Five Dolphins Stranded

Posted on | June 2, 2009 | Comments Off

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service responded last week with members of the Marine Mammal Stranding Network to a report of five northern right whale dolphins stranded on Santa Rosa Island, approximately 35 miles southwest of Santa Barbara, Calif.

With aerial assistance from NOAA’s Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, four of the five animals were found, all deceased, and recovered for analysis. The response team consisted of personnel from NOAA’s Southwest Regional Office in Long Beach, Calif., the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, the National Park Service and Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute.

The Marine Mammal Center’s Director of Veterinary Science, Dr. Frances Gulland, will lead the team in conducting necropsies on three of the animals at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. The cause of death will likely not be available for several months.

Northern right whale dolphins are approximately six to ten feet in length and weigh up to 250 pounds. They typically travel in herds of 100 to 200 and can swim in bursts of speed up to 22 miles per hour. They exist throughout the North Pacific Ocean and are believed to number about 68,000.

The Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program is a national volunteer network of marine mammal professionals authorized by NOAA under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to respond, investigate, monitor and study marine mammal strandings.

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.

Tidal Energy Funding Cut

Posted on | May 31, 2009 | Comments Off

Washington, DC — The Obama administration has proposed cutting the budget for one of the most promising energy technologies — tidal energy. At a time when earth-friendly energy sources, such as solar, wind and geothermal are getting increased funding, the President plans to cut research for tidal energy.

About Tidal Energy
Ocean Tidal Power

Some of the oldest ocean energy technologies use tidal power. All coastal areas consistently experience two high and two low tides over a period of slightly greater than 24 hours. For those tidal differences to be harnessed into electricity, the difference between high and low tides must be at least five meters, or more than 16 feet. There are only about 40 sites on the Earth with tidal ranges of this magnitude.

Currently, there are no tidal power plants in the United States. However, conditions are good for tidal power generation in both the Pacific Northwest and the Atlantic Northeast regions of the country.
Technologies

Tidal power technologies include the following:

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Barrage or dam

A barrage or dam is typically used to convert tidal energy into electricity by forcing the water through turbines, activating a generator. Gates and turbines are installed along the dam. When the tides produce an adequate difference in the level of the water on opposite sides of the dam, the gates are opened. The water then flows through the turbines. The turbines turn an electric generator to produce electricity.
*
Tidal fence

Tidal fences look like giant turnstiles. They can reach across channels between small islands or across straits between the mainland and an island. The turnstiles spin via tidal currents typical of coastal waters. Some of these currents run at 5–8 knots (5.6–9 miles per hour) and generate as much energy as winds of much higher velocity. Because seawater has a much higher density than air, ocean currents carry significantly more energy than air currents (wind).
*
Tidal turbine

Tidal turbines look like wind turbines. They are arrayed underwater in rows, as in some wind farms. The turbines function best where coastal currents run at between 3.6 and 4.9 knots (4 and 5.5 mph). In currents of that speed, a 15-meter (49.2-feet) diameter tidal turbine can generate as much energy as a 60-meter (197-feet) diameter wind turbine. Ideal locations for tidal turbine farms are close to shore in water depths of 20–30 meters (65.5–98.5 feet).

Environmental and Economic Challenges

Tidal power plants that dam estuaries can impede sea life migration, and silt build-ups behind such facilities can impact local ecosystems. Tidal fences may also disturb sea life migration. Newly developed tidal turbines may prove ultimately to be the least environmentally damaging of the tidal power technologies because they don’t block migratory paths.

It doesn’t cost much to operate tidal power plants, but their construction costs are high and lengthen payback periods. As a result, the cost per kilowatt-hour of tidal power is not competitive with conventional fossil fuel power.

55 Beached Whales

Posted on | May 31, 2009 | Comments Off

Cape Town, South Africa — Hundreds of people tried to save a herd of beached whales. It is not known why fifty-five whales beached themselves. Rescuers managed to save about twenty. The rest were shot in what authorities believed to be the most human method of euthanasia. Many of the volunteers became distraught as the sounds of gunshots could be heard across the beach.

