Tag Archives: ocean acidification
Warming waters in Casco Bay are driving herring farther from shore
The Gulf of Maine is warming three times faster than the average global ocean, driving some cold-water species like Atlantic herring, the preferred lobster bait — farther away from its shoreline spawning habitat earlier than usual and attracting species from warmer southern waters, including blue crab and black sea bass, a new survey found. The warmth is stressing some of Maine’s keystone fisheries, according to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s report on the Casco Bay ecosystem released recently. The report is the first time the institute took a longer, 10-year look at the pace of environmental changes and their effects on ecosystems close to shore. It found that warming waters related to climate change, along with human activities, ocean acidification and harmful algal blooms, are causing different behaviors in species that could hinder their ability to reproduce and thrive. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:52
Help Alaska’s fisheries: Reduce methane emissions
NOAA now confirms that another critical Alaska fishery is in decline due to successive marine heat waves. First there was the loss of 10 billion snow crabs and the close of the once-lucrative Bering Sea crab fisheries; now we know that climate change (warming seas) is the culprit behind the crash of chum salmon on the Yukon-Kuskokwim. Both these fisheries are the life blood to many Alaskan communities and villages. From the Yukon to Kodiak, from the Arctic to Ketchikan, Alaska’s coastal fisheries must now confront the dual threat of heat waves and ocean acidification. more, >>click to read<< By Linda Behnken and Kate Troll 15:48
Dungeness crab die-off underway along US West Coast
An important species of crab found primarily along the West Coast is fighting off a combination of stressors that experts at the North Atlantic and Atmospheric Administration say has fishermen finding piles of dead shellfish, and the impacts are affecting the economy. Dungeness crabs are typically found along water beds, and their harvest can be worth a quarter-billion dollars annually. NOAA Fisheries believes the combination of a lack of oxygen, harmful algal blooms, water temperatures and ocean acidification are playing a role in the animal’s disappearance. >click to read< 16:12
Something Smells Fishy: Allegations of Fraud in Ocean Acidification Research
While on tour in Australia in 2010, my friend, David Archibald said to me “Ocean Acidification is the last refuge of the climate scoundrels”. It appears he may be right. It also appears that James Cook University has a real research integrity problem, that Dr. Peter Ridd has pointed out, and got fired for daring to say it. From Science Magazine: Does ocean acidification alter fish behavior? Fraud allegations create a sea of doubt – In 2009, Munday and Dixson began to publish evidence that ocean acidification, a knock-on effect of the rising carbon dioxide level in Earth’s atmosphere, has a range of striking effects on fish behavior, such as making them bolder and steering them toward chemicals produced by their predators. But their work has come under attack. A group of seven young scientists, led by fish physiologist Timothy Clark of Deakin University, published a Nature paper reporting that in a massive, 3-year study, they didn’t see these dramatic effects of acidification on fish behavior at all. >click to read< 18:37
A Greek tragedy? New England lobsters caught in perfect storm of warming seas and save the whales activism
Climate change, ocean acidification,,, it’s nothing compared to what will become of the industry if the self-coronated “Prince of Whales,” New Hampshire’s Richard “Max” Strahan, has his way. To lobstermen, though, Strahan has proven himself far more than a vaudevillian nuisance. The kicker, says Strahan, who gets more animated as our conversation goes on, is that the whales are pretty much doomed no matter what. In 2017, the North Atlantic right whale population didn’t reproduce at all, usually considered the death knell for an endangered species. In late June, a six-month-old right whale calf was found dead with propeller wounds off the coast of New Jersey. Lobstering had nothing to do with it, but it won’t help the industry’s case. “It’s not really that they’re being caught in fishing gear,” Strahan admits. “It’s the fact that they don’t reproduce anymore. That’s what’s killing them.” >click to read< 08:07
In the Peconic Estuary, A Perfect Storm Hits Bay Scallops
Warming water temperatures, hypoxia (a deficiency in oxygen), ocean acidification, and harmful algal blooms, said Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, are each a stressor to the bivalve and local delicacy. The occurrence of more than one at one time, he said, may be responsible for the die-off (may be) ,,, The bay scallop fishery is “notorious for booms and busts,” Stephen Tettelbach, >click to read< 08:04
Oregon looks at ocean acidification, hypoxia threats to marine life
The Oregon Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Action Plan outlines actions the state will take to adapt to and mitigate impacts. The plan, requested last year by Gov. Kate Brown and adopted in August, will serve as a roadmap for the next six years. “Ocean acidification and hypoxia threaten not just our commercial fisheries in Oregon, but our entire coastal way of life,” Gov. Brown said. >click to read< 09:16
The Data Shows Record Lobster Production
Marine fisheries data show New England lobstermen are benefiting from a new golden age of lobster, thanks in large part to a warming Earth. Yet Democrats in Congress and even lobster lobbyists asserted in House climate hearings earlier in February that global warming is causing a lobster apocalypse. Thankfully, facts and scientific evidence can help us put this latest global warming scare to rest.,,, Overlooking for the moment that Democrats’ PETA allies would consider it good news if global warming were inducing lobsters to relocate to waters where lobstermen can’t reach them, let’s take a look at lobster production in Maine and the rest of New England in recent decades. >click to read<09:36
Ocean acidification may reduce sea scallop fisheries
Each year, fishermen harvest more than $500 million worth of Atlantic sea scallops from the waters off the east coast of the United States. A new model created by scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), however, predicts that those fisheries may potentially be in danger. As levels of carbon dioxide increase in the Earth’s atmosphere, the upper oceans become increasingly acidic—a condition that could reduce the sea scallop population by more than 50% in the next 30 to 80 years, under a worst-case scenario. Strong fisheries management and efforts to reduce CO2 emissions, however, might slow or even stop that trend. >click to read<16:26
Matt Ridley: Blue Planet II Was Superb, Save A Few Fishy Facts
Nothing that Hollywood sci-fi screenwriters dream up for outer space begins to rival the beauty and ingenuity of life under water right here. Blue Planet II captured behaviour that was new to science as well as surprising: giant trevally fish eating sooty terns on the wing; Galapagos sea lions herding yellowfin tuna ashore; an octopus wrapping itself in shells to confuse sharks. The series also preached. Every episode had a dose of bad news about the ocean and a rebuke to humanity, while the entire last episode was devoted to the environmental cause, featuring overfishing, pollution, climate change and ocean acidification. The team behind the incomparable Sir David Attenborough has acceded to demands that it should push more environmentalism. click here to read the story 12:26
Researchers: Global Warming Could Wipe Out Maine Lobsters in 85 Years!
The Gulf of Maine is warming at an alarming rate. Research by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows ocean temperatures are rising at three times the rate of global averages. This increase in temperatures is linked to the collapse of the New England cod population, and new research shows the fate of the Maine lobster is likely similar. A new report from the University of Maine Darling Marine Center and the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences predicts the Maine lobster population will be wiped out by 2100 due to climate change. The study examined how lobster larvae are impacted by rising ocean temperatures and ocean acidification. Although acidification seems to have no significant impact on the larvae, warming temperatures are a different story. Lobsters reared in water that is 3 degrees Celsius warmer than current temperatures in the western Gulf of Maine had bleak survival rates. Read the rest here 11:51
Dungeness crabs – Studies focus on acidic ocean impact
Millions of pounds of Dungeness crab are pulled from Pacific Northwest waters each year in a more than century-old ritual for commercial and recreational fishermen. But as marine waters absorb more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, federal scientists are worried that the ocean’s changing chemistry may threaten the sweet-flavored crustaceans. So scientists with the NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Fisheries Science Center are exposing tiny crab larvae to acidic seawater in laboratory experiments to understand how ocean acidification might affect one of the West Coast’s most lucrative fisheries. Research published this year found that Dungeness crab eggs and larvae collected from Puget Sound and exposed to higher levels of carbon dioxide — which increases ocean acidity — grew more slowly and larvae were more likely to die than those in less corrosive seawater. Read the rest here 14:14
Ocean acidification: yet another wobbly pillar of climate alarmism
