Green Gala 2009
Click here to view photos from the event.
Check out this Cool Cleveland interview by Thomas Mulready with Stefanie Spear at
http://www.coolcleveland.com/index.php?n=Main.Greengala040309
Check out this Cool Cleveland interview by Thomas Mulready with Ed Begley, Jr . at
http://www.coolcleveland.com/index.php?n=Main.Edbegley
Green Gala 2010
Robert Kennedy, Jr., son of Senator Robert Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, is a staunch defender of the environment and has been named one of TIME magazine’s “Heroes for the Planet.”
He is senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, chief prosecuting attorney for Riverkeeper, president of Waterkeeper Alliance and co-host of Air America Radio’s Ring of Fire.
Kennedy’s message addressed the issues of sustainability, global warming and other threats to our planet. As Kennedy says, the environment is not a Republican or Democratic issue; it’s a human issue that impacts everyone. Kennedy inspires audiences to find that common ground. He has a never-ending commitment to protecting the environment that envelops every facet of his life.
Click here to view photos from the event.
Click here to Watch EcoWatch’s executive director Stefanie Spear and Green Gala’s speaker Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on NEOtropolis.
Green Gala 2011
Click here to view photos from the event.
Cousteau is the chief ocean correspondent for Animal Planet and Planet Green channels, where he works on various ocean and water-focused documentary programs. He is the chief spokesperson for Environmental Education for Discovery Education – the number one provider of K-12 broadband-delivered educational content to U.S. schools. Cousteau serves on the board of directors of The Ocean Conservancy, Marine Conservation Biology Institute and National Environmental Education Foundation, as well as the advisory board of Discovery Communications Inc.’s Planet Green.
Cousteau’s presentation, Continuing a Legacy: Building a Sustainable World in the 21st Century, began with an exploration of the legacy of his family and what contributions to global exploration and conservation they have made and how that experience inspired Cousteau growing up. Stories about the early days of exploration and how far we have come in the last 60 years led to an understanding of not only the discoveries but also the challenges that face us in a rapidly changing world and why oceans and water are the most important systems on the planet. Edited video clips from his father’s films and some of his more recent TV work was shown to add texture and context to the talk. These led into stories about his experiences and the challenges we face going forward and explore ways that all of us can share in the adventure of building a sustainable future.
EcoWatch included more than 150 Northeast Ohio students at this year’s Green Gala. EcoWatch partnered with companies to give students the opportunity to meet Cousteau at a pre-event and then attend the Gala. Each student received a copy of Cousteau’s Going Blue handbook that informs youths about the issues surrounding our waters and provide the strategies and examples they need to see themselves as change agents.
A surgical mask floats in the ocean. Eloi_Omella / Getty Images
By David Shiffman
As we enter what's hopefully the home stretch of the COVID-19 pandemic, it's time to take stock of how it affected every aspect of our world, to consider what happened, what could be done different to avoid those problems in the future, and what's next.
<p>That might mean confronting some of our earlier conclusions. For example, at the start of the pandemic we were bombarded with <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/why-do-people-want-so-badly-to-believe-this-fake-story-is-true" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">often false</a> stories about suddenly quiet cities and waterways experiencing animals reclaiming what was once their habitat. "Nature is healing" stories like this seem to have created an overly rosy picture of the pandemic's impact on the natural world.</p><p>The reality is much more complicated, and I'm not just talking about things like the well-publicized millions of inappropriately discarded plastic bags and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/08/more-masks-than-jellyfish-coronavirus-waste-ends-up-in-ocean" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">protective masks ending up in the ocean</a>. Many other changes to the world's waters, including some potentially harmful ones, are taking place beneath the surface.</p><p>"Protected and conserved areas and the people who depend on them are facing mounting challenges due to the pandemic," says Rachel Golden Kroner, an environmental governance fellow at Conservation International. Indeed, for the past two decades a sizable chunk of global biodiversity conservation has been funded by ecotourism, a funding source that dries up when international travel slows down, as it did this past year.</p><p>While any global complex event has many impacts including some that we almost certainly can't predict at this point, many of the medium and long-term effects are likely to be bad.</p>
