Ocean Conservation News
Courtesy of Ocean Conserve

Seas Are Struggling to Absorb Emissions New York Times: The Earth's oceans, which have absorbed carbon dioxide from fuel emissions since the dawn of the industrial era, have recently grown less efficient at sopping it up, new research suggests. Emissions from the burning of fossil fuels began soaring in the 1950s, and oceans largely kept up, scientists say. But the growth in the intake rate has slowed since the 1980s, and markedly so since 2000, the authors of a study write in a report in Thursday's issue of Nature. The research ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (New York Times: Sindya N. Bhanoo) Publ.Date : 19 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Japan whale fleet leaves for Antarctic: Greenpeace Agence France-Presse: Japanese whaling ships left port Thursday for Antarctic waters for the annual hunt of the ocean giants, Greenpeace said, setting the stage for high-seas confrontations with anti-whaling activists. The factory ship Nisshin Maru and the smaller Yushin Maru 2 and 3 left the western port of Innoshima shortly after 10am (0100 GMT) for what is usually a five-month voyage, said the environmental activist group. Japan kills hundreds of whales a year in Antarctic waters by using a ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Agence France-Presse: none given) Publ.Date : 19 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST 'Climate change pushes poor women to prostitution, dangerous work' GMA: Effects of climate change have driven women in communities in coastal areas in poor countries like the Philippines to risk dangerous jobs, and sometimes even into the flesh trade. Suneeta Mukherjee, country representative of the United Nations Food Population Fund (UNFPA), said women in the Philippines are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change in the country. "Climate change could reduce income from farming and fishing possibly driving some women into sex work ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (GMA: Joseph Holandes Ubalde) Publ.Date : 19 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Oceans' Uptake of Human-Made Carbon May Be Slowing ScienceDaily: The oceans play a key role in regulating climate, absorbing more than a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans put into the air. Now, the first year-by-year accounting of this mechanism during the industrial era suggests the oceans are struggling to keep up with rising emissions -- a finding with potentially wide implications for future climate. The study appears in the November 19 issue of the journal Nature. The researchers estimate that the oceans last year took up a record 2.3 ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (ScienceDaily: none given) Publ.Date : 19 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Listen to the Earth, Say Indigenous Peoples Inter Press Service: The idea of wilderness is "an interesting concept; it is a Western concept. Our people have always lived and interacted in the environment," said Illion Merculieff, an environmental activist from the Aleut community in the north-western U.S. state of Alaska. The Aleuts have inhabited the islands and coastal areas of the Bering Sea, in the northern Pacific, for more than 10,000 years, having adapted to the extreme climate. "Adaptation is absolutely essential," according to ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Inter Press Service: Valentina Martínez Valdés) Publ.Date : 19 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Are the Earth's Oceans Hitting Their Carbon Cap? Time Magazine: But a new paper published in the Nov. 19 issue of Nature demonstrates that the oceans' ability to absorb man-made carbon may be dwindling -- and that has worrying ramifications for future climate change. While the ocean is now absorbing more carbon in total than ever before, the waters are sucking up a smaller percentage of the CO2 emitted by humans. That could mean that there's a limit to the ocean's capacity -- and that we might be hitting it. (See the top 10 green ideas of ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Time Magazine: Bryan Walsh) Publ.Date : 19 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Sinking Global Warming: Is There a Reliable Way to Track Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Levels? Scientific American: The planet soaks up excess carbon dioxide via oceans, plants and soils, among other natural systems, locking away some of the greenhouse gases emitted by burning fossil fuels. In fact, every year these natural "sinks" absorb a larger and larger tonnage of emissions--but thanks to the increasing amount of CO2 and other greenhouse gases dumped in the atmosphere by human activity, the proportion that is reabsorbed is beginning to dwindle, according to new studies. As efforts get underway ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Scientific American: David Biello) Publ.Date : 18 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Using fish as livestock feed threatens global fisheries Mongabay: Fish doesn't just feed humans. Millions of tons of fish are fed every year to chickens, pigs, and even farmed fish even in the midst of rising concerns over fish stocks collapses around the world. Finding an alternative to fish as livestock feed would go a long way toward preventing the collapse of fish populations worldwide according to a new paper in Oryx. "Thirty million tons – or 36 per cent – of the world's total fisheries catch each year is currently ground up into fishmeal and ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Mongabay: Jeremy Hance) Publ.Date : 18 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Skate may be fished to extinction BBC: A species of skate could become the first marine fish driven to extinction by commercial fishing, say scientists. A study reveals that an error in the classification of the species has meant researchers have failed to see just how close to the brink it is. The French team reports its findings in the journal Aquatic Conservation. Marine biologist Nicholas Dulvy from Simon Fraser University in Canada says the skate is now "the most precarious marine species on ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (BBC: Victoria Gill) Publ.Date : 18 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Oceans' ability to sequester carbon diminishing Mongabay: A new study--the first of its kind--has completed an annual accounting of the oceans' intake of carbon over the past 250 years, and the news is troubling. According to the study, published in Nature, the oceans' ability to sequester carbon is struggling to keep-up with mankind's ever-growing emissions. Since 2000 researchers estimate that while every year the oceans continue to sequester more anthropogenic carbon emission, the overall proportion of carbon taken in by the oceans is ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Mongabay: Jeremy Hance) Publ.Date : 18 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Rising CO2 could cause catastrophic sea level rise finds Antarctic study Telegraph: The British Antarctic Survey found that during past periods of high carbon dioxide, temperatures in Antarctica were up to 6C above current levels. This could cause a sea level rise of up six metres, threatening coastal cities like London, New York and San Francisco. It is the latest research to warn of the consequences of increased greenhouse gases on the Earth's climate. Yesterday a study warned that carbon dioxide produced by man is now rising at record rates putting the world on a ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Telegraph: none given) Publ.Date : 18 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Scientific debate sparked over carbon sink data Physorg: According to research published this week in Nature Geoscience, emissions of carbon dioxide continue to outstrip the ability of the world's natural 'sinks' to absorb carbon. The new report follows another study published only ten days earlier by Dr Wolfgang Knorr in Geophysical Research Letters, which concludes that a decline in the capacity of terrestrial ecosystems and the oceans to absorb CO2 cannot be detected within the available data. Both studies involved researchers ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Physorg: none given) Publ.Date : 18 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Save Half the Planet, or Lose It All Inter Press Service: At least half the planet must be protected if humanity is to survive the next century, declared conservationists at the conclusion of 9th World Wilderness Congress on Friday, Nov. 13. "That is what the science said, this is what many aboriginal people say," said Harvey Locke, the Wild Foundation's vice president of conservation strategy. "It's time to speak the simple truth: The whole thing unravels without protecting at least half of the planet," said Locke. A leading ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Inter Press Service: Stephen Leahy) Publ.Date : 17 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Small Islands Fear Going the Way of Atlantis Inter Press Service: The world's small island states, most of which are painfully vulnerable to the ravages of climate change, have put the United Nations on notice. Dramatising the plight of Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS), Ambassador Stuart Beck of Palau warns that the 192-nation world body, which progressively kept growing from its original membership of 51 in 1945, is in danger of shrinking because some of its members may be wiped off the face of the earth. "This chilling ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Inter Press Service: Thalif Deen) Publ.Date : 17 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Sharks under threat as environmental change bites hard Physorg: Their size and fearsome appearance have made them the stuff of nightmares, but new research just published suggests that sharks may not be as tough as they appear. Using information from two global datasets collected by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and FishBase, the Australian team behind the study has compiled the most comprehensive database yet of information about sharks, rays and chimaeras (a deep-water fish which also has cartilage instead of bones) ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Physorg: none given) Publ.Date : 17 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Australia: Report details coastal climate change risks Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The Federal Government has released a new report titled Climate Change Risks to Australia's coasts. It is the first risk assessment done by the Commonwealth to gauge which areas on the eastern seaboard are most at risk from a sea level rise. Professor Bruce Thom worked on the report and says parts of the New South Wales north coast face an uncertain future. "There's more and more properties that are low-lying around our estuaries and our lakes, of course we do have some ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Australian Broadcasting Corporation: none given) Publ.Date : 16 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST UN 'Hunger Summit' starved for attention Agence France-Presse: The leaders of the world's wealthiest nations will be conspicuous by their absence as more than 60 heads of state and government gather in Rome this week for a UN summit on the plight of the planet's billion hungry. