Separating 'Spin' from Science isn't Simple

December 28, 2009

Post Copenhagen, The Australian newspaper published a contentious article titled ‘How the reef became blue again‘ discussing the ‘resilience’ of the Great Barrier Reef to climate change. On the whole the article did a pretty good job in getting the scientific facts correct, but the debate and ensuing discussion is full of rhetoric deliberately misleading. Jez Roff at Centre for Marine Studies, The University of Queensland, deftly dissects the science and the semantics in a weblog post here:
www.climateshifts.org/?p=3840

Climate Shifts is a weblog about science, climate change, politics, coral reefs, and the environment

Seasick - The Hidden Ecological Crisis of the Global Ocean by Alanna Mitchell

March 3, 2009

"Hot off the press", Sea Sick is the first book to examine the current state of the world’s oceans — the great unexamined ecological crisis of the planet — and the fact that we are altering everything about them; temperature, salinity, acidity, ice cover, volume, circulation, and, of course, the life within them.

“A riveting book of revelations about Earth’s largest and most important habitat.”
-- Tim Flannery, author of The Weathermakers

All life - whether on land or in the sea - depends on the oceans for two things:

• Oxygen. Most of Earth’s oxygen is produced by phytoplankton in the sea. These humble, one-celled organisms, rather than the spectacular rain forests, are the true lungs of the planet. See example photographs of plankton below.
• Climate control. Our climate is regulated by the ocean’s currents, winds, and water-cycle activity.

“Each chapter in the book blends lucid, factual explanation of complex subjects with engaging chronicles of the author’s travels to far-flung parts of the globe.”
-- Quill & Quire

“Sea Sick is the most comprehensive book to date on the state of our oceans. With a writer’s eye for detail and a reporter’s expertise in pulling in disparate information, Mitchell has woven a powerful and deeply unsettling story about our collective abuse of the cradle of all life. Fortunately, she also gives us hope and a path forward if we have the wisdom to act.”
-- Maude Barlow

Alanna Mitchell joins the crews of leading scientists in nine of the global ocean’s hotspots to see firsthand what is really happening around the world. Whether it’s the impact of coral reef bleaching, the puzzle of the oxygen-less dead zones such as the one in the Gulf of Mexico, or the shocking implications of the changing Ph balance of the sea, Mitchell explains the science behind the story to create an engaging, accessible yet authoritative account.

Alanna Mitchell was the science and environment reporter at the Globe and Mail for fourteen years, until she left daily journalism to devote herself to writing on science. In 2000, she was named the best environmental reporter in the world by the Reuters Foundation and was invited in 2002 to undertake a guest fellowship at Oxford University. Out of this came her first book, Dancing at the Dead Sea, published in 2004. Mitchell is an associate at the International Institute for Sustainable Development and is a frequent speaker and guest lecturer on environmental issues. She lives in Toronto with her husband and two children.

 “Keeping the ocean's life switch turned on will require all of us to, like Mitchell, choose hope and to do something about it. Reading this book is a good first step.”
-- Montreal Gazette

Seasick is published in Canada by McClelland & Stewart For more information their website
www.mcclelland.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780771061165

Above: Plankton photo examples © David Hannan

Climate Change May Avoid Bleaching of Ningaloo Corals

Written by Sue Emmett
Monday, 22 September 2008

A QUIRK of nature may protect Ningaloo Reef corals from excessive bleaching as climate change increases sea temperatures this century.

University of Western Australia School of Environmental Systems Engineeering Professor Charitha Pattiaratchi says winds blowing parallel to the Ningaloo Reef coastline in summer produce upwelling of cold water from the ocean depths to the surface.

This colder water acts as an ‘insulator’ between the Leeuwin Current’s warm water and Ningaloo Reef.

To read the full article published on Science Network Western Australia visit
www.sciencewa.net.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2285&Itemid=587

Corals in the Keppel Island Region Form New Heat-Beating Partnerships

March 20, 2008

In the first observation of its kind, a coral community in the southern inshore region of the Great Barrier Reef is showing signs of adjusting to higher sea surface temperature by quickly changing its main algal partners to types that can better cope with the heat.

An AIMS field study near Miall Island, part of the Keppel group of 15 islands on the southern Great Barrier Reef off the Queensland coast near Rockhampton, has revealed a remarkable feat of acclimatisation; the only time such an event has been observed in natural conditions on a coral reef.

