oceans
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We have another billion-dollar resource at risk: the ocean
The financial collapse of the past couple of weeks offers striking parallels to the collapse of ocean wildlife. How is what’s happening in Wall Street and in financial capitals around the world like what’s happening in our seas? Lehman Brothers and Canadian cod aren’t coming back The word “collapse” appears in nearly every thoughtful report […]
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NSIDC stunner: Arctic ice at ‘Likely record-low volume’
Looks like the Arctic may have set a record this year after all. The National Snow and Ice Data Center said today that Arctic sea ice volume likely hit a record low in 2008. They reconfirmed that the sea ice extent (or area) “dropped to the second-lowest level since satellite measurements began in 1979” and […]
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Oregon looks to protect its ocean ecology
Amidst the slavering cries to drill pretty much everywhere, it’s encouraging to hear the news from Oregon. The state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife has just finished accepting proposals for new marine reserves — protected places where Oregon’s maritime ecology can thrive. A coalition of conservation leaders has developed an ambitious and smart proposal. Now […]
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Interior Department joins Big Oil and Big Fish
If you thought their parties were kinky, get this: those wacky kids over at the Department of the Interior have figured how to please their special friends in the oil business and boost the factory fish-farming industry in one swoop. Writing on Ethicurean, Elanor Starmer reports that the Interior department’s Minerals Management Services is pushing […]
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Arctic shrinks by one Alaska and three Arizonas in August
Another week, another record in Arctic ice-loss announced by the National Snow and Ice Data Center: Following a record rate of ice loss through the month of August, Arctic sea ice extent already stands as the second-lowest on record, further reinforcing conclusions that the Arctic sea ice cover is in a long-term state of decline. […]
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Seaweed is the best garden amendment, hands down
My wife and I have been living in a beach house for the last two weeks, and have been blessed with an incredible run of perfect summer weather. The exclamation point came with the passing of tropical storm Hanna on Saturday whose winds piled fresh seaweed high on the beach — a literal windfall for […]
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New sea-level rise research, part 1: ‘Most likely’ 0.8 to 2.0 meters by 2100
Two major new studies, in Nature and Science, sharply increase the projected sea-level rise (SLR) by 2100. This post discusses the Science study ($ub. req’d), “Kinematic Constraints on Glacier Contributions to 21st-Century Sea-Level Rise,” which concludes: On the basis of calculations presented here, we suggest that an improved estimate of the range of SLR to […]
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Why global warming means killer storms worse than Katrina and Gustav, part 1
Hurricanes can get much, much bigger and stronger than we have so far seen in the Atlantic. The most intense Pacific storm on record was Super Typhoon Tip in 1979, which reached maximum sustained winds of 190 mph near the center. On its wide rim, gale-force winds (39 mph) extended over a diameter of an […]
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North Pole an ‘island’ for first time in 125,000 years
The fabled Northwest and Northeast passages are now open. That makes the North Pole an island for the first time in human history, most likely for the first time “since the beginning of the last Ice Age 125,000 years ago.” In the last few days, however, Arctic ice melt has slowed, so we might not […]
