“Keep burning fossil fuels at current rates and you can kiss nature’s influence over temperature good-bye. That’s the conclusion of two recent scientific studies.”
Source: robertscribbler.wordpress.com
GR: The current global-warming slowdown is predicted to end by 2030 as ocean-stored heat begins to escape.
Source: donlichterman.wordpress.com
“We Need To Move Away From allowing these private oil companies to continue the Drilling In OUR Oceans (I assume Everyone Gets that our Gulf’s and Sea’s are part of what our the “Oceans” BTW).
“The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is mostly to blame for the dead zone’s growing size in the Gulf. Scientists now say that the dead zone is the size of Connecticut – a startling 5,052 square miles. The dead zone started forming, though, in our own backyards.
“How do we contribute to the dead zone? Phosphorous and nitrogen fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals that we use to encourage plant growth wash into rivers and streams. Streams and rivers drain into the Mississippi River, and then flow into the Gulf of Mexico. The freshwater of the Mississippi then floats on top of the sea-water, keeping oxygen from the atmosphere from getting into the deeper sea waters.”
Source: donlichterman.wordpress.com
GR: Cleaning up environmental disasters such as this is the responsibility of the companies involved. Why don’t businesses feel any responsibility for harm caused by their actions? How did we ever let the companies take control of our government to the extent that the two collude to destroy our environment?
“A monstrous red tide bloom, the largest seen in Florida since 2006 is advancing on the state’s beaches. It has already killed thousands of fish in the Gulf of Mexico, and officials are now concerned about health risks if it washes ashore.” Source: elispiritweaver.wordpress.com
GR: August 11 (latest update: August 9, map) According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, “Satellite images from the Optical Oceanography Laboratory at the University of South Florida show a patchy bloom up to 60 miles wide and 90 miles long, at least 20 miles offshore between Dixie and northern Pinellas counties in northwest and southwest Florida. This bloom has caused an ongoing fish kill. FWC’s Fish Kill Hotline has received reports of thousands of dead and moribund benthic reef fish including various snapper and grouper species, hogfish, grunts, crabs, flounder, bull sharks, lionfish, baitfish, eel, sea snakes, tomtates, lizardfish, filefish, octopus, and triggerfish. Water discoloration and respiratory irritation have been reported offshore in the bloom patch. Forecasts by the Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides show little movement of the surface bloom and slow east/southeast movement of bottom waters, which should keep the bloom offshore within the next few days.”
GR: Red tides have occurred in the Gulf of Mexico for at least 400 years. There is evidence that they have become larger and more frequent over the past 50 years (Wikipedia).
Algae has now (August 11) fully covered the smallest of my three ponds. Previous blooms killed all the fish, this one will have to be content with the smaller organisms. The larger ponds are threatened, but the abundant waterlilies on those ponds are holding on for now. By occupying the surface of the ponds the lilies physically block the algae. The excess nitrates that enrich the pond water and promote excess algae growth come from the farm just upstream of my place. Or perhaps there is a huge bat guano deposit on the floodplain of the river, or perhaps prehistoric settlers polluted the area, or maybe it was just the Martians dropping flying saucer wastes.
Photo by Hannes Grobe (talk)
“This is the propaganda that lulls the public into thinking that a meaningless balanced approach which juggles the rights of polluters to profit and the rights of helpless animals to live is tantamount to ethical policy.
“And here’s the part where the oil cartel hilariously pretends to be very, very miffed at the government’s outrageous strong-arm “humanitarian” tactics:
“The American Petroleum Institute, the National Ocean Industries Association and other groups were unable to persuade the Interior Department to scale back proposed time-outs to watch for animals before starting testing and requirements that companies shut down activities when dolphins and other animals are nearby.”
Source: www.truth-out.org
GR: Harsh? I don’t think so. This administration seems to hold no love for animals or the Earth environment. As Karen Garcia points out, it isn’t really negotiating when the argument is over profits vs. life. It’s pseudo negotiating intended to convince the masses that our leaders are being fair and balanced.
This letter (decree/edict) was written by Ali’i Nui Mō`ī Edmund K. Silva, Jr. Selected highlights are below (bolding is the King’s).
“…the U.S. government has no spiritual or ancestral ties to these islands, as myself and my people do, they have raped and pillaged these lands and our oceans with absolutely no regard for the effect such heinous actions will have on our future generations. This abhorrent behavior will no longer be tolerated, as the Kingdom cares deeply for the land, the oceans, and all walks of life, both human and animal, which inhabit this archipelago.
“The governments of the world continue to operate within 2nd and 3rd dimensional thinking, and continue to destroy our world with stupid conflicts created by man… It is difficult to find words to adequately characterize the the behavior of the United States foreign military forces now using Hawaiian waters for their war games, with little to no regard for the destruction such behavior is causing to our delicate ecosystem and marine life. A dead whale washing up on the beach, turtles with their legs blown off, and coral reefs reduced to rubble, – the horror continues.
“We have known about the effects of high energy sonar on Whales and other marine life for years. It was fifteen years ago that whale watch boat captains and shore observers documented that the Whales had fled from the U.S. Navy low frequency sonar testing area off the Island of Hawai’i. The Navy has been killing or injuring Whales and other marine life for decades while issuing one denial after another.