<h1>And You Thought <em>Your</em> Virtual Meetings Were Bad</h1><p>It's not just your workplace that's been meeting online this past year. It's every meeting, including international wildlife conservation and management meetings.</p><p>Some of these important events have been postponed, stalling critical political momentum that scientists and activists have been building for years. Others have met virtually, with notably less effectiveness.</p><p>The highest profile example of this was the December 2020 failure of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission. The IATTC is an international gathering that governs a multi-billion-dollar series of global tuna fisheries, and meetings include representatives from all over the world who hammer out fishing quotas and other rules. The 2020 meeting closed <a href="https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/iattc-leaves-tropical-tuna-unmanaged-as-meeting-fails-to-reach-consensus-by-one-vote#:~:text=The%20Inter%2DAmerican%20Tropical%20Tuna,rules%20starting%20on%201%20January" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">without reaching an agreement on 2021 quotas</a>. If allowed to stand, this would have meant that starting on January 1 of this year, a multi-billion-dollar global industry would have had absolutely no rules governing it. Imagine if your city council failed to agree on a policing budget, and this meant that "The Purge" was suddenly real — that's what nearly happened in the world of tuna management this past winter.</p>
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NOAA
<p>The pandemic didn't create the problem of tuna management politics, but experts believe that the virtual meeting, which precluded "schmoozing" in the hallway during coffee breaks and added an element of multiple time zone chaos, contributed to this year's unprecedented breakdown in negotiations.</p><p>"These meetings are often difficult to get through, but usually they keep working until they get it done, until there's at least a decent solution," says Grantly Galland, a global tuna conservation expert with Pew Environment. That's hard enough in person, but this year "the meeting started at 6 p.m. for me in D.C., which was midnight in Europe, and early morning in Japan. People were often frustrated. As discussions dragged into the night the incentive to keep going disappeared, and the meeting ended without rules."</p><p>Fortunately, after receiving intense pushback from environmental groups and the concerned public, the commission met for an emergency meeting a few weeks later and fixed this problem by just <a href="https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/iattc-agrees-to-rollover-tropical-tuna-quotas-to-2021" target="_blank">carrying over the 2020 rules to 2021</a> — hardly an ideal solution given <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/fact-sheets/2019/06/a-checklist-to-ensure-healthy-fisheries-in-the-eastern-pacific" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">existing problems</a> with the 2020 rules, but a lot better than open ocean anarchy.</p><p>Still, this near-disaster shows how dependent our system of environmental management is on face-to-face meetings.</p><h1>Industry Relief</h1><p>Whenever there's any economic crisis, industry will <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5962282" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ask for a temporary (or even permanent) rollback</a> of environmental protection regulations that they find economically burdensome. Marine and coastal protected areas, long a priority for science-based conservation and long opposed by elements of the fishing industry, have been no exception.</p><p>For example, a fisheries management council asked then-President Trump to <a href="https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/western-pacific-council-calls-on-trump-to-ease-fishing-restrictions-in-the-pacific-marine-monuments" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">allow fishing in currently protected areas</a>, and the Trump administration did <a href="https://therevelator.org/northeast-canyons-monument/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">roll back fishing protections in the Atlantic</a> around that time.</p>
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NOAA OKEANOS Explorer Program, 2013 Northeast U.S. Canyons Expedition
<p>Marine protected areas also face other threats stemming from the pandemic. Rachel Golden Kroner, who also authored a <a href="https://parksjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Phua_et_al10.2305-IUCN.CH_.2021.PARKS-27-SICP.en_.pdf" target="_blank">recent paper</a> on the impacts of the pandemic on protected areas, says: "Key challenges for marine protected areas include budget cuts, declines in tourism revenue, disruption of seafood supply chains and challenges in implementing management activities."</p><p>Golden Kroner shared examples of the near-collapse of the tourism-associated hospitality industry in Kenya, the Galapagos, Indonesia and Australia, noting that some of these industries employed former members of the fishing industry who had been persuaded to work in tourism instead.</p><p>While some coastal communities and protected areas face these <a href="https://parksjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Walters_et_al_10.2305-IUCN.CH_.2021.PARKS-27-SIGW.en_.pdf" target="_blank">serious issues</a>, the good news is that this problem is far from universal.</p><p>"While the shutdowns, restrictions, and closures of coastal areas disrupted access and temporarily interrupted stewardship and harvest activities across Hawai'i, the connections between humans and nature forged over generations ensured that marine management actions never lost momentum," says Ulu Ching, the program manager for community-based conservation for Conservation International's Hawaii office. "Well-established community networks in collaboration with government resource management agencies continued to advance the work of <em>mālama i ke kai</em> (caring for the ocean) through the development and establishment of community-driven marine managed areas across the islands during the pandemic."</p>