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is the only leader from the Group of Eight industrialised countries expected to attend the "Hunger Summit" from Monday through Wednesday. Pope Benedict XVI will be among the inaugural speakers at meeting at the Rome ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Agence France-Presse: none given) Publ.Date : 15 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Fishing body agrees to cut in Atlantic tuna quota Reuters: Fishing nations agreed on Sunday to cut by about a third the quota for Atlantic bluefin tuna, a giant fish prized by sushi lovers, numbers of which have been decimated by commercial catches. The move was denounced as inadequate by environmental groups who had called on the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) to agree to a zero quota and list the fish as an endangered species. ICCAT, an intergovernmental body of 48 nations that ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Reuters: none given) Publ.Date : 15 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Actions taken to save sharks 'disappointing' Mongabay: Environmentalists say that the International Commissions for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) did not do enough in their yearly meeting to protect the ocean's sharks. Member countries of ICCAT agreed on a ban big eye thresher sharks. However, Mexico was granted an exemption, allowing it to catch 110 big eye threshers, which is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List. "ICCAT's lack of action on sharks was [...] disappointing," said Matt Rand, coordinator of the ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Mongabay: Jeremy Hance) Publ.Date : 15 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Bluefin tuna quota cut not enough: environmentalists Agence France-Presse: Environmentalists on Sunday warned bluefin tuna was on its way to extinction after a international meeting of fishery ministry officials trimmed catch quotas but upheld continued hauls of the fish, prized in sushi dishes. "After meeting for 10 days, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) refused to end fishing for Atlantic bluefin tuna," the Pew Environment Group, a US organization that sat on in the meeting in Recife, Brazil, said in a ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Agence France-Presse: none given) Publ.Date : 15 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Australia: Threats looming fast for vital facilities Sydney Morning Herald: SYDNEY Airport, the nation's busiest, sits surrounded almost entirely by waterways. Botany Bay lies on the south, Botany Wetlands to the east, Alexandra Canal to the north, and Cooks River to the west. It is among the most critical and vulnerable pieces of infrastructure at risk from sea-level rise, the latest report on Climate Change Risks to Australia's Coast finds. A sea-level rise of 1.1 metres, combined with a storm surge, would inundate parts of the northern runways and taxiways ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Sydney Morning Herald: Marian Wilkinson) Publ.Date : 14 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Australia: Dykes may be vital Sydney Morning Herald: DYKES, seawalls and other barriers may have to be built to save thousands of coastal properties, many of them in Sydney and Melbourne, according to a landmark study. The first attempt to assess the risk that climate change poses to the nation's coastal communities estimates that between 22 and 35 per cent of 711,000 coastal properties around Australia are at risk. Sixty per cent of those vulnerable houses are in NSW and Queensland. The report, Climate Change Risks to ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Sydney Morning Herald: MATTHEW MOORE ) Publ.Date : 14 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Australia: Waters keep rising, and so does worry Sydney Morning Herald: SCIENTISTS say Lake Macquarie is the area in the state most vulnerable to rising sea levels. Gordon and Marie Richardson, who have lived there for 42 years, need no convincing. In the past 20 years two storms have transformed their street into a tributary of the nearby lake, with water deep enough to float shoes off the veranda. "If we get big storms, heavy rain, big tides, we do have a problem," Mr Richardson said. "We've had [40 centimetres] of water in our backyard. ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Sydney Morning Herald: none given) Publ.Date : 14 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST Sea rises threaten Australian homes: govt report Reuters: Nearly a quarter of a million homes along Australia's coastline could be submerged by 2100 unless action is taken to stop sea levels rising, a government report said on Saturday. Debate on climate change -- and a government proposal to introduce a carbon trading scheme -- are the very focal point of political debate, with parliament due to reopen on Monday. With Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's Labour Party far ahead in polls and the conservative opposition divided on the issue ... Author : info@ecologicalinternet.org (Reuters: none given) Publ.Date : 14 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST