Author: postMigrator

Climate Change and Migratory Species

  By Uncategorized

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” …  animal populations ‘can never increase beyond the supply of food in
the least favourable season.'”

“His alarming message is that around the world great animal migrations are
disappearing. Thus, international conservation efforts are urgently needed to
save the migrants from the devastating effects of over- exploitation, habitat
destruction, human-created obstacles, and climate change.”
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SCIENCE
1 FEBRUARY 2008 VOL 319

BOOKS ET AL.

No Way Home
The Decline of the World’s Great Animal Migrations
by David S. Wilcove
Island Press, Washington,
DC, 2008. 253 pp. $24.95.
ISBN 9781559639859.

Give Way to the Migrants
Thomas Alerstam

Migration represents a spectacularly successful strategy
among animals, providing access to a richness of ephemeral
and seasonal resources that can sustain large populations.
Its importance for promoting abundance was stressed by
Alfred Russel Wallace in his 1858 paper that set forth the
fundamentals of natural selection in biological evolution
and stirred Darwin to finally publish his long-considered
ideas (1). Wallace pointed to the example of the passenger
pigeon, which–in spite of its limited fecundity and
flagrant exposure to predation–reached its immense
abundance through rapid long-distance movements from
depleted to fresh feeding grounds. The example illustrates,
he argued, that animal populations “can never increase beyond
the supply of food in the least favourable season.” What he
did not realize at that time was the passenger pigeon’s great
vulnerability to human exploitation. Within Wallace’s lifetime
(1823-1913), the species plummeted from tens of millions of
birds. The last-known individual died in captivity in 1914.

Continue reading

Geoscientists: Major CO2 Cuts Needed NOW!

  By

Environmental Science & Technology
February 6, 2008

Geoscientists call for deep cuts in CO2
Scientific societies are making ever-stronger calls to slow climate change.
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2008/feb/science/ee_agu.html

The world’s largest society of earth scientists
has released its strongest statement yet on
climate change. The 45,000-member American
Geophysical Union (AGU) says warming must be
limited to no more than 2 °C above preindustrial
levels by cutting CO2 emissions by more than half
within this century.

The climate “is now clearly out of balance and is
warming,” the statement begins. It states
unequivocally that recent warming is caused by
humans and warns that warming of more than 2 °C
would disrupt civilization by “reducing global
agricultural productivity, causing widespread
loss of biodiversity, and-if sustained over
centuries-melting much of the Greenland ice sheet
with ensuing rise in sea level of several
meters.” The statement is the first revision of
the society’s official position on climate since
2003 and is its first to recommend policy action
to cut emissions.

“The scientific community has to assume greater
responsibility to inform the public and policy
makers in a responsible, calm way,” said AGU
president Timothy Killeen at a press conference
announcing the statement. “You can’t expect
geoscientists to create policy,” he said, “but
they can analyze it.”

Many scientific societies now have official
positions on climate change, which point to human
causes and warn with increasing intensity of dire
consequences. Statements have been issued by the
American Meteorological Society, American
Chemical Society (PDF: 39 KB), American Institute
of Physics, American Association for the
Advancement of Science (PDF: 33 KB), Engineers
Australia, and Geological Society of America, in
addition to several joint statements issued by
international science academies.

No major body representing science researchers
refutes the basic science pointing to human
influence on climate. Two professional societies,
the American Association of Petroleum Geologists
and the American Association of State
Climatologists (PDF: 88 KB) have issued
statements that recognize human influence on
climate but also point to uncertainties in future
scenarios. -ERIKA ENGELHAUPT

Copyright © 2008 American Chemical Society

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Climate Change Having Major Impacts on Oceans

  By Uncategorized

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“Phytoplankton are of tremendous human importance because their
photosynthesis yields oxygen for us to breathe and they are the base
of the ocean food webs that support our global fisheries,” Behrenfeld
said

“Unfortunately,” he added, “it is at this very time when we need
satellites most that we are facing the end of NASA ocean biology
satellites because of budget cutbacks or new priorities. This is a
serious issue that needs to be addressed.”
——————————————

Oregon State University
Public release date: 17-Feb-2008

Contact: Jane Lubchenco
lubchenco@oregonstate.edu
541-740-1247

Climate change has major impact on oceans

BOSTON, Mass. – Climate change is rapidly transforming the world’s
oceans by increasing the temperature and acidity of seawater, and
altering atmospheric and oceanic circulation, reported a panel of
scientists this week at the American Association for the Advancement
of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Boston.

“The vastness of our oceans may have engendered a sense of
complacency about potential impacts from global climate change,” said
Jane Lubchenco, the Wayne and Gladys Valley Chair of Marine Biology
at Oregon State University, who moderated the panel. “The world’s
oceans are undergoing profound physical, chemical and biological
changes whose impacts are just beginning to be felt.”

