After the Storm
By Daniel de la Calle The storm passed and so did the election, strangely intertwining both in a way that made hard to distinguish one from the other. In a world steamrolling to global weirding certain people call a late October hurricane in Manhattan “the new normal”. For some absurd reason such a catchphrase has […]
One Victory for our Oceans: The EPA will Focus on Ocean Acidification
Check out this new article from the Christian Science Monitor about the EPA’s decision to help states study and address the increasing acidity of their waters. This will be another use of the powerful Clean Water Act, and possibly a landmark event in bringing attention to ocean acidification. This important step has been brought to […]
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 […]
Twenty years later
An eloquent statement from the man who first announced global warming in the U.S. Congress, James Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, published in The Guardian. An excerpt: ". . . we have used up all slack in the schedule for actions needed todefuse the global warming time bomb. The next […]
Al Gore
We found this originally on EcoGeek but went back to the source, TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design), an organization devoted to bringing together "the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes)." Al Gore was invited to deliver one of those talks this past March […]
Another sea change
This courtesy of economist Mark Thomas’ blog Economist’s View: "Americans consider global warming an urgent threat, according to poll,EurekAlert: A growing number of Americans consider global warming animportant threat that calls for drastic action, and 40% say that a presidentialcandidate’s position on the issue will strongly influence how they vote,according to a national survey conducted […]
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 […]
EPA admits climate change a human health problem
Well, the EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) has acknowledged that climate change poses health and lifestyle risks. In a Reuters report filed last week, Joel Scheraga, agency representative is quoted as saying ""Climate change poses real risk to human health and the human systemsthat support our way of life in the United States." Possible risks […]
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. […]
More about the European Project on Ocean Acidification (EPOCA)
More about EPOCA, from gattuso’s website: "The EU FP7 Integrated Project EPOCA (European Project on OCeanAcidification) was launched in June 2008 with the overall goal toadvance our understanding of the biological, ecological,biogeochemical, and societal implications of ocean acidification (Fig.1). The EPOCA consortium brings together more than 100 researchers from27 institutes1 and 9 European countries. The […]
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 […]
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 […]
Information for Action
Information for Action is an environmental website offering a couple of features: An easy-to-use automated lobbying service, allowing you to quickly send emails, letters or faxes to politicians and business leaders all over the world. An educational resourceexplaining the environmental issues, using words, images, maps, graphs,links, and offering solutions and a ‘What you can do’ […]
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 […]
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 […]
US to lead the world in climate change effort?
Well, we had to read that headline twice. Awesome how much a day can change things: from denying climate change, the US government may be doing an about-face and now leading efforts to diminish emissions. Senator John Kerry, speaking in Poznan, Poland, at the current climate conference, said the USA will take the lead, if […]
Legal protection for endangered corals in Florida
An Oct. 28 press release from the Center for Biological Diversity reports that the US government is now protecting two species of coral, elkhorn and staghorn.Found in Florida and the Caribbean, these corals were once the most numerous and important reef builders in this area. They have now declined by more than 90 percent in […]
Blue Vision Summit begins March 7, 2009
We just found out about this event and are definitely interested in supporting it in some way. Over and over again, ocean scientists, lawyers, and conservationists tell us that we know very little about the ocean and that ocean research is grossly underfunded. We’re also hearing repeatedly that we have very little time to learn […]
Obama promises presence at December climate talks
At a rope line in Columbus, Ohio on Nov. 2, Barack Obama says hewill either go to the U.N. climate talks in Poland this December, orsend a team in his place. Greenpeace has a campaign urging the President-Elect to go in person. Which would be huge. We’ve signed up: how about you?
Obama promises to address climate change Nov. 18
In a web video produced for the Bi-PartisanGovernors Global Climate Summit, President-elect Barack Obama pledgednew leadership to address global climate change. (Nov. 18)
Ocean Champion to Head NOAA
President-Elect Obama has put forward Jane Lubchenco to head NOAA. This is awesome news for marine conservationists: a marine biologist herself, Lubchenco has frequently spoken publicly about the importance of restricting carbon dioxide emissions. Lubchenco has "a passion for improving public understanding of science." She would be the first woman to lead the National Oceanic […]
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 […]
EPA seeks scientific data on ocean acidification
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responding to a petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) last year by requesting information from scientists and policy makers on ocean acidification. The information will help the EPA decide whether to revise their current pH water criterion, a move which might lay the groundwork for […]
Fertilizing ocean to combat climate change
In apparent defiance of international law (and possibly commonsense), scientists are planning to start an experiment with iron fertilization. The Independent is reporting that the proposed location is the Southern Ocean. The plan: to create a plankton bloom big enough to be visible from space. “The researchers – mainly from Germany and India, but including […]