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A young monk seal underwater in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. NOAA/PIFSC/HMSRP
<p>Additionally, Golden Kroner points out that while some momentum for creating protected areas has stalled and some industry groups have called for rollbacks, there is good news in the form of expanded protected areas in a handful of places around the world. But it's clear that despite some positive signs, momentum in creating new marine protected areas has stalled in many places, tourism that funded their operations has slowed to a crawl, and some industries have been successful in rolling back protections.</p><h1>Threats Continue, But Monitoring Has Stalled</h1><p>One of the primary tools in the conservationist's toolbox for making sure that the commercial fishing industry follows the rules is observer coverage: independent people on board fishing vessels who monitor and record the catch. Due to COVID-19 safety regulations, observer coverage in much of the world has been reduced or eliminated — but fishing continues.</p><p>"For countries with fewer management resources, I can imagine that less observer coverage could lead to more rules being bent," says Simon Gulak, a fisheries consultant with Sea Leucas LLC who used to coordinate fisheries observers for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.</p><p>"Fisheries observers provide fisheries management with accurate information on all discards/bycatch at sea, not just the cuddly protected species," he says. "They're a bit like a fisher's auditor and are liked about as much."</p><p>The problem with a lack of observers means that we generally have no way of knowing if bad things are happening on the water, but there are certainly cases of fishing vessels who only follow the rules because they'll get fined if they don't.</p><p>Gulak notes that in fisheries subject to <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/fact-sheets/2021/02/electronic-monitoring-benefits-every-link-in-seafood-supply-chain?amp=1" target="_blank">electronic monitoring</a> — including GPS trackers and cameras that document all catch and bycatch — observers may be less important because all relevant data is recorded automatically and it's harder to get away with breaking the rules.</p><p>Galland, the tuna conservation expert, also stressed the importance of ramping up electronic fisheries monitoring efforts. If the pandemic leads to an increase in e-monitoring, that may be a long-term good. In the meantime, we just don't know what's going on in many fisheries that were previously monitored by human observers.</p><p>It's not just fisheries observing that's stalled due to workplace safety concerns, but also <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/trend/archive/winter-2021/how-has-the-pandemic-changed-science?utm_campaign=conservation_pmf_oceans__covid_____&utm_source=twitter_environment&utm_medium=social&utm_content=article_supportresearchers____linkcard_&utm_term=___quote" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fish market surveys</a>, an important scientific tool for monitoring catch from boats too numerous and small to have observers or electronic monitoring equipment. In large parts of the world, fish market surveys are the only data we have on local catch composition. Without them, we <a href="https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/scientific-research-in-the-fish-market/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wouldn't know</a> how many endangered species are caught, or if formerly common species started to disappear.</p><p>Monitoring of things like sea turtle nests has similarly <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320721000331?dgcid=rss_sd_all" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">slowed down</a>. These <a href="http://nsbturtles.org/our-sea-turtles/survey/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nest surveys</a> are a critical way for scientists and managers to keep track of population trends of iconic endangered species, and to protect the nests themselves by marking them so beach drivers of off-road vehicles know to not crush the hidden nests.</p>
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<p><a href="https://therevelator.org/author/davidshiffman/" target="_blank"><em style="">David Shiffman </em></a><em>is a marine biologist specializing in the ecology and conservation of sharks. He received his Ph.D. in environmental science and policy from the University of Miami. Follow him on Twitter, where he's always happy to answer any questions anyone has about sharks.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from The Revelator.</em></p>A recently emerged sea turtle hatchling. Becky Skiba/USFWS
<p>So what does the pandemic mean for ocean conservation? Experts caution that it's probably too early to tell. However, it's not all stories of dolphins frolicking in suddenly quiet rivers. Environmental planning meetings, funding schemes for protected areas, and monitoring of fisheries and endangered species populations were all disrupted, giving us good reasons to fear that the story is far more complicated, and far less happy, than many of us have been led to believe.</p>
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Scientists Warn 4°C World Would Unleash 'Unimaginable Amounts of Water' as Ice Shelves Collapse
19h
Climate
Pexels
By Jessica Corbett
A new study is shedding light on just how much ice could be lost around Antarctica if the international community fails to urgently rein in planet-heating emissions, bolstering arguments for bolder climate policies.