Panelist Gretchen Hofmann, a molecular physiologist at the University
of California, Santa Barbara, describes the situation as “multiple
jeopardy.”

“Ocean ecosystems are facing new stresses and new combinations of
stress,” Hofmann said. “The water is warmer, circulation patterns are
changing in unpredictable ways, and oceans are becoming acidic.”

Rising greenhouse gas emissions are warming the world’s oceans and
providing yet a new threat to coral reefs, which already are among
the most threatened of all marine ecosystems, the panelists say. Even
modest warming of a degree or two above normal maximum temperatures
can cause a breakdown in the relationship between corals and their
symbiotic algae, zooxanthellae, said Nancy Knowlton, a marine
biologist with the Smithsonian Institution.

Without zooxanthellae corals appear white, or “bleached,” and grow
more slowly. They also are more susceptible to disease and may not
reproduce. In 1998 there were worldwide mass bleaching events,
Knowlton pointed out, affecting 80 percent of the corals in the
Indian Ocean, 20 percent of which died. In 2005, severe bleaching
occurred over much of the Caribbean as a result of overly warm water
temperatures.

“We have already lost some 80 percent of the reef corals in the
Caribbean over the last three decades, and losses in the Pacific
Ocean also are widespread and severe,” Knowlton said. “Reefs are like
cities, with some parts growing and some parts being destroyed, and
only when net growth is positive can reefs persist. These reefs
already are under threat to overfishing and local pollution and
unless drastic action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is taken
soon, these reefs will cease to exist as we know them.”

These same greenhouse gas emissions also are creating dramatic
buildup of atmospheric carbon dioxide, which is rapidly making the
world’s oceans more acidic, said panelist Scott Doney of the Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institution. Current CO2 levels of 380 parts per
million already are 30 percent higher than pre-industrial values and
many scientific models predict that those rates will triple by the
end of the century under “business as usual” scenarios.

While much of the scientific attention on ocean acidification has
looked at the impact of coral reefs, the potential danger to other
marine ecosystems is equally severe, Doney said.

“Ocean acidification harms plants and animals that form shells from
calcium carbonate,” he said. “Calcifying organisms include not just
corals, but many plankton, pteropods (marine snails), clams and
oysters, and lobsters. Many of these organisms provide critical food
sources or habitats for other organisms and the impact of
acidification on food webs and higher trophic levels is not well
understood.

“Newly emerging evidence suggests that larval and juvenile fish may
also be susceptible to changes in ocean pH levels,” Doney added.
“Ocean acidification is rapidly becoming a real problem.”

Michael Behrenfeld, an oceanographer from Oregon State University, is
studying relationships between climate and the global activity of
ocean plants called phytoplankton.

“Phytoplankton are of tremendous human importance because their
photosynthesis yields oxygen for us to breathe and they are the base
of the ocean food webs that support our global fisheries,” Behrenfeld
said. “Using NASA satellites, we can track changes in phytoplankton
on a global basis and what we find is that warming ocean temperatures
are linked to decreasing photosynthesis. Satellites are one of the
most important tools we have for understanding the link between
climate and ocean biology because they provide measurements of the
whole planet on a daily basis, which could never be accomplished by
ship.

“Unfortunately,” he added, “it is at this very time when we need
satellites most that we are facing the end of NASA ocean biology
satellites because of budget cutbacks or new priorities. This is a
serious issue that needs to be addressed.

“Instead of facing the end of these critical missions and becoming
blind to the changes occurring in our oceans,” Behrenfeld said, “we
should be building even better ones to see more clearly than we have
in the past, and to gauge the potential consequences of climate
change on ocean productivity.”

The panelists also called for greater investment in ocean observing
systems that would allow scientists to better measure changing in the
ocean ecosystem, including large-scale circulation and coastal
upwelling systems around the world. Klaus Keller of Penn State
University reported on the economic costs and benefits of effective
ocean observing systems to detect changes in the north Atlantic
Meridional Overturning Circulation.

Jack Barth, an oceanographer at Oregon State University, reported on
the hypoxia events that have plagued the Pacific Northwest coast
since 2000. These low-oxygen zones in the near-shore are
unprecedented over the last five decades of scientific observation
and likely linked to stronger, more persistent winds that are
expected to occur with global warming. The California Current System
provides a case study for similar changes in coastal upwelling zones
off South America, southern Africa and northern Africa, Barth said.

“One of the things we’ve observed is how wind patterns have changed
and greatly affected upwelling,” Barth said. “Two decades ago, the
winds would last for three or four days, and then subside. Now they
persist for 20 to 40 days before settling down. This creates
significant impacts on upwelling and biological productivity, but
these impacts can swing wildly from one extreme to another and have
been difficult to predict.”

