CNN reports Alabama is abusing BP oil spill money. Above, a state rep defends plans to spend beach restoration funds on building a new convention center and tourist attractions on the beach, above.
Alabama is spending just 8.5% on restoring beaches and marine ecosystems. Louisiana, for comparison, is spending 100% of the BP penalties on wetland, wildlife, marshes, and other coastal restoration. Florida is spending 90% on restoration.
Solid reporting @CNN’s OutFront.
Some light reading before bed. Actually, this is a sweet, free(!) article on the adaptation assessment framework that created the “Coastal Hazard Wheel.”
AbstractThis paper presents a generic framework for assessing inherent climate change hazards in coastal environments through a combined coastal classification and hazard evaluation system. The framework is developed to be used at scales relevant for regional and national planning and aims to cover all coastal environments worldwide through a specially designed coastal classification system containing 113 generic coastal types.The framework provides information on the degree to which key climate change hazards are inherent in a particular coastal environment, and covers the hazards of ecosystem disruption, gradual inundation, salt water intrusion, erosion and flooding.The system includes a total of 565 individual hazard evaluations, each graduated into four different hazard levels based on a scientific literature review. The framework uses a simple assessment methodology with limited data and computing requirements, allowing for application in developing country settings. It is presented as a graphical tool—the Coastal Hazard Wheel—to ease its application for planning purposes.
As predicted by chemistry, change in the Arctic Ocean is accelerating as temperatures warm faster than the global average, as the sea ice melts, as northern rivers run stronger and faster, delivering more fresh water farther into the northernmost ocean, and as we continue blasting an ever increasing quantity of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
The Arctic Ocean Acidification Assessment, a new report from the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP), presents these 10 key findings:
10 Key Findings From a Rapidly Acidifying Arctic Ocean | Mother Jones
Antarctic Hyperlapse Takes You on a Two Month Ice Breaking Journey in 5 Minutes
More science from the amazing marine scientist and journalist (and wonderful role model) Cassandra Brooks.
About the Author: Dr. Kerri-Ann Jones serves as Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.
On March 18, 2013, Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to a packed room of diplomats from around the globe, non-governmental conservation advocates, and others about the urgency of protecting our vast oceans. New Zealand Ambassador to the United States Mike Moore and Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr, two good friends of the United States and of oceans, joined the Secretary on the podium at this important event.
The Secretary spoke passionately about our connection and responsibility to the oceans as a people and a nation, and how ocean acidification, pollution, and fishing pressure are challenging our ability to sustain the sea and the benefits it provides to us all. You can read and watch his full remarks here.
These threats to the oceans are why the United States… more »
Worth checking out. Proposal to protect the Ross Sea in Antarctica.
Excellent video on Ocean Acidification by the good folks at calacademy.
Ocean acidification will literally dissolve some of the shells in the ocean. In this video, Scientists discuss the impact of the ocean’s changing pH levels.
Learn more by visiting our website: www.calacademy.org.
Proceeds from the sale of the app go to protect marine environments in the Philippines. Thank you WWF for your good work!
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Philippines) is working with AppLabs Digital Studios Inc. to bring forth a philanthropic collaboration concerning marine creatures.
EnviroPop is the first game application from WWF-Philippines. The app aims to educate people about sea creatures, and the need to address the marine pollutants that harm them.
EnviroPop is a puzzle game that allows users to clear marine threats such as PET plastic bottles, fish trawl nets, cyanide bottles, and oil drums.
The objective of the game is for players to eliminate these hazards and save the WWF marine characters like Clara the clownfish, Pattie the Green Sea Turtle, Bobby the whale shark, and Gary the grouper.
The app serves as one of WWF-Philippines’ alruist weapon to arm people with the knowledge of their marine programs and and their aim to fortify the marine biodiversity.
The full version of the app costs $0.99. For every download of the app, proceeds will go directly to WWF-Philippines’ marine conservation program.
As WWF-Philippines Individual Donor Program Officer Honey Carmona explains, Philippines is nestled at the apex of the Coral Triangle making the island the geographic point of marine life. This concludes the call to prioritize marine conservation as most Filipinos depend on the sea for sustenance and ecotourism.
WASHED ASHORE: A police officer looked at rays that washed up on a beach in the Gaza Strip Wednesday.
UPDATE: They were fished out - video.
An overview of a large adaptation project in Tanzania. The project is headed by USAID, URI’s Coastal Resources Center, and local organizations in Tanzania.
