Stop The Trash Summary
People thought the ocean was invincible for a long time until it was not anymore. The ocean is obviously a major part of our global health and it needs to be clean for the organisms in and around it. However, what about all of the industries that it serves? The ocean is a huge money maker. Many industries are based around it and on it. If people saw the profit side of the ocean maybe they would take better care of it.
Stop The Trash
"Stop the Trash
Posted by Mark Spalding in Ocean Views
We once believed that the ocean was too big to fail, that we could take out as much fish, and dump in as much trash, debris and pollution as we wished. Now, we know we were wrong. And, not only were we wrong, we need to make it right. One good place to start? Stopping the flow of bad stuff going into the ocean.
We need to find the way that steers human interaction with the ocean and coasts toward a sustainable future by building a strong, vibrant and well-connected community of projects that effectively responds to the urgent issue of trashing our coasts and ocean.
We need to increase media and financial market coverage of the opportunities that restore and support the health and sustainability of the world’s coasts and ocean:
so that public and investor awareness increases
so that policymakers, investors and businesses increase their knowledge and interest
so that policies, markets and business decisions change
so that we transform our relationship with the ocean from abuse to stewardship
so that the ocean continues to provide the things we love, and need, and want.
For those involved in travel and tourism, the ocean provides things the industry depends upon for livelihoods, and shareholder profits: beauty, inspiration, recreation and fun. Airlines, such as our innovative new partner JetBlue, fly its customers to beautiful beaches, (shall we call them blue vacations?), while we and our conservation-focused partners protect the blue. What if we could find the way to align interests and craft a new and unique economic business case driver to stop the mountains of trash that find its way into the blue, onto our beaches, and thus threatens livelihoods of the coastal communities and even the travel industry itself?
All of us have deep emotional connection to the coasts and ocean. Whether it is for stress relief, inspiration, and recreation, when we journey to the sea, we want it to live up to our fond memories or the beautiful photographs that inspired our choice. And we are disappointed when it does not.
Of all the man-made debris that finds its way into the Caribbean waters, it is estimated by the United Nations Caribbean Environment Programme that 89.1% has originated from shoreline and recreational activities.
Of all the man-made debris that finds its way into the Caribbean waters, it is estimated by the United Nations Caribbean Environment Programme that 89.1% has originated from shoreline and recreational activities.
We have long believed a beach covered with litter and trash is less attractive, less appealing, and thus less likely to call us back to visit again and again. We remember the trash, not the sand, the sky, or even the ocean. What if we can prove that this belief is supported by evidence that shows how this negative impression affects the value of a beach community’s natural capital? What if there is evidence that airline revenue is affected by the quality of beaches? What if that evidence is specific enough to matter in financial reports? In other words, a value that can be quantified more precisely, with clearer effects, so that becomes more powerful leverage than just the social pressure brought by the well-meaning, and moves everyone off the sidelines and into the cleanup effort.
So, what if we develop a plan to protect marine natural resources, show the value of clean beaches and directly tie ecology and the importance of nature to the airline’s base measurement – what the industry calls “revenue per available seat mile” (RASM)? Will the industry listen? Will countries whose GDPs depend on tourism listen? JetBlue and The Ocean Foundation are going to find out.
We learn more every day about the incredible capacity of plastic and other trash to remain a threat to ocean systems and the animals within them. Every piece of plastic ever left in the ocean is still there—just in ever-smaller pieces that compromise the very core of the food chain. Thus, we think that the health and appearance of a tourism destination has a direct effect on revenue. If we can place an actual dollar value on this metric of healthy beaches, we hope it will highlight the importance of ocean conservation, and thus change our relationship with the coasts and ocean.
Please join us in hoping the New Year brings with it this disruptive business changing analysis that can lead to solutions at scale for an airline, and for countries dependent on tourism – because the coasts and ocean require our attention and care to be healthy. And, if the ocean is not healthy, neither are we." (http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/12/23/stop-the-trash/)
Insects Summary
Mr. Frainer wanted to look at new found high rates of extinction, particularly in insects. He wanted to look at an ecosystem and see the affect extinction would have on it. He noticed that in order to maintain clean water and the inhabitants, insects were vital; if the bottom rung goes they all go. Frainer concluded that this rapid extinction is mainly from farm runoff and other toxins leaking into the water. This just goes to show how important it is to contain chemicals and not underestimate the importance of insects.