Last year, no fewer than 600 academic papers were published on the subject, so it must be serious, right? First referenced in a peer-reviewed study in Nature in 2003, it has since been endorsed by scientists from numerous learned institutions including the Royal Society, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the IPCC. Even the great David Attenborough — presenter of the Great Barrier Reef series — has vouched for its authenticity,,, Howard Browman, a marine scientist for 35 years, has published a review in the ICES Journal of Marine Science of all the papers published on the subject. His verdict could hardly be more damning. Read the article here 09:51
Scientists have routinely exaggerated the “evil twin of climate change” aka ocean acidification
A new paper published in the ICES Journal of Marine Science puts the issue of “ocean acidification” to the test, and finds that there has been significant exaggeration in the issue. The paper is: Applying organized scepticism to ocean acidification research “Ocean acidification” (OA), a change in seawater chemistry driven by increased uptake of atmospheric CO2 by the oceans, has probably been the most-studied single topic in marine science in recent times. The majority of the literature on OA report negative effects of CO2 on organisms and conclude that OA will be detrimental to marine ecosystems. As is true across all of science, studies that report no effect of OA are typically more difficult to publish. Read the rest here 11:12
NOAA issues climate warning for scallops
The NOAA study, formally known as the Northeast Climate Vulnerability Assessment, said Atlantic sea scallops have “limited mobility and high sensitivity to the ocean acidification that will be more pronounced as water temperatures warm.” “The biomass has been increasing over the last 10 years, and there is no sign of it depleting because of the warmer waters,” Richard Canasta said. “They’re talking a few degrees, and that’s not going to make much of a difference in terms of scallop population.” Read the rest here 07:21
NOAA scientists admit in private that they can’t name any place affected by ocean acidification
There’s the truth, then there’s the whole truth. From a climate expert at NOAA, the study of ocean acidification is so young “they don’t have any data sets that show a direct effect of OA on population health” and they can’t name any place in the world that is definitely affected by it. at Junkscience.com FOIA’d emails among NOAA scientists discussing a NY times op-ed draft. The editor was serving up an apocalypse: Our Deadened, Carbon-Soaked Seas by Richard W. Spinrad and Ian Boyd, …and he wanted all the dirt: Can the authors give us more specific, descriptive images about how acidification has already affected the oceans? Read the post here 12:57
Natural Resources Defense Council and the Ocean Conservancy – Ocean acidification poses threat to lobsters
The Nature Climate Change study, which was led by researchers at the environmental groups the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Ocean Conservancy, set out to go beyond global models by identifying local risk factors. “They weren’t previously factored into the conversation,” Lisa Suatoni, senior scientist at the NRDC and a co-author of the report, said. “There are a lot more places at risk than conventional wisdom tells us.” Those places include New England and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the Pacific Northwest, where the effects of acidification have already caused serious problems. Read the article here 08:01
Exclusive: Ocean acidification not a current problem, top NOAA scientist insists in FOIA-ed e-mails
JunkScience.com got NOAA scientist e-mails via FOIA? Why can’t Congress? Last October, the New York Times published this dire op-ed on ocean acidification, supposedly authored by NOAA chief Richard Spinrad and his UK counterpart Ian Boyd. First, the op-ed was actually written by NOAA staff Madelyn Applebaum, not Spinrad or Boyd. The purpose was to tout NOAA not inform the public about ocean acidification. Read this brilliant FOIA expose here 18:59
Increase in acidity may not be harmful to coral reefs after all
A combined team of researchers affiliated with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences has found, via a five year study, that increased ocean acidification may not pose the threat to coral reefs that scientists have thought. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team describes their study and why they now believe that an increase in green house gas emissions many not have the devastating impact on coral reefs that most in the field have assumed would occur. Read the rest here 17:41
Are climate scientists doom-mongering? Bulk of research on impacts of ocean acidification is FLAWED, new study finds
For years scientists have warned that the oceans are becoming more acidic – and this spells disaster for marine life.But a review of the bulk of laboratory studies into the phenomenon have been flawed and unreliable, experts say.The research is the latest study to highlight difficulties with doom-mongering scientific predictions. The latest review of 465 scientific studies into the effects of ocean acidification on sea life said only 27 used an ‘appropriate experimental design’. And 278 studies were ‘clearly inappropriate’, which means a huge amount of research is not fit for purpose. Read the rest here Read Crucial ocean-acidification models come up short @ Nature 16:59
