Ocean Doctor » global climate change

Saving Our Seas with an eBay Guitar: The Arts and Ocean Literacy

Ocean Doctor — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 01:34:56 +0000

January 24, 2011: Like it or not, our kids are going to inherit an oiled Gulf and a troubled ocean, and their generation will ultimately have to deal with problems we’ve created. But how do we ensure they’re up to the challenge? If you listen to multimedia artist and conservationist Mark Holmes, reaching our kids through the arts is a powerful approach and that’s exactly what he’s doing with the newly-formed Institute for Ocean Literacy. Mark formerly worked at National Geographic where he launched the NationalGeographic.com web site and designed and art directed National Geographic Magazine. His music, graphic novels, and passion are helping to inspire our next generation. Also: Our in-depth coverage of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling continues as the Ocean Doctor guides you through the highlights of its final report.

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This Week: Ocean Love Through Music: The Institute for Ocean Literacy

This week's guest: Mark Holmes, Founder of the Institute for Ocean Literacy

Mark Holmes is a multimedia artist and conservationist. He has written, photographed, picture-edited, designed and illustrated features for scores of books, magazines and web sites. He has written and recorded a number of music projects for children and adults, and has performed at schools and marine conferences across the country. Currently, he is launching the Institute for Ocean Literacy (IfOL). IfOL, a project of The Ocean Foundation, is an organization committed to teaching ocean literacy through the arts. When not engaged in ocean issues, Mark teaches digital media design courses at the Corcoran College of Art + Design.

In the past Mark worked for National Geographic where he designed and art directed more than a hundred stories for National Geographic magazine. He went on to launch NationalGeographic.com, and managed the site for nearly ten years. Since then he managed magazine and web staffs for the Ocean Conservancy, Marriott International, and the World Resources Institute – where he is currently employed today.

On May 22, 2010 President Obama established the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, co-chaired by former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator, Bob Graham and former EPA Administrator, William Riley. The Commission issued its report last week – on time and under budget – perhaps a first for a presidential commission. We continue our in-depth coverage and first look at the report.

Links:

Institute for Ocean Literacy (Download Mark’s music!)

National Commission on the BP Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling

Oceans ’11: The BP Oil Spill Commission Speaks – Ocean Issues to Watch

Ocean Doctor — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 01:35:17 +0000

January 17, 2011: The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling has released its final report. What does it say and what are the lessons from this tragedy? The Ocean Doctor guides you through the highlights. Also: From The Ocean Foundation’s headquarters in Washington, DC, our panel of experts discusses other key ocean issues we should pay attention to this year.

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This Week: The BP Oil Spill Commission Speaks

We continue our in-depth coverage of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and take our first look at the Commission’s final report. Also: Our panel of experts and the other big issues we need to pay attention to this year.

On May 22, 2010 President Obama established the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, co-chaired by former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator, Bob Graham and former EPA Administrator, William Riley. The Commission issued its report last week – on time and under budget – perhaps a first for a presidential commission. We take our first look at the report, drawing from last week’s press conference.

Oil Spill Commission Video

On April 20, 2010 an explosion tore through the Deepwater Horizon, an oil rig operating in the Gulf of Mexico. The disaster happened as workers were finalizing the drilling of the exploratory Macondo well, forty miles off the coast of Louisiana. It was, by any standard, a catastrophe. See the project at http://www.oilspillcommission.gov/media/

Oil Spill Commission Final Report

Full Final Report (16.76 MB)

Introduction (Front Matter) (1.5 MB)

Part I: The Path to Tragedy (6.85 MB)

Chapter 1 (2.25 MB)

“Everyone involved with the job…was completely satisfied…”
The Deepwater Horizon, the Macondo Well, and Sudden Death on the Gulf of Mexico

Chapter 2 (4.02 MB)

“Each oil well has its own personality”
This History of Offshore Oil and Gas in the United States

Chapter 3 (1.05 MB)

“It was like pulling teeth.”
Oversight–and Oversights–in Regulating Deepwater Energy Exploration and Production in the Gulf of Mexico

Part II: Explosion and Aftermath (15.01 MB)

The Cause and Consequences of Disaster

Chapter 4 (3.22 MB)

“But, who cares, it’s done, end of story, [we] will probably be fine and we’ll get a good cement job.”
The Macondo Well and the Blowout

Chapter 5 (3.77 MB)

“You’re in it now, up to your neck!”
Response and Containment

Chapter 6 (4.92 MB)

“The worst environmental disaster America has ever faced”
Oiling a Rich Environment: Impacts and Assessment

Chapter 7 (3.94 MB)

“People have plan fatigue . . . they’ve been planned to death”
Recovery and Restoration

Part III: Lessons Learned (6.17 MB)

Industry, Government, and Energy Policy

Chapter 8 (3.49 MB)

“Safety is not proprietary”
Changing Business as Usual

Chapter 9 (2.33 MB)

“Develop options for guarding against, and mitigating the impact of, oil spills associated with offshore drilling.”
Investing in Safety, Investing in Response, Investing in the Gulf

Chapter 10 (1.01 MB)

American Energy Policy and the Future of Offshore Drilling

Back Matter (876 KB)

End Notes (336 KB)
Appendix A: Commission Members (489 KB)
Appendix B: List of Acronyms (180 KB)
Appendix C: Executive Order (222 KB)
Appendix D: Commission Staff and Consultants (322 KB)
Appendix E: List of Commission Meetings (182 KB)
Appendix F: Staff Working Papers (202 KB)
Index (538 KB)

Hard Copy and Kindle Edition Available at Amazon.com

Links:

National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling

Tip of the Week:

See the delightful 1983 movie, “Local Hero” starring Burt Lancaster, and be sure to enjoy the beautiful soundtrack by Mark Knopfler.

