The article in Science Daily reported: “The researchers estimate that the oceans last year took up a record 2.3 billion tons of CO2 produced from burning of fossil fuels. But with overall emissions growing rapidly, the proportion of fossil-fuel emissions absorbed by the oceans since 2000 may have declined by as much as 10%.” This is the first time scientists have actually measured the change.

The study was pretty extensive. The article said it reconstructed the annual accumulation of industrial carbon from 1765 to 2008. As expected carbon uptake by the world’s oceans rose sharply trying to keep pace in the 50’s. By 2,000 carbon emissions reached “such a pitch that the ocean’s ability to absorb it declined even though the oceans absorb more each year in absolute tonnage. Today, the oceans hold about 150 billion tons of industrial carbon, the researchers estimate–a third more than in the mid-1990s.”

Of all the oceans, the Southern Ocean around Antarctica is most important. Carbon dioxide dissolves more readily in cold, dense seawater than in warmer waters. About 40 percent of carbon emissions enter the oceans through the Southern Ocean. As oceans warm up, and acidify, they become less capable of absorbing carbon dioxide.

Bottom line as stated by the study’s lead author, Samar Khatiwala: “Natural mechanisms cannot be depended upon to mitigate increasing human-produced emissions. “What our ocean study and other recent land studies suggest is that we cannot count on these sinks operating in the future as they have in the past, and keep on subsidizing our ever-growing appetite for fossil fuels.”

Amen, and add to that the world’s overtaxed and disappearing rainforests, and previously frozen Arctic carbon sinks.

Read the article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091118143211.htm.

The article said, “Mace, [] develops criteria for listing species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and co-ordinating biodiversity inputs to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment,” so she should know. Hal Mooney who chairs DIVERSITAS said that biodiversity experts are finally engaging in policy debates, as they should. I think a global panel of biodiversity scientists collecting data worldwide on all species is long overdue and their input badly needed. Much like the IPCC for climate change, there needs to be a unified system for tracking loss of species on this planet. It is after all, loss of life and should be a forewarning.

So it was good to read in the ENS article that scientists are planning “a science-based global biodiversity observing system called GEO-BON to improve coverage and consistency in observations at ground level and via remote sensing.” The GEO-BON head, Prof. Robert Scholes stated: ‘GEO-BON will help give us a comprehensive baseline against which scientists can track biodiversity trends and evaluate the status of everything from genes to ecosystem services.’ Recently in Nairobi, the world’s environment ministers “considered the creation of IPBES-the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services-which would require UN General Assembly Approval.”

That’s impressive and I would say to track biodiversity is probably harder to do than track climate change. While biodiversity scientists are busy trying to ascertain how quickly extinction approaches many of our beloved animal species like primates, whales, dolphins, all big cats and bears, all elephants and rhinos, other scientists are still discovering new species. I just read an article in the Sept. 23^rd edition of Time that over 30 new species of animal were recently discovered in an extinct volcano in Papua, New Guinea. They exist because they were obviously sheltered from man, and the outside world. GEO-BON has its work cut out for it, and none to soon because there is a silent crisis emerging—the collapse of freshwater ecosystems. Collapse is a scary word that should tell us we’re way behind where we should be.

Read the whole article:
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2009/2009-10-13-01.asp.

The 7-year study tested more than a 1,000 fish. The USGS warns Americans to limit the amount of large predator freshwater fish they eat like WALLEYE! Hear that Michiganders? Enjoy, but limit the amount you eat.

Even worse about a quarter of all those fish have mercury levels higher than what the EPA says is safe. If you followed my blogs through a few years of the Bush Administration, the EPA was corporate friendly to say the least.

The article then defers to the National Fisheries Institute’s response to this study: “If you have a family member that’s out there fishing in a stream, beware.” That pretty much supports the story. The Fisheries Institute just wanted to make it clear that the fish you buy in a store isn’t as bad as that fish you caught in what you thought was a nice clear stream. I did a blog on this long ago. You’ve got a choice of wild caught fish with mercury or farm raised fish with PCB’s.

Since I sit in my TV room that overlooks the canal while I write this, I’m also looking at the wetlands behind my house. I can’t help but think of the huge chain of animals that call the canal home–all the little baby geese, and ducks that I’ve fed that swim up every spring, the little muskrats that run up my berm and grab one of my apples on the ground, the turtles that sun themselves on the downed logs, and all the birds in the mix including swans. I can’t help but think what we’ve done to them. Not fair, not fair at all.

And just what causes mercury in the water EVERYWHERE? Gee I wonder. Did you know that the coal lobby managed to gouge holes in the House version of the American Climate and Energy Security Act so that coalburners will still supply half of our electricity until 2025 and the rate of pollution will go unchanged for the next 15 years? According to Earthjustice, not only will they keep polluting but may expand with 27 new coalburners that will also be exempt from having to curb or capture any pollution.