The study, published Thursday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, found that over a third of the area of all Antarctic ice shelves — including 67% of area on the Antarctic Peninsula — could be at risk of collapsing if global temperatures soar to 4°C above pre-industrial levels.
<p>An <a href="https://earth.gsfc.nasa.gov/cryo/research/ice-basics" target="_blank">ice shelf</a>, as NASA <a href="http://ete.cet.edu/gcc/?/icecaps_icesheets" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">explains</a>, "is a thick, floating slab of ice that forms where a glacier or ice flows down a coastline." They are <a href="https://theconversation.com/antarcticas-ice-shelves-are-trembling-as-global-temperatures-rise-what-happens-next-is-up-to-us-158540?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=bylinetwitterbut" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">found</a> only in Antarctica, Greenland, Canada, and the Russian Arctic—and play a key role in limiting sea level rise.</p><p>"Ice shelves are important buffers preventing glaciers on land from flowing freely into the ocean and contributing to sea level rise," <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/04/210408112315.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">explained</a> Ella Gilbert, the study's lead author, in a statement. "When they collapse, it's like a giant cork being removed from a bottle, allowing unimaginable amounts of water from glaciers to pour into the sea."</p><p>"We know that when melted ice accumulates on the surface of ice shelves, it can make them fracture and collapse spectacularly," added Gilbert, a research scientist at the University of Reading. "Previous research has given us the bigger picture in terms of predicting Antarctic ice shelf decline, but our new study uses the latest modelling techniques to fill in the finer detail and provide more precise projections."</p>
<div id="8c498" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9523ba42d9cc5042aa2de9972439af2f"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1380513532932976649" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Check out my piece for @ConversationUK on how & why #Antarctica's #IceShelves are at risk as global #temperatures r… https://t.co/YCMzgfliiR</div> — Dr Ella Gilbert (@Dr Ella Gilbert)<a href="https://twitter.com/Dr_Gilbz/statuses/1380513532932976649">1617975049.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Gilbert and co-author Christoph Kittel of Belgium's University of Liège conclude that limiting global temperature rise to 2°C rather than 4°C would cut the area at risk in half.</p><p>"At 1.5°C, just 14% of Antarctica's ice shelf area would be at risk," Gilbert <a href="https://theconversation.com/antarcticas-ice-shelves-are-trembling-as-global-temperatures-rise-what-happens-next-is-up-to-us-158540?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=bylinetwitterbut" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">noted</a> in <em>The Conversation</em>.</p><p>While the 2015 Paris climate agreement aims to keep temperature rise "well below" 2°C, with a more ambitious 1.5°C target, current emissions reduction plans are dramatically out of line with both goals, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/26/red-alert-our-planet-new-un-report-shows-radically-bolder-action-needed-hit-15degc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according to</a> a United Nations analysis.</p><p>Gilbert said Thursday that the findings of their new study "highlight the importance of limiting global temperature increases as set out in the Paris agreement if we are to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, including sea level rise."</p><p>"If temperatures continue to rise at current rates," she said, "we may lose more Antarctic ice shelves in the coming decades."</p><p>The researchers warn that Larsen C—the largest remaining ice shelf on the Antarctic peninsula—as well as the Shackleton, Pine Island, and Wilkins ice shelves are most at risk under 4°C of warming because of their geography and runoff predictions.</p><p>"Limiting warming will not just be good for Antarctica—preserving ice shelves means less global sea level rise, and that's good for us all," Gilbert added.</p>
<div id="02892" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="368a3940a0b06e1b8af2afd113b69861"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1380264360988307468" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">All the more reason we need to push our leaders towards a quick end to the use of all fossil fuels! https://t.co/yrNUgjbkYG</div> — Food & Water Watch (@Food & Water Watch)<a href="https://twitter.com/foodandwater/statuses/1380264360988307468">1617915642.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Low-lying coastal areas such as small island nations of Vanuatu and Tuvalu in the South Pacific Ocean face the greatest risk from sea level rise, Gilbert <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/08/world/ice-melt-antarctic-intl-scli-scn-climate/index.html" target="_blank">told</a> <em>CNN</em>.</p><p>"However, coastal areas all over the world would be vulnerable," she warned, "and countries with fewer resources available to mitigate and adapt to sea level rise will see worse consequences."</p><p>Research <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/16/bolstering-alarm-over-scientists-warnings-new-study-finds-sea-level-rise-projections" target="_blank">published</a> in February examining projections from the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/11/02/time-act-now-ipcc-issues-final-word-climate-change" target="_blank"><em>Fifth Assessment Report</em></a> of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as well as the body's <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/09/25/un-climate-report-oceans-frozen-regions-warns-unprecedented-transitions-all-aspects" target="_blank"><em>Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate</em></a> found that sea level rise forecasts for this century "are on the money when tested against satellite and tide-gauge observations."