Extinction of Insects Affects Water Conditions
"Extinction of Insects Affects Water Conditions
Dec. 9, 2013 — Biologist André Frainer shows in his thesis how important aquatic species richness is to the functioning of northern stream ecosystems. He defends his results at Umeå University in Sweden on December 6.
Because of the large effects that humanity has on nature, species are already being extinct at rates never seen before due to increased farming, urbanization, and industrialization. Even protected natural areas of Västerbotten are suffering the risks of species extinction.
André Frainer asked himself if all species are really necessary to maintain nature working properly. Perhaps, as some might say, with a handful of species and some technology we could survive in the future as well as we do now.
In his study he chose to survey a number of stream ecosystems of Umeå, Lycksele, Hörnefors, Vindeln, Botsmark, Robertsfors, and several other localities in Västerbotten.
In these streams, common aquatic insects as stoneflies and caddisflies play important roles in maintaining freshwaters working properly. These little insects are the basic food items for many fish and, also, they help decomposing the leaf litter that falls into the streams in autumn. By feeding on litter, they turn leaves into smaller particles, 'cleaning' the streams from this dead material. Although this role does not sound very sophisticated, it has large implications to the health of our streams, lakes, and coastal waters. The decomposition of leaf litter is a natural fertilizer to freshwaters, as it makes all nutrients found in the leaf available to other aquatic organisms, being fundamental to life in streams.
André Frainer found that several disturbances in the ecosystems affect the number of insect species present, or at least the type of species present.
One example is reduced riparian vegetation and increased land fertilization around streams that run through farmland, which affects the quality and quantity of stoneflies and caddisflies. Another typical disturbance in Västerbotten is the stream channelization for log transport, which happened many decades ago. The dredging and channelization of streams still affects the composition and the role of the aquatic insects.
As a consequence, the leaf litter in the streams is not decomposed efficiently, which may affect the cycling of nutrients, the water quality and the health of the streams.
Although the water conditions in Västerbotten are good compared to the streams in southern Sweden or most of Europe, we can still do more to help maintaining the diversity of aquatic insects and therefore the health of the stream, André Frainer emphasizes.
"Healthy streams have boulders and dead trees across its channel. These structures enhance the habitat conditions for insects, allowing the insect decomposers to flourish. Large restoration efforts including such features can already been seen in Västerbotten. The riparian vegetation should also be as large as possible, helping both with the input of leaf litter, and as a natural absorbent for the excess fertilization that may occur in farmlands," says André Frainer." (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131209105017.htm)
Dec. 9, 2013 — Biologist André Frainer shows in his thesis how important aquatic species richness is to the functioning of northern stream ecosystems. He defends his results at Umeå University in Sweden on December 6.
Because of the large effects that humanity has on nature, species are already being extinct at rates never seen before due to increased farming, urbanization, and industrialization. Even protected natural areas of Västerbotten are suffering the risks of species extinction.
André Frainer asked himself if all species are really necessary to maintain nature working properly. Perhaps, as some might say, with a handful of species and some technology we could survive in the future as well as we do now.
In his study he chose to survey a number of stream ecosystems of Umeå, Lycksele, Hörnefors, Vindeln, Botsmark, Robertsfors, and several other localities in Västerbotten.
In these streams, common aquatic insects as stoneflies and caddisflies play important roles in maintaining freshwaters working properly. These little insects are the basic food items for many fish and, also, they help decomposing the leaf litter that falls into the streams in autumn. By feeding on litter, they turn leaves into smaller particles, 'cleaning' the streams from this dead material. Although this role does not sound very sophisticated, it has large implications to the health of our streams, lakes, and coastal waters. The decomposition of leaf litter is a natural fertilizer to freshwaters, as it makes all nutrients found in the leaf available to other aquatic organisms, being fundamental to life in streams.
André Frainer found that several disturbances in the ecosystems affect the number of insect species present, or at least the type of species present.
One example is reduced riparian vegetation and increased land fertilization around streams that run through farmland, which affects the quality and quantity of stoneflies and caddisflies. Another typical disturbance in Västerbotten is the stream channelization for log transport, which happened many decades ago. The dredging and channelization of streams still affects the composition and the role of the aquatic insects.
As a consequence, the leaf litter in the streams is not decomposed efficiently, which may affect the cycling of nutrients, the water quality and the health of the streams.
Although the water conditions in Västerbotten are good compared to the streams in southern Sweden or most of Europe, we can still do more to help maintaining the diversity of aquatic insects and therefore the health of the stream, André Frainer emphasizes.
"Healthy streams have boulders and dead trees across its channel. These structures enhance the habitat conditions for insects, allowing the insect decomposers to flourish. Large restoration efforts including such features can already been seen in Västerbotten. The riparian vegetation should also be as large as possible, helping both with the input of leaf litter, and as a natural absorbent for the excess fertilization that may occur in farmlands," says André Frainer." (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131209105017.htm)
Illegal
Putting a stop to these fisheries is definitely a step in the right direction for aquatic life. Stopping this means trying to end the actual act of illegal fishing and all of the dangers that come with it. It ends danger for other fishermen in the surrounding areas accidentally ending up in dangerous waters. It also means that there are more honest jobs now. This act is not only beneficial for the ocean but Indonesia too.
"13 Illegal Fishers Jailed in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat Archipelago"
"Back in September, the navy headquarters in Sorong, West Papua received information from the community marine protected area (MPA) patrol group that a Philippine fishing boat had entered Indonesian waters and was fishing illegally in the Ayau Asia MPA. During the night, the boat proceeded toward the Ayau Asia islands in search of fish and other marine life in shallower waters.
Upon receiving this news, the following day several MPA patrol teams, which are strongly supported by CI, set out to sea in search of the vessel. It wasn’t long before one of the teams captured the boat and arrested its 13 crew members, who were brought back to Sorong and detained for legal prosecution. Among the illegal catch found on the ship were Napoleon wrasse and green turtles, which were used as evidence for the subsequent court case. The boat had been underway for only two days before it was seized, giving fishermen little time to poach within these protected waters.
It took the official court in Sorong just over a month to complete the prosecution process and charge the arrested fishermen. Each was sentenced to eight months in prison, while the boat and all its equipment was confiscated and destroyed.
While it is not uncommon for illegal fishermen to be caught by MPA patrol teams in the Bird’s Head Seascape, the formal prosecution processes following their arrest are often ineffectual. This case’s successful prosecution represents a significant milestone for the Raja Ampat government in its fight to protect these beautiful, vital waters — and without the strong cooperation of local communities, this result would not have been possible.
Ayau Asia — where the illegal fishers were caught — is one of six MPAs officially established in the Raja Ampat archipelago since 2008. Raja Ampat is known to be one of the most diverse habitats on the planet for marine species.
Raja Ampat’s communities directly depend on these waters for a variety of uses, including fishing, coastal protection and a rapidly expanding dive tourism industry. Yet illegal fishing continues to threaten the long-term sustainability of all these benefits.
Illegal fishing is driven by the insatiable global demand for fish — and poor fishermen are driven by high profit margins to practice it. Shark fin soup and threatened species of tuna are in especially high demand, particularly in China and Japan.
Shark fishing is a lucrative pursuit worldwide — a brutal process in which fishermen cut off the shark’s fins and often discard the finless animal alive to sink and die. Unfortunately, Indonesia still ranks as the world’s largest supplier of shark fin. One kilogram of dried shark fin goes for anything from 1.8 million to 3 million rupiah (US$ 200–300).
According to the average reported catch between 2002 and 2005, which amounted to 4.7 million metric tons of fish and shellfish (excluding illegal and unreported catch), Indonesia ranked as the sixth most-important fishing nation in the world.
The rate of illegal fishers entering Raja Ampat’s waters remains steady, but law enforcement agencies have made significant progress in dealing with the issue since the program began eight years ago. Earlier this year, the Raja Ampat government declared its entire seascape Indonesia’s first shark sanctuary, a key step in protecting one of the ocean’s most essential and astounding predators.
The MPA patrol teams, comprised of community volunteers, continue to guard Raja Ampat’s waters to monitor activity and apprehend illegal vessels. Just three days after the capture of the boat in Ayau Asia, a team of MPA patrol teams captured two more illegal vessels in the waters of the Western Waigeo Islands, between the islands of Pam and Penemu. On board, illegal fishing gear including a diving compressor and nylon longlines were found and confiscated — items indicating that these fishermen were out to catch sharks, lobsters and sea cucumbers.
The patrol team’s work is never done; indeed, as stocks elsewhere are reduced, Raja Ampat’s marine bounty becomes increasingly attractive to illegal fishers. But CI-Indonesia is confident that with our support, the local government and communities can continue to effectively enforce the marine environmental laws necessary to protect Raja Ampat’s marine wealth for the benefit of future generations.
However, in order to successfully discourage illegal fishing, the strict but appropriate sentence in the Ayau Asia case must become more of a rule than an exception.
Carla Kerstan is an intern for CI-Indonesia.
- See more at: http://blog.conservation.org/2013/11/13-illegal-fishers-jailed-in-indonesias-raja-ampat-archipelago/#sthash.veJ9DTJW.dpuf"
Upon receiving this news, the following day several MPA patrol teams, which are strongly supported by CI, set out to sea in search of the vessel. It wasn’t long before one of the teams captured the boat and arrested its 13 crew members, who were brought back to Sorong and detained for legal prosecution. Among the illegal catch found on the ship were Napoleon wrasse and green turtles, which were used as evidence for the subsequent court case. The boat had been underway for only two days before it was seized, giving fishermen little time to poach within these protected waters.
It took the official court in Sorong just over a month to complete the prosecution process and charge the arrested fishermen. Each was sentenced to eight months in prison, while the boat and all its equipment was confiscated and destroyed.
While it is not uncommon for illegal fishermen to be caught by MPA patrol teams in the Bird’s Head Seascape, the formal prosecution processes following their arrest are often ineffectual. This case’s successful prosecution represents a significant milestone for the Raja Ampat government in its fight to protect these beautiful, vital waters — and without the strong cooperation of local communities, this result would not have been possible.
Ayau Asia — where the illegal fishers were caught — is one of six MPAs officially established in the Raja Ampat archipelago since 2008. Raja Ampat is known to be one of the most diverse habitats on the planet for marine species.
Raja Ampat’s communities directly depend on these waters for a variety of uses, including fishing, coastal protection and a rapidly expanding dive tourism industry. Yet illegal fishing continues to threaten the long-term sustainability of all these benefits.
Illegal fishing is driven by the insatiable global demand for fish — and poor fishermen are driven by high profit margins to practice it. Shark fin soup and threatened species of tuna are in especially high demand, particularly in China and Japan.
Shark fishing is a lucrative pursuit worldwide — a brutal process in which fishermen cut off the shark’s fins and often discard the finless animal alive to sink and die. Unfortunately, Indonesia still ranks as the world’s largest supplier of shark fin. One kilogram of dried shark fin goes for anything from 1.8 million to 3 million rupiah (US$ 200–300).
According to the average reported catch between 2002 and 2005, which amounted to 4.7 million metric tons of fish and shellfish (excluding illegal and unreported catch), Indonesia ranked as the sixth most-important fishing nation in the world.
The rate of illegal fishers entering Raja Ampat’s waters remains steady, but law enforcement agencies have made significant progress in dealing with the issue since the program began eight years ago. Earlier this year, the Raja Ampat government declared its entire seascape Indonesia’s first shark sanctuary, a key step in protecting one of the ocean’s most essential and astounding predators.
The MPA patrol teams, comprised of community volunteers, continue to guard Raja Ampat’s waters to monitor activity and apprehend illegal vessels. Just three days after the capture of the boat in Ayau Asia, a team of MPA patrol teams captured two more illegal vessels in the waters of the Western Waigeo Islands, between the islands of Pam and Penemu. On board, illegal fishing gear including a diving compressor and nylon longlines were found and confiscated — items indicating that these fishermen were out to catch sharks, lobsters and sea cucumbers.
The patrol team’s work is never done; indeed, as stocks elsewhere are reduced, Raja Ampat’s marine bounty becomes increasingly attractive to illegal fishers. But CI-Indonesia is confident that with our support, the local government and communities can continue to effectively enforce the marine environmental laws necessary to protect Raja Ampat’s marine wealth for the benefit of future generations.