Atlantic Herring Larvae Appear to Tolerate Increases of Ocean Acidification
It is speculated, in the words of Maneja et al. (2015) that “ocean acidification might increase mortality in marine fish larvae through, for example, effects on their behavior that make them more susceptible to predation, reduce their food intake, or alter their orientation towards nursery grounds.” And, therefore, they decided to explore this possibility in larvae of Atlantic herring, which they say is “an important commercial fish species in the North Atlantic.” And what did they thereby learn? Read the rest here 10:57
Ocean Acidification: Natural Cycles and Ubiquitous Uncertainties
From the article: Nonetheless in a study sponsored by NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program Bednarsek 2014 argued those examples of shell dissolution were caused by anthropogenic carbon writing, “We estimate that the incidence of severe pteropod shell dissolution owing to anthropogenic OA has doubled in near shore habitats since pre-industrial conditions across this region and is on track to triple by 2050.” But such “conclusions” are unsupported speculation at best.,, Shame on those NOAA scientists for such biased interpretations. Read the rest here 15:29
Maine to consider $3 million bond, other measures to combat shellfish-threatening ocean acidity
Rep. Mick Devin, D-Newcastle and the most vocal voice in the fight against acidification, said the arithmetic is simple. “Our marine economy is at stake here. The lobster fishery alone is worth $1 billion,” he said during a news conference Thursday. “No one comes to the Maine coast to eat a chicken sandwich. We lose our lobster, we lose our clams? We’ll lose tourism as well.” Read the rest here 19:19 Ocean Acidification articles @WUWT
NOAAgate: how ‘ocean acidification’ could turn out to be the biggest con since Trawlgate!
For years this has been touted by environmentalists as possibly the greatest threat to the planet after “global warming.” According to Jane Lubchenko, the (former) head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), it is “climate change’s equally evil twin” because of the disastrous consequences it may have for everything from the navigational systems of spawning salmon to the health of coral reefs. Ocean acidification is said to be caused when excess atmospheric carbon dioxide is absorbed by the sea, reducing its pH levels to make it more acidic. Read the rest here 08:02
Carbon Experts at GAO: Feds should do more to stop ocean acidification
GAO said ocean acidification is worsening because the ocean absorbs about 30 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, making the water more acidic. It can hurt commercial fishing, tourism and other parts of the economy. The Center for Biological Diversity said the findings were troubling. Of course they do! Its gonna be a big money maker! Read more here 15:37
Ocean Acidification Is an Imminent Threat for Alaska Fishing Communities
Keeping Alaska’s fisheries wild and sustainable is going to be a serious challenge in the years ahead as our oceans become more acidic, and that in turn, is going put many Alaskans’ subsistence way of life at risk, says a new report. Minor says the problem is “still far enough over the horizon” that local fishermen haven’t seen any impacts on the fishing grounds, but adds, “those of us who are paying attention are worried.” Read more here 16:45
A Climate of Change video series: Ocean Acidification in Alaska
In the second chapter of our series of videos on the effects of climate change on fisheries, Island Institute media specialist Scott Sell explores the effects of ocean acidification on the shellfish industry in Alaska — and what that might mean for Maine: Watch, and Read more here 17:19
Now We’re Talkin’! – Assessing the potential of calcium-based artificial ocean alkalinization to mitigate rising atmospheric CO2 and ocean acidification
Enhancement of ocean alkalinity using Calcium-compounds, e.g. lime has been proposed to mitigate further increase of atmospheric CO2 and ocean acidification due to anthropogenic CO2 emissions. [email protected] 10:13
Cantwell questions NOAA nominee about ocean acidification
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell on Thursday sought a commitment from the Obama administration’s nominee to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that she would make ocean acidification a significant priority. But the exchange briefly turned, albeit obliquely, to an issue at the heart of the debate about the U.S. response to ocean acidification: funding. more@seattletimes 08:53
sonofabi,,,a Monterey Bay Aquarium article that never mention’s over fishing! Monterey Bay affected by climate change – State study points to fish declines, ocean acidification
From rising sea levels and ocean acidity to declining populations of chinook salmon and sea lion pups, global warming is here, it said in a 258-page report, “Indicators of Climate Change in California.” more@montereyherald