</p><p><span></span>A co-author of that study, John Church of the Climate Change Research Center at the University of New South Wales, said at the time that "if we continue with large ongoing emissions as we are at present, we will commit the world to meters of sea level rise over coming centuries."</p><p><span></span>Parties to the Paris agreement are in the process of updating their emissions reduction commitments—called nationally determined contributions—ahead of November's United Nations climate summit, known as COP26.</p><p><span></span><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/04/09/scientists-warn-4degc-world-would-unleash-unimaginable-amounts-water-ice-shelves" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>. </em></p>
From Your Site Articles
- Antarctica's 'Doomsday Glacier' Is Starting to Crack - EcoWatch ›
- Scientists Make Unexpected Find Beneath Antarctic Ice - EcoWatch ›
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Valley of the Gods in the heart of Bears Ears National Monument. Mint Images / Getty Images
By Sharon Buccino
This week, Secretary Haaland chose a visit to Bears Ears National Monument as her first trip as Interior Secretary. She is spending three days in Bluff, Utah, a small town just outside the monument, listening to representatives of the five tribes who first proposed its designation to President Obama in 2015. This is the same town where former Secretary Sally Jewell spent several hours at a public hearing in July 2016 before recommending the monument's designation to President Obama.
<p>For the first time, a Native American is in charge of shaping federal policy on public lands and waters. Secretary Haaland knows with every fiber of her body the value of the 1.35 million acres of lands originally designated as Bears Ears National Monument—not simply for their beauty and tranquility, but for their cultural significance and sacred power.</p><p>Haaland felt the pain of President Trump's destruction of the monument that Obama had created—the 85 percent loss of lands previously protected and the dismissal of the inter-tribal Bears Ears Commission created to help manage the monument. Alongside the Navajo Nation and other tribes, NRDC and other environmental groups challenged Trump's revocation in court. The cases are now on hold pending the Biden administration's action.</p><p>In Trump's repeated attacks on our monuments, he also illegally rolled back protections for the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Marine Monument. The Antiquities Act has preserved some of America's greatest treasures. Pursuant to the Act's authority, President Biden should act now to deliver the protection the three monuments Trump acted to destroy both onshore and off.</p><p>Some Utah politicians are calling for Congressional action on Bears Ears. The problem is that they have been talking about this for years and have done nothing to protect these lands. President Obama only <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/sharon-buccino/protection-wanted-and-bears-ears-monument-delivers" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">acted</a> after Congress failed to. In the meantime, looters, mining companies and fossil fuel promoters are <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/08/bears-ears-haaland/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">taking advantage</a> of the land instead.</p><p>Every day, the land Trump carved out of Bears Ears National Monument is getting used. We need action now to restore what has been lost. Relying on the evidence the tribes presented to Obama, President Biden should issue a proclamation restoring Bears Ears to its former glory. In the meantime, Secretary Haaland should look to the five tribes—<a href="https://bearsearscoalition.org/about-the-coalition/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the Hopi Tribe, the Navajo Nation, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the Pueblo of Zuni, and the Ute Indian Tribe</a>—who originally proposed designation of Bears Ears as a national monument to help manage these lands in a way that honors their sacred power, as well as their cultural and ecological significance.</p><p><em>Sharon Buccino's current work focuses on energy policy and government transparency. She actively litigates in federal court and advocates before federal agencies and Congress. She has worked to implement effective environmental review and public participation for proposed pipelines, as well as oil and gas drilling. She also led NRDC's successful litigation under the Freedom of Information Act to force disclosure of the Cheney Energy Task Force papers. Prior to joining NRDC, Buccino practiced environmental and administrative law with a private firm in Washington, D.C. and worked for the Alaska Supreme Court. She holds a bachelor's degree from Yale University and a JD from Stanford Law School. Originally from central Florida, Buccino has spent over 25 years in NRDC's Washington, D.C., office.</em></p>
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Marine Life Is Fleeing the Equator to Cooler Waters – This Could Trigger a Mass Extinction Event
10 April
Oceans
Pexels
By Anthony Richardson, Chhaya Chaudhary, David Schoeman, and Mark John Costello
The tropical water at the equator is renowned for having the richest diversity of marine life on Earth, with vibrant coral reefs and large aggregations of tunas, sea turtles, manta rays and whale sharks. The number of marine species naturally tapers off as you head towards the poles.