However, in order to successfully discourage illegal fishing, the strict but appropriate sentence in the Ayau Asia case must become more of a rule than an exception.
Carla Kerstan is an intern for CI-Indonesia.
- See more at: http://blog.conservation.org/2013/11/13-illegal-fishers-jailed-in-indonesias-raja-ampat-archipelago/#sthash.veJ9DTJW.dpuf"
Sea Level Summary
Measuring global warming and the rise of the ocean is important. There was a record summer temperature in Greenland that caused much of the ice sheet to melt and at a rapid pace. So we need to carefully monitor this and determine ways to compensate for the high summer temperatures in the off seasons and during the summer so humans can have the least amount of negative involvement as possible.
The attention to the summer months and the inevitable heating up is important to measure but where does this come in contact with the human potion of climate change? It is very important to consider not only the natural parts of sea level on the rise but what humans are doing to speed it up.
The attention to the summer months and the inevitable heating up is important to measure but where does this come in contact with the human potion of climate change? It is very important to consider not only the natural parts of sea level on the rise but what humans are doing to speed it up.
Sea Level Rise Forecasts Helped by Insights Into Glacier Melting
"Studies of the Greenland ice sheet, including during a record warm summer, are helping scientists better understand how summer conditions affect its flow. This is important for predicting the future contribution made by melting glaciers to sea level rise.
Ice flows slowly from the centre of the Greenland "Ice Sheet towards its margins, where it eventually melts or calves into the ocean as icebergs. Knowing how fast this movement occurs is essential for predicting the contribution of the ice sheet to sea level rise.
In summer, ice from the surface of a glacier melts and drains to the bed of the ice sheet, initially raising water pressure at the base and enabling the glacier to slide more quickly. It can, at times, move more than twice as fast in summer compared with winter, they found.
In 2012, an exceptionally warm summer caused the Greenland Ice Sheet to undergo unprecedented rates of melting. However, researchers have found that fast summer ice flow caused by significant melting is cancelled out by slower motion the following winter.
Scientists found that this is because large drainage channels, formed beneath the ice by the meltwater, helped to lower the water pressure, ultimately reducing the sliding speed.
The discovery suggests that movement in the parts of the ice sheet that terminate on land are insensitive to surface melt rates. It improves scientists' understanding of how the ice sheet behaves and curbs error in estimating its contribution to sea level rise in a warming world.
Scientists led by the University of Edinburgh gathered detailed GPS ice flow data and ice surface melt rates along a 115 km transect in west Greenland and compared ice motion from an average melt year, 2009, with the exceptionally warm year of 2012.
The study, carried out in collaboration with the Universities of Sheffield, Aberdeen, Tasmania and Newcastle, was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and supported by the Natural Environment Research Council.
Professor Peter Nienow of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, who led the study, said: "Although the record summer melt did not intensify ice motion, warmer summers will still lead to more rapid melting of the ice sheet. Furthermore, it is important that we continue to investigate how glaciers that end in the ocean are responding to climate change."
(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131122103859.htm)
After The Spill Summary
The ocean and its inhabitants are still feeling the trauma of BP's huge spill. Despite many clean-uo efforts the poison has really sunk in for generations of sea life and with all of these dying and deformed population, other organisms are going to die soon too. These unfortunate man made events should make us look at our fuel systems and, even though most times cheaper than renewable, help us make an informed decision for future populations of all organisms. The deformities and population reductions are vast.
by Dahr Jamail
"New Orleans, US - Hundreds of kilograms of oily debris on beaches, declining seafood catches, and other troubling signs point towards an ecosystem in crisis in the wake of BP's 2010 oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
"It's disturbing what we're seeing," Louisiana Oyster Task Force member Brad Robin told Al Jazeera. "We don't have any more baby crabs, which is a bad sign. We're seeing things we've never seen before."
Robin, a commercial oyster fisherman who is also a member of the Louisiana Government Advisory Board, said that of the sea ground where he has harvested oysters in the past, only 30 percent of it is productive now.
"We're seeing crabs with holes in their shells, other seafood deformities. The state of Louisiana oyster season opened on October 15, and we can't find any production out there yet. There is no life out there."
According to Robin, entire sectors of the Louisiana oyster harvest areas are "dead or mostly dead". "I got 10 boats in my fleet and only two of them are operating, because I don't have the production to run the rest. We're nowhere near back to whole, and I can't tell you when or if it'll come back."
