A new U.S. federal policy was proposed on December 8th, 2011 that will help clarify which species or populations of species are eligible for protection under the Endangered Species Act and will provide for earlier and more effective opportunities to conserve declining species. The public is invited to comment on the policy, proposed by the Interior Department’s [...]
An international team of scientists who monitor the rapid changes in the Earth’s northern polar region say that the Arctic is entering a new state – one with warmer air and water temperatures, less summer sea ice and snow cover, and a changed ocean chemistry. This shift is also causing changes in the region’s life, [...]
A ‘brown cloud’ of pollution over the Indian Ocean resulting from human activities has led to stronger tropical cyclones in the Arabian Sea, according to an international team of scientists. The findings appear in a paper published this month in the journal Nature titled Arabian Sea tropical cyclones intensified by emissions of black carbon and [...]
Florida scientists and veterinarians studying the causes of sea turtle deaths in the Gulf of Mexico have been awarded $227,793 for the first year of an anticipated three-year, $653,379 project to determine how the red tide toxin, or brevetoxin, affects turtle health. Endangered sea turtles inhabit areas in the Gulf of Mexico where toxic red [...]
The globe experienced its eighth warmest October since record keeping began in 1880. Arctic sea ice extent was the second smallest extent on record for October at 23.5 percent below average. Additionally, La Niña conditions strengthened during October 2011. According to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, La Niña is expected to continue through the Northern Hemisphere [...]
NOAA’s updated Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI), which measures the direct climate influence of many greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, shows a continued steady upward trend that began with the Industrial Revolution of the 1880s. Started in 2004, the AGGI reached 1.29 in 2010. That means the combined heating effect of long-lived [...]
Nov 14 2011 | Posted in
Climate Change |
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NOAA has announced that the high number of seal deaths that have occurred along the New England coast since September has been declared an “Unusual Mortality Event.” This will enable the agency to direct additional resources to further investigate the cause of these seal deaths. “We want to remind people to not get close to [...]
Pathology experts contracted by NOAA have identified the bacteria Brucella in five bottlenose dolphins that died in the northern Gulf of Mexico. These five are among the 580 dolphins in higher than expected strandings that began in February 2010 and are continuing. NOAA has declared it an “unusual mortality event,” triggering a focused, expert investigation [...]
A peer-reviewed study commissioned by NOAA shows the American people assign an estimated total economic value of $33.57 billion for the coral reefs of the main Hawaiian Islands. “The study shows that people from across the United States treasure Hawaii’s coral reefs, even though many never get to visit them,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under [...]
A coalition of Alaska Native and conservation groups have challenged BOEMRE’s August 4th conditional approval of Shell’s Beaufort Sea exploration plan by appealing to the U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit Court. Shell plans to dril four wells in the Beaufort Sea, starting in 2012. Earthjustice, on behalf of the Native Village of Point Hope, [...]
NOAA’s Fisheries Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Mexican environmental officials today released an updated plan to guide and strengthen the conservation and recovery of the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle. The Bi-National Recovery Plan revises the current recovery plan issued in 1992. The recovery plan updates the conservation efforts that have proved [...]
NASA’s new Aquarius instrument has produced its first global map of the salinity of the ocean surface, providing an early glimpse of the mission’s anticipated discoveries. Aquarius, which is aboard the Aquarius/SAC-D (Satelite de Aplicaciones Científicas) observatory, is making NASA’s first space observations of ocean surface salinity variations – a key component of Earth’s climate. [...]
Coral reef managers in the Northern Mariana Islands will now receive early warning of dangerous environmental conditions that can weaken and kill high value coral reefs, thanks to a new coral observing station added today in Lao Lao Bay, Saipan. The new station is a first-of-its-kind for the Pacific region and joins a network of [...]
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admiistration’s (NOAA) Teacher at Sea (TAS) program’s 2011 Field Season is underway. The TAS program is to give teachers a clearer insight into our ocean planet, a greater understanding of maritime work and studies, and to increase their level of environmental literacy by fostering an interdisciplinary research experience. The program [...]
Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenko and other national and state leaders today to recognize the pioneering Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan (Ocean SAMP). This new, innovative ocean management plan improves state review processes and policies to facilitate the development of offshore projects [...]
Oceana, the largest international advocacy group working solely to protect the world’s oceans, today released a new report outlining violations of sea turtle protection regulations in the Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Fishery. Specifically, the data shows that illegal fishing in the Gulf is killing thousands of threatened and endangered sea turtles, far more than had [...]
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