<p>
Ecologists have assumed this global pattern has remained stable over recent centuries — until now. <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/118/15/e2015094118" target="_blank">Our recent study</a> found the ocean around the equator has already become too hot for many species to survive, and that global warming is responsible.
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In other words, the global pattern is rapidly changing. And as species flee to cooler water towards the poles, it's likely to have profound implications for marine ecosystems and human livelihoods. When the same thing happened 252 million years ago, 90% of all marine species died.
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The Bell Curve is Warping Dangerously
<img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNjAzODUwNi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3NzE1OTU4N30.qQL3P1IvA7Cwj_UbsrAL6MVZvafXGZc7hlAFieLPvso/img.png?width=980" id="9bbfd" width="1580" height="872" data-rm-shortcode-id="16ca57badee20ad55037706875f813f4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />If you look at each line in this chart, you can see a slight dip in total species richness between 1955 and 1974. This deepens substantially in the following decades. Anthony Richardson, Author provided
<p>This global pattern — where the number of species starts lower at the poles and peaks at the equator — results in a bell-shaped gradient of species richness. We looked at distribution records for nearly 50,000 marine species collected since 1955 and found a growing dip over time in this bell shape.</p><p><span>So, as our oceans warm, species have tracked their preferred temperatures by moving towards the poles. Although the warming at the equator of 0.6℃ over the past 50 years is relatively modest compared with warming at higher latitudes, </span><a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/334/6056/652" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tropical species have to move further</a><span> to remain in their thermal niche compared with species elsewhere.</span></p><p>As ocean warming has accelerated over recent decades due to climate change, the dip around at the equator has deepened.</p><p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate2769" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">We predicted</a> such a change five years ago using a modeling approach, and now we have observational evidence.</p><p><span>For each of the 10 major groups of species we studied (including pelagic fish, reef fish and molluscs) that live in the water or on the seafloor, their richness either plateaued or declined slightly at latitudes with mean annual sea-surface temperatures above 20℃.</span></p><p>Today, species richness is greatest in the northern hemisphere in latitudes around 30°N (off southern China and Mexico) and in the south around 20°S (off northern Australia and southern Brazil).</p>
This Has Happened Before
<p>We shouldn't be surprised global biodiversity has responded so rapidly to global warming. This has happened before, and with dramatic consequences.</p><p><strong>252 million years ago…</strong></p><p>At the end of the Permian geological period about 252 million years ago, global temperatures warmed by 10℃ over 30,000-60,000 years as a result of greenhouse gas emissions from volcano eruptions in Siberia.</p><p><a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/117/30/17578" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">A 2020 study</a> of the fossils from that time shows the pronounced peak in biodiversity at the equator flattened and spread. During this mammoth rearranging of global biodiversity, 90% of all marine species were killed.</p><p><strong>125,000 years ago…</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/109/52/21378" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">A 2012 study showed</a> that more recently, during the rapid warming around 125,000 years ago, there was a similar swift movement of reef corals away from the tropics, as documented in the fossil record. The result was a pattern similar to the one we describe, although there was no associated mass extinction.</p><p>Authors of the study suggested their results might foreshadow the effects of our current global warming, ominously warning there could be mass extinctions in the near future as species move into the subtropics, where they might struggle to compete and adapt.</p><p><strong>Today…</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/117/23/12891" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">During the last ice age</a>, which ended around 15,000 years ago, the richness of forams (a type of hard-shelled, single-celled plankton) peaked at the equator and has been dropping there ever since. This is significant as plankton is a keystone species in the foodweb.</p><p>Our study shows that decline has accelerated in recent decades due to human-driven climate change.</p>The Profound Implications