“These are not respectful people. They have no respect for the creatures living in the ocean. They have no respect for the future of the oceans. They have no respect for life. They only worship their imperial goals and the death that accompanies pursuit of those goals.
“As Sovereign of this Nation, I therefore issue the following edict: ‘RIMPAC 2014 is the last time foreign armies will be allowed to abuse the Hawaiian environment.‘
“Of particular concern is the use of high-powered sonar at low, middle, and high frequencies. The history of such sonars killing or harming marine life, especially Whales, is sufficient to conclude they cannot be used safely…. Such sonars are now banned from all Hawaiian waters.
“Therefore, in conclusion, I am not directing but ordering you to cease and desist in your war games, for it is my kuleana and sacred duty to protect this Sovereign Nation and all its resources. The ocean is our source of life and your activities are not welcomed. The Kingdom of Hawai’i is a non-aligned nation and has no use for your Military campaigns and war games. You are to cease and desist in your activities immediately.
“I am sending this letter to Governor Abercrombie and the Trustees of OHA because they have failed miserably in their duties to protect the Hawaiian ‘aina from the destructive actions of the occupying nation.”
Too much acid in the ocean is bad news for sea life. Acid eats away at calcium carbonate, the primary ingredient of shells and skeletons that many ocean animals depend on for survival. The shell pictured here is a victim of this process.
“Since the s
tart of the industrial revolution, the ocean has silently absorbed roughly 30% of the carbon dioxide that people generate through industry and agriculture. Now ocean chemistry of the seawater is rapidly changing in a process known as ocean acidification. These changes in seawater chemistry affect animal growth, survival and behavior, and they are depleting the ocean of calcium carbonate, a nutrient vital for shellfish to build shells. Marine organisms with calcium carbonate shells or skeletons – such as corals, oysters, clams, and mussels – can be affected by small changes in acidity. That’s important, because shelled organisms are essential throughout the marine food chain. They are also vital to our economy, as shellfish hatcheries on the brink of collapse just a few years ago, struggle to adapt.
“The U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System, or IOOS, is helping mitigate economic impacts with real-time data that signal the approach of acidified seawater one to two days before it arrives. An early warning helps hatchery managers take action – such as shutting off intake valves or treating the water – to save crops.
“Ocean acidification has the potential to fundamentally change the ocean, its habitats, food webs and marine life. The implications of this sea change to our environment and our economy are endless, and the current rate of change of ocean acidification is faster than any time on record. We need to better understand what is happening so we can develop tools to help slow the rate of change. Efforts like IOOS and NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program will help our nation begin to understand how to address this problem on a global scale and help reverse it.”
Source: www.scoop.it
Rashid Sumaila: Global Ocean Commission gives world leaders a five-year window for intervention before overfishing and climate change negatively impact the world’s food supply, clean air, and climate stability.
Source: www.youtube.com
GR: Giving world leaders a five-year window to save the oceans is like giving a falling rock five seconds to stop falling. It appears that our world leaders serve as minions of world commerce. Saving the oceans would take an immediate threat to profits or the appearance of sapience. Both are unlikely.
“At least 88 percent of the surface of the world’s open oceans is polluted by plastic debris, says a new scientific report. The findings raise large concerns of the safety of marine life and how this ocean litter may affect food chains.
“High concentrations of floating plastic debris have been reported in remote areas of the ocean, increasing concern about the accumulation of plastic litter on the ocean surface. Since the introduction of plastic materials in the 1950s, the global production of plastic has increased rapidly and will continue in the coming decades. However, the abundance and the distribution of plastic debris in the open ocean are still unknown, despite evidence of affects on organisms ranging from small invertebrates to whales. In this work, we synthetize data collected across the world to provide a global map and a first-order approximation of the magnitude of the plastic pollution in surface waters of the open ocean.
“Those little pieces of plastic, known as microplastics, can last hundreds of years and were detected in 88 percent of the ocean surface sampled during the Malaspina Expedition 2010,” lead researcher and the author of the study Andres Cozar from the University of Cadiz, told AFP.”
“The results of the study “Plastic debris in the open ocean” are based on 3,070 total ocean samples collected around the world by Spain’s Malaspina science expedition in 2010. They have been recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).”
“Ocean currents carry plastic objects which split into smaller and smaller fragments due to solar radiation,” says Cozar. “These micro plastics have an influence on the behavior and the food chain of marine organisms.”
“Cozar added that most of the impacts taking place due to plastic pollution in the oceans “are not yet known.”
See more on this subject at: SprinterLife
GR: Every day the air, the rivers, and the barges carry our garbage out to sea. Plastic might be the least harmful ingredient.
Huge tundra fire smoke plumes just to the right of the center.
“Atmospheric warming due to human-caused climate change. It’s the general measure we’ve used to track a devastating and ongoing heat amplification due to a terrible greenhouse gas emission. But if we were to look for where the greatest amount of that heat has accumulated, it would be in the world’s oceans. For from its air-contacting surface to its depths thousands of meters below, the World Ocean has captured 93.4% of the total heat forcing humans have already unleashed. The remainder is almost evenly divided between the atmosphere, the continents, and the ice.”
Source: robertscribbler.wordpress.com
GR: Don’t miss these informative discussions of global-warming events around the world.
GarryRogers Nature Conservation 