State of Louisiana statistics confirm that overall seafood catch numbers since the spill have declined.
'Everything is down'
Robin is not the only member of the Gulf's seafood industry to report bleak news. Kathy Birren and her husband own Hernando Beach Seafood, a wholesale seafood business, in Florida.
Shrimp with tumours continue to be found along the impact zone, from Louisiana to Florida [Dean Blanchard]
"I've seen a lot of change since the spill," Birren told Al Jazeera. "Our stone crab harvest has dropped off and not come back; the numbers are way lower. Typically you'll see some good crabbing somewhere along the west coast of Florida, but this last year we've had problems everywhere."
Birren said the problems are not just with the crabs. "We've also had our grouper fishing down since the spill," she added. "We've seen fish with tar balls in their stomachs from as far down as the Florida Keys. We had a grouper with tar balls in its stomach last month. Overall, everything is down."
According to Birren, many fishermen in her area are giving up. "People are dropping out of the fishing business, and selling out cheap because they have to. I'm in west-central Florida, but fishermen all the way down to Key West are struggling to make it. I look at my son's future, as he's just getting into the business, and we're worried."
Dean Blanchard, owner of a seafood business in Grand Isle, Louisiana, is also deeply troubled by what he is seeing. "We have big tar mats coming up on Elmers Island, Fouchon, Grand Isle, and Grand Terre," Blanchard told Al Jazeera. "Every time we have bad weather we get fresh tar balls and mats."
Blanchard said his business generates only about 15 percent of what it did before the spill. "It looks like it's getting worse," he said. "I told my wife when she goes to the mall she can only spend 15 percent what she used to spend."
Blanchard has also seen shrimp brought in with deformities, and has taken photographs of shrimp with tumours (see above). Others lack eyes. He attributes the deformities to BP's use of toxic dispersants to sink the spilled oil.
Eyeless shrimp, along with other seafood abnormalities, have become common in many areas along the Gulf Coast [Erika Blumenfeld/Al Jazeera]
"Everybody living down here watched them spray their dispersants day in and day out. They sprayed our bays and our beaches," he said. "We got a problem, because BP says they didn't spray down here, but we had a priest that even saw them spraying. So either we got a lying priest, or BP is lying."
BP and the Coast Guard have told the media they have never sprayed dispersants within 10 miles of the coast, and that dispersants have never been used in bays.
A decades-long recovery
On a more sombre note, Dr Ed Cake, a biological oceanographer and a marine biologist, believes it will likely take the Gulf decades to recover from the BP disaster.
"The impacts of the Ixtoc 1 blowout in the Bay of Campeche in 1979 are still being felt," said Cake, referring to a large oil spill near the Mexican coast, "and there are bays there where the oysters have still not returned. My prediction is we will be dealing with the impacts of this spill for several decades to come and it will outlive me."
According to Cake, blue crab and shrimp catches have fallen in Mississippi and Alabama since the spill, and he also expressed worries about ongoing dolphin die-offs. But his primary concern is the slow recovery of the region's oyster population.
"Mississippi recently opened their season, and their oyster fisherman are restricted to 12 sacks of oysters a day. But they can't even reach six," Cake said. "Thirty sacks would be a normal day for oysters - that was the previous limit - but that is restricted now because the stocks just aren't there."
Cake's conclusion is grim. "Here in the estuarine areas, where we have the oysters, I think it'll be a decade or two before we see any recovery."
BP previously provided Al Jazeera with a statement on this topic, a portion of which read: "Seafood from the Gulf of Mexico is among the most tested in the world, and, according to the FDA and NOAA, it is as safe now as it was before the accident."
BP claims that fish lesions are naturally common, and that before the spill there was documented evidence of lesions in the Gulf of Mexico caused by parasites and other agents.
More oil found
The second phase of the ongoing federal trial against BP investigates whether the company's actions to halt the flow of oil during the blowout were adequate, and aims to determine how much oil was released.
"BP is mounting an aggressive legal and public relations campaign to shield itself from liability and minimise the amount of oil spilled in the Gulf, as well as the ongoing impacts from the disaster," said Jonathan Henderson, an organiser for the Gulf Restoration Network, an environmental group.