Climate Change Adaptation for Tanzania’s Coastal Villages
The Coastal Resources Center at the University of Rhode Island collaborates with USAID and other partners to carry out natural hazard and climate change vulnerability assessments, put adaptation measures into place and share lessons about what works and what needs to be done.
Practical approaches being used right now by our colleagues in several different coastal countries to manage risk and take no-regrets actions to increase their resilience and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
The Pwani Project carried out by the Tanzania Coastal Management Partnership is helping coastal communities assess climate change impacts and find ways to adapt using their own resources and knowledge.
Free reports:
Village Vulnerability Assessment and Climate Change Adaptation Planning: www.crc.uri.edu
Adapting to Coastal Climate Change: A Guidebook for Development Planners: www.usaid.gov/adapt
A recent study(freePDF) from Stanford University published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) considers how some reef building corals resist the stress of warmer waters that has caused coral bleaching around the world.
Using comparative genomics, researchers found that the heat tolerant corals have prepared for heat by switching on a set of 60 particular genes. Other coral species have also been found to switch on these genes but only after stress has already occurred. Resilient Samoan corals, however, have these genes switched on all of the time.
The results of the study show that some corals have the ability to withstand future increases in ocean temperature and highlight efforts to protect these resilient places.
Learn more at: http://www.oceansciencenow.com/wp/. The full PNAS article can also be found online here.
Thanks Olaf!
Folks, check out and bookmark the Coastal Care website! They work to protect our coastal environments and marine ecosystems in a reasonable way.
Big fan of their Shoreline Engineering work, and their Beach of the Month, which features in-depth history, conservation efforts, and beautiful photographs!
Michael
A beauty!
Swirling barracuda! Marine scientist Ali Green goes diving to a remote seamount off the coast of Papua New Guinea—read why it leaves her feeling hopeful about the future of oceans.
Open Maps and LocalWiki teamed up to map Antarctica. The maps were crowd sourced by volunteers around the world. Palmer Station is among their first maps. Check it out, here.
Palmer Station is a scientific research station located on Anvers Island off the western coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, operated by the US Antarctic Program.
The majority of the science research conducted at Palmer Station revolves around marine biology. The station also houses year-round monitoring equipment for global seismic, atmospheric, and UV-monitoring networks, as well as a site for the study of heliophysics.[2] Palmer also hosts a radio receiver that studies lightning over the Western Hemisphere.
Other research is conducted from the research vessel (R/V) Laurence M. Gould. Science cruises cover physical oceanography, marine geology, and marine biology. The ship also carries field parties to sites around the Antarctic Peninsula to study glaciology, geology, and paleontology. Palmer Station also hosts an IRLP (Internet Radio Linking Project) Amateur Radio node #8838 for ham radio communications.”- Wiki
The operating area around Palmer Station includes several prominent islands, each classified under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (Madrid Protocol). Examples include the minimally regulated Torgersen Island and the highly restricted Litchfield Island.
I want to punch climate change in the face.
A blog about the interactions between the built environment, people, and nature.
I'm a Washington, DC-based climate adaptation specialist. I help governments and stakeholders around the world increase their capacity to deal with climate impacts.
In addition to traveling and hiking, I research, publish, and lecture on how cities can adapt to climate change.
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![A jigsaw puzzle of floating ice extends as far as you can see in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, 2006. [John B. Weller photo, courtesy of The Pew Charitable Trusts]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2013_0326_ross_sea_m.jpg)
![Open Maps and LocalWiki teamed up to map Antarctica. The maps were crowd sourced by volunteers around the world. Palmer Station is among their first maps. Check it out, here.
Palmer Station is a scientific research station located on Anvers Island off the western coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, operated by the US Antarctic Program.
The majority of the science research conducted at Palmer Station revolves around marine biology. The station also houses year-round monitoring equipment for global seismic, atmospheric, and UV-monitoring networks, as well as a site for the study of heliophysics.[2] Palmer also hosts a radio receiver that studies lightning over the Western Hemisphere.
Other research is conducted from the research vessel (R/V) Laurence M. Gould. Science cruises cover physical oceanography, marine geology, and marine biology. The ship also carries field parties to sites around the Antarctic Peninsula to study glaciology, geology, and paleontology. Palmer Station also hosts an IRLP (Internet Radio Linking Project) Amateur Radio node #8838 for ham radio communications.”- Wiki
The operating area around Palmer Station includes several prominent islands, each classified under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (Madrid Protocol). Examples include the minimally regulated Torgersen Island and the highly restricted Litchfield Island.
View map!](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbt43jzdnI1qfqfdyo1_500.jpg)