<p>Losing species in tropical ecosystems means ecological resilience to environmental changes is reduced, potentially compromising ecosystem persistence.</p><p>In subtropical ecosystems, species richness is increasing. This means there'll be species invaders, novel predator-prey interactions, and new competitive relationships. For example, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-13/sydney-growing-own-coral-reef-with-help-from-tropical-fish/11466192" target="_blank">tropical fish</a> moving into Sydney Harbour compete with temperate species for food and habitat.</p><p>This could result in ecosystem collapse — as was seen at the boundary between the Permian and Triassic periods — in which species go extinct and ecosystem services (such as food supplies) are permanently altered.</p><p>The changes we describe will also have profound implications for human livelihoods. For example, many tropical island nations depend on the revenue from tuna fishing fleets through the selling of licenses in their territorial waters. Highly mobile tuna species are likely to move rapidly toward the subtropics, potentially beyond sovereign waters of island nations.</p><p><span></span>Similarly, many reef species important for artisanal fishers — and highly mobile megafauna such as whale sharks, manta rays and sea turtles that support tourism — are also likely to move toward the subtropics.</p><p>The movement of commercial and artisanal fish and marine megafauna could compromise the ability of tropical nations to meet the <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals" target="_blank">Sustainable Development Goals</a> concerning zero hunger and marine life.</p>Is There Anything We Can Do?
<p>One pathway is laid out in the Paris Climate Accords and involves aggressively reducing our emissions. Other opportunities are also emerging that could help safeguard biodiversity and hopefully minimise the worst impacts of it shifting away from the equator.</p><p>Currently 2.7% of the ocean is conserved in <a href="https://mpatlas.org/" target="_blank">fully or highly protected reserves</a>. This is well short of the 10% target by 2020 under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.</p><p>But <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/global-ocean-alliance-30by30-initiative/about#global-ocean-alliance-members" target="_blank">a group of 41 nations</a> is pushing to set a new target of protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030.</p><p>This "30 by 30" target could ban seafloor mining and remove fishing in reserves that can destroy habitats and release as much carbon dioxide as <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03371-z" target="_blank">global aviation</a>. These measures would remove pressures on biodiversity and promote ecological resilience.</p><p>Designing climate-smart reserves could further protect biodiversity from future changes. For example, reserves for marine life could be placed in refugia where the climate will be stable over the foreseeable future.</p><p>We now have evidence that climate change is impacting the best-known and strongest global pattern in ecology. We should not delay actions to try to mitigate this.</p><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/anthony-richardson-100303" target="_blank">Anthony Richardson</a>: Professor, The University of Queensland. <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/chhaya-chaudhary-1223419" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chhaya Chaudhary</a>: University of Auckland, <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-schoeman-111544" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">David Schoeman</a>: Professor of Global-Change Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast, <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mark-john-costello-1223418" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mark John Costello</a>: Professor, University of Auckland</em></p><p><em>Disclosure statement: Anthony Richardson receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</em></p><p><em>Chhaya Chaudhary works for Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. During her PhD studies (2014- 2019), she received part- funding from the European Marine Observation Data Network (EMODnet) Biology project funded by the European Commission's Directorate—General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE), and received U21 Doctoral Mobility Scholarship from the University of Auckland in 2016.</em></p><p><em>David Schoeman receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</em></p><p><em>Mark John Costello does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/marine-life-is-fleeing-the-equator-to-cooler-waters-history-tells-us-this-could-trigger-a-mass-extinction-event-158424" target="_blank" style="">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>From Your Site Articles
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"Secrets of the Whales" is a new series that will start streaming on Disney+ on Earth Day. Disney+
In celebration of Earth Day, a star-studded cast is giving fans a rare glimpse into the secret lives of some of the planet's most majestic animals: whales. In "Secrets of the Whales," a four-part documentary series by renowned National Geographic Photographer and Explorer Brian Skerry and Executive Producer James Cameron, viewers plunge deep into the lives and worlds of five different whale species.