Even Louisiana's Republican Governor Bobby Jindal agrees. Jindal recently said, "Three and a half years later, BP is spending more money - I want you to hear this - they are spending more money on television commercials than they have on actually restoring the natural resources they impacted."
As far away from the blowout site as Florida, researchers continue to find oil in both Tampa Bay and Sarasota Bay.
In Louisiana, according to the LA Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), more than 200 miles of shoreline have "some degree of oiling", including 14 miles that are moderately or heavily oiled. From March through August of this year, over three million pounds of oiled material have been collected in Louisiana, more than double the amount over the same time period last year.
In addition, the CPRA reports that "investigations into the chemical composition of MC252 [BP's Macondo well] oil samples demonstrate that submerged oil is NOT substantially weathered or depleted of most PAH's [polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons]," and "disputes…findings relied on by the USCG [US Coast Guard] that Deepwater Horizon oil is non-toxic".
The agency also expresses concerns that "submerged oil may continue to pose long term risk to nearshore ecosystems".
"New impacts to the Gulf's ecosystem and creatures also continue to emerge," Henderson told Al Jazeera. "This year alone, the National Marine Fisheries Service has recorded 212 dolphins and other marine mammal standings in the northern Gulf. A new scientific study conducted by NOAA, BP and university researchers also shows significant negative impacts on tiny organisms that live on the sea floor in a 57 square mile area around the Deepwater Horizon well site."
Numerous other impacts have been documented since the disaster began, including genetic disruptions forGulf killifish, harm to deepwater corals,, and the die-off of tiny foraminifera that are an important part of the Gulf's food chain.
Ongoing studies continue to reveal toxins from BP's spill in water, soil, and seafood samples.
Meanwhile, fishermen in BP's impact zone wonder if things will ever return to normal. "Our future is very, very dim, and there are no sponge crabs out there, which is the future," Robin concluded. "I've never seen this in my lifespan. I'm not seeing a future, because everything out there is dead." (http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/10/gulf-ecosystem-crisis-after-bp-spill-2013102065313544754.html)
Japan Summary
Becoming energy independent is a major "to do" for most peoples. Energy sustainability and independence could mean very drastic changes in the biosphere, economy and global market.
Japan is experimenting with different placement of wind turbines to become the largest off-shore wind farm in the world. Japan could really be doing themselves a favor by cutting into this early, blooming market. They could have a monopoly over Germany and other established power companies also trying to make this type of harvesting work.
There is the concern of disturbing the fish population and really putting lots of jobs and families in danger.
Japan is experimenting with different placement of wind turbines to become the largest off-shore wind farm in the world. Japan could really be doing themselves a favor by cutting into this early, blooming market. They could have a monopoly over Germany and other established power companies also trying to make this type of harvesting work.
There is the concern of disturbing the fish population and really putting lots of jobs and families in danger.
Japan's Offshore Wind Power Rises within Sight of Fukushima Nuclear Plant
That dream remains a far cry from today's reality. Wind power contributes barely 0.9 percent (2.6 gigawatts) of Japan's total power capacity, says Paul Scalise, a research fellow at the University of Tokyo. Japan has not tapped much offshore wind power potential, in part because it lacks the shallow coastal waters exploited by European offshore wind farms.
The Fukushima project, backed by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, is not the country's only venture into floating wind turbines. Japan's Ministry of the Environment is supporting a separate two-megawatt floating wind turbine near Kabashima Island that began operation on October 28. The projects use different technologies to stabilize the turbines against the ocean waves. Fukushima's turbine platform is a semisubmersible design with three buoyancy tanks arranged in a triangle around the turbine, Musial explains. By comparison, the Kabashima turbine platform represents a spar design that resembles a tall, thin buoy with much of its mass extending deep below the surface—offering greater inherent stability against the waves but requiring deeper waters for operation.
Norway first installed a spar design in its Hywind floating wind turbine in 2009, followed by Portugal's semisubmersible Windfloat turbine in 2011. But Japan's Fukushima project has made a mark with the world's first floating substation containing the electrical equipment needed to transfer power from turbines to shore.