When you consider the fuss Americans made at the American auto industry for producing gas guzzling, polluting SUV’s because the same American’s demanded those types of cars, you can clearly see this is a really unfair playing field as to who is towing the line on pollution or not. The coal industry is no different than oil—they are fat with money unlike our auto industry. Money talks. That’s what every other polluting industry thinks too. As Earthjustice reports, “The concessions the coal industry has gained so far have encouraged other fossil fuel lobbyists to step up their efforts to maintain the disastrous status quo.” That means some pretty hefty offers heaped on our congress people.

And everyone is already saying the Senate will never pass the House version. The Senate will undoubtedly water it down more. Unless of course we voice our opinion to our reps to move forward and not weaken the bill but fill those unfair gaps in a bill that must include all industry not just a chosen few.

We’re going to shoot off our foot before long and continue working up our leg if we don’t see that reform isn’t a choice but a necessity.

http://unearthed.earthjustice.org/blog/2009-july/trip-van-noppen/lets-defend-climate-change-bill.

The 25 years between 67 and 91 saw a lot of oil go into our oceans. Luckily, the past 20 years has seen a decrease in tanker spills worldwide. The Exxon Valdez was so horrible; the attention caused a marked improvement in reducing accident rates for oil tankers. Unfortunately, the concern wasn’t so much for the environment or wildlife as it was for the financial liabilities from a spill. A shame, since we know quite well that oil companies do indeed recover financially. We know what big oil’s net earnings are these days. The irony is that wildlife and the environment doesn’t seem to recover quickly at all, or ever for that matter.

Thirteen hundred miles of Alaskan coastline was spoiled from the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Communities and fisheries were ruined. Four thousand otters died and at least one population of orca whales has yet to recover. Local livelihoods were destroyed, and many wildlife and fish populations are still depleted, while Alaska’s economy lost millions, according to the same newsletter.

It’s good to know we learned from that spill. Tanker spillage is drastically down but we haven’t licked the problem altogether. The same environmental research information from a consulting firm that reported tanker oil spills are way down, also said that pipelines have taken up the slack. It stated: “Since 1985, U.S. pipelines have spilled more oil than tankers and barges combined. Since 1991, pipelines have annually spilled 37 times as much as tankers. The change in the proportion U.S. pipeline spillage is largely due to the fact that since 1990, pipelines transport more oil across more miles than water carriers.” And that infrastructure is old and getting older. Luckily, we’re spilling less and less over the past two decades, but as the report went on to say:

While the statistics show encouraging downward trends, there is no room for complacency. An ill-timed oil spill that occurs in a sensitive location, regardless of spill size, can cause devastating damage to natural environments, property, and business, and, occasionally, to human lives. Aging pipeline and facility infrastructures,
as well as aging vessel fleets, may be ticking time bombs, especially as they become subjected to increasing oil throughput and transport in future years. Increased international attention to tanker safety has had a positive influence that is sorely needed in other vessel categories and for non-vessel sources, particularly pipelines.

Oil is a leaky business both on land and sea. We’re faced with more oil exploration in the sensitive areas spoken about here. In 2007, Bush lifted a longstanding executive ban on off shore oil leasing in Bristol Bay, Alaska. According to WWF’s newsletter, Bristol Bay is known as America’s fish basket that contributes $2.2 billion to the economy annually. It is near the Bering Sea, “which produces nearly half of America’s wild seafood.” Do you like seafood? Consider Gulf shrimp also, since the recent Senate version of the energy bill includes more oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. We’re messing with our food supply when we go for the crude. We endanger wild life, and the economy of the regions at risk for “oil spillage.” Right now the U.S. Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia vacated Bush’s plans for oil leasing in Bristol Bay. Help keep it that way. Contact your representatives and tell them to limit oil drilling, especially in areas that have long been protected FOR GOOD REASON. Besides, we only have 3% of the world’s oil supply, and use 25%. This horse is not going to win the race this time. The math dictates we must find replacements for our energy needs or forever be dependent on nations that, well, just don’t like us.

http://www.environmental-research.com/publications/pdf/spill_statistics/paper4.pdf

The campaign primarily aims to reach “tweens” (children aged 8-12) and their parents. The goal is to encourage children to get outside and experience nature first-hand, instilling a life-long love for nature by fostering a connection with urban and national forests.

Children spend less time outdoors due to safety concerns, an increase in the number of working parents and the development of new technologies that capture free time indoors. As a result of this limited interaction with the outdoors, many children are unaware of the benefits that nature provides, including improving their physical and mental health and emotional well-being.