###

The AAAS symposium was organized by the Partnership for
Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans, a multi-university
research effort headquartered at Oregon State University and funded
by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Gordon and Betty
Moore Foundation, the National Science Foundation and other sources.

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17 Climate-Related News Stories

  By

All 17 available at
http://www.eurekalert.org/bysubject/atmospheric.php

Public Release: 17-Feb-2008
2008 AAAS Annual Meeting
Adapting local ecosystems can soften impact of global climate change
“Think globally, act locally” makes for a nice
bumper sticker — but is it an effective policy
for coping with global climate change? The short
answer is “no,” according to the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. We
cannot do much locally to lessen the effects of
global drivers; therefore, our local policies
must focus on adaptation. There is more to the
story, however, according to Charles Perrings, a
professor of environmental economics at Arizona
State University.

Contact: Skip Derra
skip.derra@asu.edu
480-965-4823
Arizona State University

Public Release: 17-Feb-2008
2008 AAAS Annual Meeting
Small sea creatures may be the ‘canaries in the coal mine’ of climate change
As oceans warm and become more acidic, ocean
creatures are undergoing severe stress and entire
food webs are at risk, according to scientists at
a press briefing this morning at the annual
meeting of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science in Boston.
National Science Foundation

Contact: Gail Gallessich
gail.g@ia.ucsb.edu
805-893-7220
University of California – Santa Barbara

Public Release: 17-Feb-2008
2008 AAAS Annual Meeting
Managing uncertainty important in ecological balance: ASU researcher
The balance of nature looms prominently in the
public mind these days. Climate change,
genetically modified plants and animals, and
globally declining fish stocks are but a few of
the issues that remind us that ours is a fragile
world. Or is it? It depends on whom you ask, says
Ann Kinzig, an Arizona State University associate
professor in the School of Life Sciences
specializing in biology and society.

Contact: Skip Derra
skip.derra@asu.edu
480-965-4823
Arizona State University

Public Release: 17-Feb-2008
2008 AAAS Annual Meeting
Climate change has major impact on oceans
Climate change is rapidly transforming the
world’s oceans by increasing the temperature and
acidity of seawater, and altering atmospheric and
oceanic circulation, reported a panel of
scientists this week at the American Association
for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in
Boston.
Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans

Contact: Jane Lubchenco
lubchenco@oregonstate.edu
541-740-1247
Oregon State University

Public Release: 17-Feb-2008
2008 AAAS Annual Meeting
Mission critical for carbon management
Integrating science and public policy with
consumer needs and the global economy is critical
if we have any chance of reducing carbon’s
effects on the climate, say scientists at the
2008 Annual Meeting of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science. Scientists from
around the globe will discuss the role of
science, technology and policy in developing
solutions to manage carbon during the symposium
The Carbon Journey: Understanding Global Climate
Effects and Advancing Solutions.
US Department of Energy

Contact: Mary Beckman
mary.beckman@pnl.gov
509-375-3688
DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Public Release: 17-Feb-2008
2008 AAAS Annual Meeting
Will North Atlantic threshold response to ocean changes be enough?
Predictions that the 21st century is safe from
major circulation changes in the North Atlantic
Ocean may not be as comforting as they seem,
according to a Penn State researcher.
National Science Foundation, US Environmental Protection Agency

Contact: Andrea Elyse Messer
aem1@psu.edu
814-865-9481
Penn State

Public Release: 16-Feb-2008
2008 AAAS Annual Meeting
MIT expert: How to toughen up environmental treaties
The Kyoto Protocol is one of more than 100 global
environmental treaties negotiated over the past
40 years to address pollution, fisheries
management, ocean dumping and other problems. But
according to MIT Professor Lawrence Susskind, an
expert in resolving complex environmental
disputes, few of the agreements have done more
than slow the pace of ecological damage, due to
lack of ratification by key countries,
insufficient enforcement and inadequate financial
support.

Contact: Elizabeth Thomson
thomson@mit.edu
617-258-5402
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Public Release: 16-Feb-2008
2008 AAAS Annual Meeting
Fish devastated by sex-changing chemicals in municipal wastewater
While most people understand the dangers of
flushing toxic chemicals into the ecosystem
through municipal sewer systems, one potentially
devastating threat to wild fish populations comes
from an unlikely source: estrogen. After an
exhaustive seven-year research effort, Canadian
biologists found that miniscule amounts of
estrogen present in municipal wastewater
discharges can decimate wild fish populations
living downstream.
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Contact: Doré Dunne
dore.dunne@nserc.ca
613-851-8677
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council

Public Release: 16-Feb-2008
2008 AAAS Annual Meeting
Impacts of fossil fuels on fish and people
NOAA scientist John Incardona will tell a
scientific detective story that uncovers a
previously unrecognized threat to human health
from a ubiquitous class of air pollutants.
Incardona’s presentation delves into how one type
of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, a compound
found in oil, damaged the developing hearts of
Pacific herring and pink salmon embryos after the
Exxon Valdez spill of 1989.