Japan's offshore wind effort still faces big challenges, such as rough seas that make maintenance of wind farms difficult, Scalise says. He also warned of political obstacles raising the cost of such operations, including NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) protests and rights to shipping lanes and fishing zones. (The Fukushima project still has to negotiate with local fishermen to build more than the first three prototype turbines.) "The farther that developers build wind farms off the coast of Japan to avoid political protests from various conflicting interest-groups and the NIMBYists, the more expensive it becomes to build, maintain and transmit electric power back to onshore customers," Scalise says.
Studies have shown that once turbines are farther than 16 or 20 kilometers at sea, they appear to be mere dots on the horizon on a clear day or perhaps even invisible otherwise, one reason why the prototype may be anchored where it is. The Fukushima project aims to deploy the full-scale wind farm beyond the horizon to avoid NIMBY concerns. But visible or not, the first prototype turbine and substation are a sign that Japan's future could be one that rises from the sea." (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=japans-offshore-wind-power-rises-within-sight-of-fukushima-nuclear-plant)
Decline Summary
Basically the ocean is on the brim of extinction. The water is toxic, the organisms are dying and the temperature is rising. Mostly humans are to blame and we have not given the ocean the praise or credit she deserves. There are many large scale issues that need to be addressed and we are no longer just at the tip of the iceberg. We need a marriage of science, a PR specialist and government officials to pull this off.
Health of oceans 'declining fast'
"By Roger Harrabin
Environment analyst
The health of the world’s oceans is deteriorating even faster than had previously been thought, a report says.
A review from the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), warns that the oceans are facing multiple threats.
They are being heated by climate change, turned slowly less alkaline by absorbing CO2, and suffering from overfishing and pollution.
The report warns that dead zones formed by fertiliser run-off are a problem.
It says conditions are ripe for the sort of mass extinction event that has afflicted the oceans in the past.
It says: “We have been taking the ocean for granted. It has been shielding us from the worst effects of accelerating climate change by absorbing excess CO2 from the atmosphere.
“Whilst terrestrial temperature increases may be experiencing a pause, the ocean continues to warm regardless. For the most part, however, the public and policymakers are failing to recognise - or choosing to ignore - the severity of the situation.”
It says the cocktail of threats facing the ocean is more powerful than the individual problems themselves.
Coral reefs, for instance, are suffering from the higher temperatures and the effects of acidification whilst also being weakened by bad fishing practices, pollution, siltation and toxic algal blooms.
Atmospheric threshold
IPSO, funded by charitable foundations, is publishing a set of five papers based on workshops in 2011 and 2012 in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN’s) World Commission on Protected Areas.
The reports call for world governments to halt CO2 increase at 450ppm. Any higher, they say, will cause massive acidification later in the century as the CO2 is absorbed into the sea.
It urges much more focused fisheries management, and a priority list for tackling the key groups of chemicals that cause most harm.
It wants the governments to negotiate a new agreement for the sustainable fishing in the high oceans to be policed by a new global high seas enforcement agency.
The IUCN’s Prof Dan Laffoley said: "What these latest reports make absolutely clear is that deferring action will increase costs in the future and lead to even greater, perhaps irreversible, losses.
"The UN climate report confirmed that the ocean is bearing the brunt of human-induced changes to our planet. These findings give us more cause for alarm – but also a roadmap for action. We must use it."
'Extinction risk'
The co-coordinator, Prof Alex Rogers from Oxford University has been asked to advise the UN's own oceans assessment but he told BBC News he had led the IPSO initiative because: "It’s important to have something which is completely independent in any way from state influence and to say things which experts in the field felt was really needed to be said."
He said concern had grown over the past year thanks to papers signalling that past extinctions had involved warming seas, acidification and low oxygen levels. All are on the rise today.
He agreed there was debate on whether fisheries are recovering by better management following examples in the US and Europe, but said it seemed clear that globally they were not.
He also admitted a debate about whether overall climate change would increase the amount of fish produced in the sea. Melting sea ice would increase fisheries near the poles whilst stratification of warmer waters in the tropics would reduce mixing of nutrients and lead to lower production, he said.
He said dead zones globally appeared to be increasing although this may reflect increased reporting.
"On ocean acidification, we are seeing effects that no-one predicted like the inability of fish to detect their environments properly. It’s clear that it will affect many species. We really do have to get a grip on what’s going on in the oceans," he said." (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24369244)
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