Blogs & Ecology

Image from kaet44

It's not quite rocket science, but, as it turns out, it does involve a healthy dose of math and physics. The new "law" coined by Richard Alley, a glaciologist at Pennsylvania State University, and a team of other U.S.-based researchers will allow scientists to predict when and how icebergs in Greenland and Antarctica calve, or break off from larger ice shelves. The calving process is important because it is known to accelerate ice sheet flow and contribute to sea level rise. ...

photo: NOAA

You may have read how a bit over a week ago a number of environmental groups were calling on the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (Iccat) to cut quota levels for bluefin tuna to protect that species from overfishing and collapse.

Groups’ Recommendations Ignored

Image source: Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project: Cameron Diaz's Havaiana Flip Flops

Earlier this summer, Barefoot Wine hosted several surfing invitationals to raise money for Surfrider Foundation. Now, Barefoot Wine is continuing its ocean-saving campaign by now auctioning celebrity autographed shoes to raise more money for Surfrider and the Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project. ...

Image source: Getty Images

As reported in the Otago Daily Times, the noticeable impacts of climate change on area coral reefs and a recent starfish outbreak are not as bad as previously thought due to noticeable changes in the Fijian lifestyle. From 2000-20006 the size of the reefs around the Lau Islands reduced by 50% but changes in dietary and industry around the island have actually given the reefs a chance to recover, a little. ...

A "blue cruise" near the Marmaris coast. Photo by Sarp Koknar via flickr.

There's trouble in paradise, at least the part of it around the popular vacation town of Marmaris, on Turkey's western Mediterranean coast. Long struggling to keep development in check, residents have had up to here with new plans to expand the area's port and mining operations. A local environmental organization recently issued an SOS: "That’s enough. Do not let Marmaris fade away."
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Image from WHOI

Image from Science

Rising Sea Levels Move Maldive Residents to Buy Land In Case of Disaster
The Maldives plans to move money from tourism to purchase land in case of climate disaster. Eighty percent of the island country, comprised of 1,200 islands, rests at only one meter above already rising sea levels. More on these future climate refugees below the fold....

Image source: Getty Images

With the melting of the polar ice caps, countries around the world are finding that new shipping lanes are now opening up, and with that, areas that were previously off limits to exploration and drilling are now accessible. Scientific American reports that countries are now waging war on the high seas and drawing lines of "ownership" to get to these reserves. ...

Photo by Pip Starr from Flickr

The last half-century has witnessed the most dramatic climate-induced ecosystem-level shifts since the advent of human civilization, almost 5,000 years ago, posits a new study published in the November issue of Ecology. Charles Greene, its lead author and an oceanographer at Cornell University, says that current and projected rates of global warming are "unprecedented" in human history and that we could very well see very rapid periods of intense warming in the near future -- rivaling the episodes of rapid cooling, during which temperatures dropped by up...

At least that is what the media releases are saying. Late last month, the Australian Solar Sailor company announced they’d signed a deal with China's biggest shipping line, COSCO, to fit some of their jumbo jet sized solar-powered sails to a tanker and bulk carrier.

The 30 metre long sails, festooned in photovoltaic panels are expected to catch enough wind to reduce fuel costs by between 20% and 40%, whilst those PV cells will provide the ships with 5% of their electricity. A computer automatically angles the sails for maximum wind and solar efficiency, and if all goes to plan the sails will have recovered their initial cost within four years.
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Image from Marufish

In 1960 Jacques Piccard reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench , 6.78 miles down, in the bathyscaphe Trieste.

"Ahead of his time in his concern for environmental questions and with a lifelong passion for the study and protection of the seas, he spent a month in 1969 drifting 3,000 km underwater in 1969 exploring the current of the Gulf Stream. But his greatest achievement was his discovery in 1960 of living organisms at a depth of more than 11 000 m, leading to the prohibition of nuclear waste dumping in ocean trenches."

Image from Nature Geoscience