Contact: Ben Sherman
ben.sherman@noaa.gov
202-253-5256
NOAA Research

Public Release: 16-Feb-2008
2008 AAAS Annual Meeting
Valuing ocean services in the Gulf of Maine —
New approaches for conflict resolution
Michael Fogarty, a NOAA biologist, says
interactions among species, the effects of
climate change, and the effects of human impacts
such as harvesting are among the factors that
need to be considered in moving toward an
ecosystem-based fishery management plan.
Conventional fishery management practices
concentrate on individual species rather than a
holistic approach that looks at the bigger
picture.

Contact: Ben Sherman
ben.sherman@noaa.gov
202-253-5256
NOAA Research

Public Release: 16-Feb-2008
2008 AAAS Annual Meeting
New findings on emerging contaminants
Substances that we use everyday are turning up in
our lakes, rivers and ocean, where they can
impact aquatic life and possibly ourselves. At a
press conference at the 2008 Annual Meeting of
the American Association for the Advancement of
Science in Boston, a panel of researchers will
discuss how these chemicals are affecting aquatic
environments and may be coming back to haunt us
in unanticipated ways.

Contact: Matthew Wright
mwright@seaweb.org
617-835-9395
SeaWeb

Public Release: 15-Feb-2008
2008 AAAS Annual Meeting
CIRA scientist among authors of book celebrating
50 years of Earth observations from space
Stan Kidder, a researcher at the Cooperative
Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at
Colorado State University, will talk about
contributions satellites make to weather
forecasting on Feb. 17 at the American
Association for the Advancement of Science annual
meeting in Boston.
National Academies

Contact: Emily Narvaes Wilmsen
Emily.Wilmsen@colostate.edu
970-491-2336
Colorado State University

Public Release: 15-Feb-2008
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
The key to quieter Atlantic hurricane seasons may be blowing in the wind
Every year, storms over West Africa disturb
millions of tons of dust and strong winds carry
those particles into the skies over the Atlantic.
According to a recent study led by University of
Wisconsin-Madison atmospheric scientists, this
dust from Africa directly affects ocean
temperature, a key ingredient in Atlantic
hurricane development.

Contact: Amato Evan
amato.evan@ssec.wisc.edu
608-263-3951
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Public Release: 15-Feb-2008
Dung happens and helps scientists
A scientist at Northern Arizona University is in
charge of the largest animal dung collection in
the world, used for clues about animal evolution
and extinction, Ice Age existence and climate
change. Researcher Jim Mead admits it is a
bizarre resource, but he is one of many around
the globe who access dung for DNA information.
Mead, a dung authority, continues to grow the
collection with specimens from as far away as
Siberia.

Contact: Diane Rechel
diane.rechel@nau.edu
928-523-0611
Northern Arizona University

Public Release: 15-Feb-2008
2008 AAAS Annual Meeting
Science
Oregon researchers study widespread areas of low oxygen off northwest coast
A team of scientists, including NOAA’s William
Peterson, studying the California Current — a
slow-moving mass of cold water that travels south
along the coast from British Columbia to Baja
California — are seeing increasing areas of
water off Washington and Oregon with little or no
oxygen, possibly resulting in the deaths of
marine animals that cannot leave the low-oxygen
areas.

Contact: Brian Gorman
brian.gorman@noaa.gov
206-526-6613
NOAA Headquarters

Public Release: 15-Feb-2008
Soil Science Society of America Journal
Melting snow provides clues for acidification
Scientists investigate accumulated sulfate and
nitrate in New England snow and follow it after
the snow melts for clues to acidification of
soils. The results of their study are reported in
the Soil Science Society of America Journal.
National Science Foundation, USDA Forest Service,
New York State Energy Research Development
Authority

Contact: Sara Uttech
suttech@soils.org
608-268-4948
Soil Science Society of America

Public Release: 15-Feb-2008
2008 AAAS Annual Meeting
Panel identifies greatest technological research challenges of the 21st century
A panel of maverick thinkers, convened by the
National Academy of Engineering, today identified
what they consider to be the greatest
technological research challenges facing society
in the coming century. In the following Q&A,
panel member Rob Socolow of Princeton University
expands upon the NAE Grand Challenges project and
the role that technological innovation plays in a
vibrant society.
National Academy of Engineering

Contact: Teresa Riordan
triordan@princeton.edu
609-258-9754
Princeton University, Engineering School

All 17 available at
http://www.eurekalert.org/bysubject/atmospheric.php

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