The work, which appears today in the prestigious UK scientific journal the Proceedings of the Royal Society, has shown that a phenomenon known as "symbiont shuffling" took place after a bleaching event in 2006 in the Acropora millepora coral population studied.

To read the full press release issued by AIMS visit
www.aims.gov.au/docs/media/news2008/20080320.html

Alarm bells as Evidence of Slowed Coral Growth on the Great Barrier Reef Emerges

March 5, 2008

Worrying signs that warmer seawater combined with a possible change in the ocean's acid balance may be curtailing the growth of an important reef-building coral species have been documented by a research team from AIMS in Townsville.

The paper, published in the journal Global Change Biology*, points to a 21 per cent decline in the rate at which Porites corals in two regions of the northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR) have added to their calcium carbonate skeletons over the past 16 years.

The AIMS research team analysed a total of 38 Porites colonies from the two regions. Porites are a common massive coral with a striking spherical appearance. They are long-lived and distributed widely around the Indian and Pacific oceans.

To read the full press release issued by AIMS visit
www.aims.gov.au/docs/media/news2008/20080305.html

Campaign to Stop Shark Finning on the Great Barrier Reef

February, 2008

An alarming new proposal by the Queensland Government will establish a dedicated shark fishery in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area which will service the international trade in shark fin.

The Australian Marine Conservation Society (and anyone who cares for our oceans) is astonished by this proposal, in which Queensland's fisheries department (DPI&F) plans to legitimise one of the most unsustainable forms of fishing on the planet - shark fin fishing. With over 90% of the world's sharks and other big fish gone from our oceans, this project is unsustainable, unethical and will be flatly rejected by the Australian public.

Not only is the Queensland Government proposing to hand out specific fishing licenses for shark fin fishing, which will entrench the practice for years, they are planning to legitimise shark fishing in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and in the Marine Parks of Moreton Bay and the Great Sandy Straits with this new license proposal. To read the full article as well as updates visit the AMCS website...

You can help stop this madness by taking action:

• Take action - simply sign the AMCS petition, telling the Hon Peter Garrett AM, MP, Australia's Environment Minister that you object to shark fishing on the Great Barrier Reef.

Photos in this article are from the AMCS website

Report Warns about Carbon Dioxide Threats to Marine Life

July 5, 2006

BOULDER - Worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning are dramatically altering ocean chemistry and threatening marine organisms, including corals, that secrete skeletal structures and support oceanic biodiversity. A landmark report released today summarizes the known effects of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide on these organisms, known as marine calcifiers, and recommends future research for determining the extent of the impacts.

"It is clear that seawater chemistry will change in coming decades and centuries in ways that will dramatically alter marine life," says Joan Kleypas, the report's lead author and a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder. "But we are only beginning to understand the complex interactions between large-scale chemistry changes and marine ecology. It is vital to develop research strategies to better understand the long-term vulnerabilities of sensitive marine organisms to these changes."

The report, "Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Coral Reefs and Other Marine Calcifiers," warns that oceans worldwide absorbed approximately 118 billion metric tons of carbon between 1800 and 1994. Oceans are naturally alkaline, and they are expected to remain so, but the interaction with carbon dioxide is making them less alkaline and more acidic. The increased acidity lowers the concentration of carbonate ion, a building block of the calcium carbonate that many marine organisms use to grow their skeletons and create coral reef structures.

"This is leading to the most dramatic changes in marine chemistry in at least the past 650,000 years," says Richard Feely, one of the authors and an oceanographer at NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) in Seattle.

The report follows a workshop funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and hosted by the U.S. Geological Survey Integrated Science Center in St. Petersburg, Florida. [...]

Read the full article published on the University Corporation for Atomspheric Research website www.ucar.edu/news/releases/2006/acidification.shtml

RealClimate.org

June 6, 2005

RealClimate.org is an online commentary based climate awareness weblog. Climate scientists regularly contribute articles offering detailed responses and often clarification on global climate related news stories.

Visit the RealClimate website →

Researchers Link Nutrient Runoff with Crown-of-Thorns Starfish Infestations

March 18, 2004

A team of marine researchers has produced a study that shows that an increase in nutrient run-off has led to higher levels of food for starfish larvae. A computer model predicts more frequent outbreaks, consistent with observations on the Great Barrier Reef.

The TV Documentary COTS - The Monster from the Shallows, produced by David Hannan and Gulliver Media, follows this story.

Original Press Release issued by Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)