Climate Change Kills 300,000 A Year

Posted on | May 29, 2009 | Comments Off

Report From the Global Humanitarian Forum in Geneva:

* First ever report exclusively focused on the global human impact of climate change calculates more than 300 million people are seriously affected by climate change at a total economic cost of $125 billion per year

* Report projects that by 2030, worldwide deaths will reach almost 500,000 per year; people affected by climate change annually expected to rise to over 600 million and the total annual economic cost increase to around $300 billion
* To avert worst possible outcomes, climate change adaptation efforts need to be scaled up by a factor of 100 in developing countries, which account for 99% of casualties due to climate change

London 29 May – Kofi A. Annan, President of the Global Humanitarian Forum, today
introduced a major new report into the human impact of climate change. The ‘Human
Impact Report: Climate Change – The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis’ is the first ever
comprehensive report looking at the human impact of climate change.

The report was issued immediately prior to official preparatory talks in Bonn for a new UN
international climate agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. These talks
will culminate at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December
2009. The report was reviewed by leading international experts, including Rajendra Pachauri of the
IPCC, Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University, and Barbara Stocking of Oxfam.

The report estimates that climate change today accounts for over 300,000 deaths throughout the
world each year, the equivalent of an Indian Ocean Tsunami every single year. By 2030, the annual
death toll from climate change will reach half a million people a year.

It also indicates that climate change today seriously impacts on the lives of 325 million people. In
twenty years time that number will more than double to an estimated 660 million, making it the
biggest emerging humanitarian challenge in the world, impacting on the lives of 10% of the world’s
population.

Economic losses due to climate change already today amount to over $125 billion per year. This is
more than the individual GDP of 73% of the world’s countries, and is greater than the total amount
of aid that currently flows from industrialised countries to developing nations each year. By 2030,
the economic losses due to climate change will have almost trebled to $340 billion annually.

The Global Humanitarian Forum commissioned Dalberg Global Development Advisers to develop
the report in December 2008 by collating all relevant information and current statistics relating to
the human impact of climate change. Within the limitations of existing research, the report presents
the most plausible estimate of the impact of climate change on human society today.

Mr Annan said:

“Climate change is a silent human crisis. Yet it is the greatest emerging humanitarian
challenge of our time. Already today, it causes suffering to hundreds of millions of people
most of whom are not even aware that they are victims of climate change. We need an
international agreement to contain climate change and reduce its widespread suffering.

“Despite its dangerous impact, climate change is a neglected area of research since much
of the debate has focused on the long term physical effects. The point of this report is to
focus on today and on the human face climate change.

“Just six months before the Copenhagen summit, the world finds itself at a crossroads. We
can no longer afford to ignore the human impact of climate change. Put simply, the report is
a clarion call for negotiators at Copenhagen to come to the most ambitious international
agreement ever negotiated, or continue to accept mass starvation, mass sickness and mass
migration on an ever growing scale.”

According to the report, a majority of the world’s population does not have the capacity to cope
with the impact of climate change without suffering a potentially irreversible loss of wellbeing and
risk of loss of life. The populations most gravely at risk are over half a billion people in some of the
poorest areas that are also highly prone to climate change – in particular, the semi-arid dry land
belt countries from the Sahara to the Middle East and Central Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, South and
South East Asia, and small island developing states.

Mr Annan was joined at the launch by report review panellist Barbara Stocking, chief executive of
Oxfam GB and Global Humanitarian Forum Board Member. She said [TBC]:

“Climate change is a human crisis which threatens to overwhelm the humanitarian system
and turn back the clock on development. It is also a gross injustice – poor people in
developing countries bear over 90% of the burden – through death, disease, destitution and
financial loss – yet are least responsible for creating the problem. Despite this, funding from
rich countries to help the poor and vulnerable adapt to climate change is not even 1 percent
of what is needed. This glaring injustice must be addressed at Copenhagen in December”