Acid Oceans: The Gravest and Most Immediate Planetary Threat Yet?

Ocean Doctor — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:15:54 +0000

Ocean acidification may present one of the gravest threats to our planet’s ecosystems and yet it is also one of the least publicized aspects of the global climate change issue. Acidification is occurring very rapidly, causing unprecedented changes to the chemistry of the oceans. It’s been estimated that roughly half of human-produced CO₂ emissions over the past two centuries (since the beginning of the industrial age) have been absorbed by the oceans, leading to a drop in ocean surface pH of nearly 0.1 units (on the logarithmic pH scale).

Coral Reef in Timor (Photo courtesy of Nick Hobgood)

If human CO₂ emissions continue at their current rate, by the end of the 21^st century ocean acidity will drop by another 0.3 – 0.5 units to acidity levels higher (or pH levels lower) than the oceans have experienced in hundreds of thousands of years, and this would happen at an unprecedented rate, roughly 100 times faster than any other such change ever documented over the same period.

There is strong consensus in the scientific community that, like our warming climate, ocean acidification is intensifying due to the massive emissions of CO₂ from human activities. Increased CO₂ upsets the natural balance of ocean chemistry — more CO₂ shifts the balance toward increasing carbonic acid (H₂CO₃).

Ocean acidification is a profoundly serious problem that threatens to impact virtually every aspect of the chemical and biological functioning of the oceans as we know them today. Ocean acidification threatens to undermine the function of the ocean’s major ecosystems, including the majority of the world’s coral reefs, potentially causing an unraveling of ocean food chain, large-scale extinction events, and impacts on the oceans’ commercially important fish stocks.

Because of ocean ecosystems’ complexity, it is difficult to precisely predict the impact of ocean acidification. In addition, the impacts will likely vary by regional differences in chemistry as well as by the resistance and resilience of different marine species. However, it is clear that acidification has the potential to cause widespread, significant and irreversible impacts on the functioning of ocean ecosystems, and if humankind does not make adequate strides in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, such impacts will likely occur by the end of this century.

One of the most significant impacts of acidification will be on calcification, the process by which corals, algaes, mollusks, etc. build their shells , plates and other structures from calcium carbonate (CaCO₃). Laboratory results show that an acidic ocean would make it impossible for these plants and animals to build their CaCO₃ structures – essentially, these structures would be dissolved faster than the plant or animal could build them. In this way, the world’s coral reefs, already pushed to the brink by elevated ocean temperature, nutrient pollution, overfishing, etc., could disappear altogether, along with a myriad of other species.

There’s a great deal of attention focused (especially the Southern Ocean) on the potential for oceanic food chains to be significantly disrupted by acidification given that many phytoplankton and zooplankton species that form the base of the food chain are calcareous, that is, they form a calcium carbonate shell, which would become impossible in a highly acidic ocean. It doesn’t take too much extrapolation to see the effect this could have up the food chain, including fish, whales, and penguins.

The oceanic food chain isn’t limited to organisms that dwell in the sea. We’ve already seen the devastating impact of El Nino on seabird populations, for example. Birds, seals, bears, etc. could also be impacted, as well as Homo sapiens, a species that still depends heavily on hunting wild fish stocks. Increasing acidity of the oceans will also limit the ocean’s ability to buffer increases in atmospheric CO₂, something already being documented in scientific papers. This means that the planet is becoming less and less able to absorb the CO₂ emitted by fossil fuel consumption, which, in turn could translate into more CO₂ remaining in the atmosphere and an even hotter climate.

According to the Royal Society’s 2005 report (Ocean acidification due to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Policy document 12/05. June 2005. ISBN 0 85403 617 2 (www.royalsoc.ac.uk), “Ocean acidification is essentially irreversible during our lifetimes. It will take tens of thousands of years for ocean chemistry to return to a condition similar to that occurring at pre-industrial times (about 200 years ago).” There have been a number of mitigation strategies proposed, such as essentially dumping chemicals into the ocean to counteract the effects of increased CO₂. However, the scale at which this would have to be done is enormous. Such methods might only be effective in localized areas and might themselves cause damage to marine organisms.

There is strong consensus in the scientific community that the solution to this problem is the immediate and sustained reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, reductions that may well exceed those being put forward today, underscoring the urgency for the United States to demonstrate stronger leadership on this issue.

Fortunately, this issue is finally becoming better publicized and part of the overall climate change dialogue, and the mainstream media is now reporting on the significance of this issue.