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<p>"The title refers to the latest and greatest science, which reveals that whales are a lot more like us than we first thought," Skerry told EcoWatch. "Science is clinical and studied. Traditionally, [we were] afraid to anthropomorphize whales. But now, science shows us they're very complex — with societies, families, emotions and cultures."</p><p>Following <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/orcas" target="_self">orcas</a>, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/humpback-whales" target="_self">humpbacks</a>, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/beluga" target="_self">belugas</a>, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/narwhals" target="_self">narwhals</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sperm-whales" target="_self">sperm whales</a>, Skerry takes viewers on a journey into the underwater world to experience whales like never before — watching them make lifelong friendships, teach their young specific traditions and grieve the loss of family. This is whale culture, Skerry explained, and these social bonds are the secret to their success.</p><p>Skerry explained how Shane Gero, his friend and sperm whale researcher, helped him frame whale culture in human terms. "There's a difference between behavior and culture," Skerry quoted Gero. "Behavior is what we do; culture is how we do it. For example, we eat food. That is behavior. But whether we eat it with a fork or chopsticks, that is culture."</p><p>Using this lens, Skerry shows how orcas around the world have developed distinct cultures around food. While New Zealand's orcas hunt hidden stingrays in the shallows, Patagonia's whales catch sea lions off the beach, and Norway's whales slap herring schools with their tails to stun them. These unique customs are also passed down to each generation. In the first episode, viewers follow five orca matriarchs as they teach their young the family's unique hunting legacy. The skills are not innate traits, but learned techniques adapted for survival in the local environment. Skerry explained how, without this ancient passage of knowledge, specific ways of life would die out.</p>
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Herring are a primary food source for Norway's orcas. Luis Lamar / National Geographic for Disney+
<p>"This is the whales teaching their young," Skerry said. "This is generational, teaching the young how to survive, but also cultural — teaching them what matters to their family."</p><p>The episode also shows how <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/navy-training--southern-resident-killer-whales-2648892867.html" target="_self">external forces</a>, such as humans fishing for herring in Norway, have changed whale culture in the area. When Skerry first visited the Arctic years ago, local orcas would corral fish to hunt. Now, with the advent of commercial fishing boats, they've learned to approach the ships and eat the fish that escape.</p><p>"I think of this as takeout," Skerry joked to EcoWatch. "If this behavior lasts a long time, maybe it will become culture. Maybe it already is."</p><p>For many, the series may be the first time seeing how different populations of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/endangered-blue-whale-discovered-2649726863.html" target="_self">whales have developed different customs based on where they are from</a>, just like humans. Skerry explained, "Whales have dialects and they isolate. Sperm whales won't intermix with genetically identical animals that don't speak the same dialect. I think of this like the neighborhoods of New York, separated in enclaves by language. That's what the whales are doing."</p>
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Belugas are extremely social creatures with a varied vocal range. Peter Kragh / National Geographic for Disney+
<p><br>Filmed during three years in 24 locations and narrated by Conservationist and Actress Sigourney Weaver, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/national-geographic" target="_self">National Geographic</a> series showcases many never-before-recorded moments, such as belugas giving themselves names and humpbacks communicating through breaching. Throughout, the underlying messages are the same: whales have cultures that differ based on where they are from; they live in complex societies framed by tradition, survival and emotions; and, they're just like us. </p><p>"Whales have preferences for food, parenting technique, singing competitions. In this way, they mirror humans," Skerry emphasized.</p><p>In conjunction, Skerry has released a photography book with the same name that shares more secrets from the world's largest mammals. Plus, National Geographic's May magazine, dubbed "The Ocean Issue," aligns with the four-part series and Skerry's book, and will feature four related stories. The issue will publish April 15 and be available at <a href="http://natgeo.com/planetpossible" target="_blank">natgeo.com/planetpossible</a>.<br></p><p>Skerry believes the grand presentation of this new whale world will move people. He hopes viewers and readers will come to understand the complexity and connectivity between humans and the other "societies of beings" that we share the planet with. "We are visual creatures. We respond emotionally, viscerally to powerful imagery — it touches a part of our soul. Great science and storytelling that incorporates art checks all the boxes to move that needle," Skerry said.</p><p>He added, "On Earth Day, this is a good way to celebrate... this is a new view of the world. This changes our perception: no longer are we apart from nature or above it — we are intimately connected to it."</p><p>All four episodes of "Secrets of the Whales" will start streaming on Disney+ on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22nd.</p>
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A Southern Right whales is pictured in the accompanying book, "Secrets of the Whales." Brian Skerry / National Geographic
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