the Proposed OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017.”

But the NRDC sees it differently. The same G&G processes that might be used to “understand the extent, properties and geography of hydrocarbon resources, as well as the potential to site renewable energy structures and locate marine mineral resources like sand and gravel” – such as seismic air guns – are apparently “equivalent to blasting dynamite in a neighborhood every 10-12 seconds for weeks or months on end,” according to the NRDC, and “can cause hearing damage and death to marine mammals like endangered North Atlantic right whales that calve off the coasts of Georgia and Florida.”

Feel strongly one way or the other? The public may submit written comments by email to ggeis@boem.gov.

14 Jun

National Ocean Council’s Actions, Jackson

Posted by Hester Serebrin in Climate Change, National Ocean Council, Oceans, Water.

Photo by Aube insanité. Some rights reserved.

What has two categories, nine priority objectives, and aims to address some of the most pressing challenges facing our oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes?

The National Ocean Council’s Strategic Action Plan, of course!

On June 2nd, the Council released an introduction to, and content outlines for, the nine priority objectives that make up the Strategic Action Plan (SAP). The SAP was mandated by a White House Executive Order released last year, which incorporated the Final Recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force established the year before. The task force, the Council, and the whirlwind of activity surrounding them, have all been in the name of maintaining “healthy, resilient, and sustainable oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes resources for the benefit of this and future generations.”

The nine priorities of the SAP, which are split into two categories (“How we do Business” and “Areas of Special Emphasis”) cover everything from broad “ecosystem-based management” principles to “changing conditions in the Arctic,” and are intended to be fleshed out – with the help of public comments – and available in draft form later this year.

You can read previously submitted comments on the SAP outlines or submit your own comments until July 2, 2011. Need a quick overview? Law firm Perkins Coie has a good one here.

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