Hmm, a heck of a lot of adults should listen up too. The true figures state children spend 50% less time out of doors. Nonetheless, research showed that the “vast majority of children had a positive association with nature and wished they could spend more time out of doors.” Safety concerns just don’t allow children to hop on their bikes with buddies and go fishin’ somewhere for the day with stops at the local neighborhood market for penny candy or an ice cold Coca Cola. Sad isn’t it? We’ve let our society degrade far enough to limit activity that makes us better people—physically, mentally, and emotionally.

But I digress. I checked out the U.S. Forest Service website. There is a section “Just for Kids” wit-a-share-the-experience-photo contest. Trying to capture photos of wildlife is a great way to connect children with nature. I’ve been trying to do that myself. It doesn’t take a terrific camera to begin with, mostly time and patience watching nature. How many times we encounter something absolutely beautiful in nature and say, “If only I had a camera”

If you or your kids are on the PC all day anyway, check out U.S. Forest Service website and “Just for Kids.” They list fee free weekends at 100 national parks and just about everything else including maps, and all types of activities at parks near you.

Read more:

http://www.childrenandnature.org/news/detail/targeting_tweens_the_u.s._
forest_service_and_ad_council_launch_national_cam

It’s not small either. According to the Anchorage Daily News: a helicopter followed a strand of the stuff for 15 miles! It’s passing by the North slope. The North Slope in Alaska is home to oil development and is a sore spot for environmentalists since reports about the impact of wildlife in that area are not good. The blob that’s passing by is surmised to be a natural phenomenon, not an oil spill or anything.

Wouldn’t it be ironic if nature produced some sort of glob to even the score for the devastation by the oil industry in that area? The North Slope sits on permafrost. You know the layer of earth that is unthawing rapidly up there. Who knows, the North slope may end up heading south or into the sea where it will meet its match with nature’s Arctic Blob. Funny times we’re in.

Read about it: http://www.adn.com/2835/story/864687.html

So this is one heck of a video I found on You Tube that does just that. Its owner frotix says that it is the first part of his national parks of America video and hopes we like it. I like the Native American music. It’s appropriate. Watch the first half:

I couldn’t resist adding another video by owner mhnatt who states that it was his first attempt at making a movie. I think he deserves a big hand. He crossed 10,000 miles in 3 months and 3 countries in his trip out west. It’s poignant and a very good mix of all the different terrain we’re trying to protect by curbing global warming and the impact it will have on these places and critters. Notice there is a clip of a wolf.

Watch the trailer:

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If you are a baby boomer no doubt you remember watching Walt Disney every Sunday night. It was the one bright spot in an evening that preceded getting up for school the following morning.

From what I’ve seen of the trailers, this nature film walks us through a year in the life of the animals we’ve come to know and love in our life time that are currently threatened with extinction. We grew up surrounded by these animals through the miracle of television and programs like Mutual of Omaha’s “Wild Kingdom,” and of course Tarzan movies.

The lives of these beloved creatures deserve a big screen presentation by Disney and we and our children deserve to be reunited with them on a panoramic scale. Maybe moviegoers will experience a little more empathy for the plight of our critter friends. Remember the canary-in-the-mine effect. If these magnificent creatures do indeed disappear, it’s more than likely man will soon follow.

In Monroe, MI, the Phoenix Theatre will present an exclusive digital showing of “Earth” beginning on Wednesday, April 22nd, at 1:00, 3:00, 5:10, 7:15, and 9:25 pm. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.phoenixmovies.net/loc_frenchtown.asp beginning Wednesday.

Watch the Trailer

Many organizations are in the sea and the air documenting the abuses.

Read more and what you can do to stop it: http://www.care2.com/causes/animal-welfare/blog/confirmed-first-seal-killed-today-in-2009-hunt/.

After eight long years of more hits on the environment and animals than not, president Bush officially designated three different U.S.marine national monuments

Mariana’s Trench Marine National Monument. This trench is five times longer than the Grand Canyon and the deepest area of the earth. It is home to underwater volcanoes and thermal vents. The Marianas are located north of Guam, SE of Japan, and west of the Marshall Islands.

Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument south and west of Hawaii. This monument will help preserve irreplaceable trees, grasses, and birds from near the equator to monk seals, sea turtles, whales and coral reefs. 

Rose Atoll Marine National Monument an island east of American Samoa is home to giant clams, reef sharks, and an abundance of beautiful rose-colored corals—Rose Atoll.

There won’t be any oil drills in these areas at least. No “resource destruction or extraction, waste dumping, or commercial fishing,” will be allowed, according to an Environmental New Service article. The areas will be free passage areas however, and allow research and recreation.

This couldn’t happen at a better time because it was reported this evening on the news that the Great Barrier Reef off of Australia is showing the biggest decline in its coral ecosystem in 400 years!

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2009/2009-01-06-02.asp