Year: 2011
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What causes short term changes in ocean heat?
From Skeptical Science by John Cook. Read it all here. Over the past 40 years, global ocean heat content has shown a long term warming trend. However, the warming hasn’t been monotonic. There are periods where ocean heat drops for several years before the warming trend resumes. On several occasions, this is due to large volcanic…
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Obama presses Iceland over fin whale hunt
From Andrew Revkin at the NYT: On Thursday, President Obama ordered government agencies to ramp up pressure on Iceland to end its slaughter of endangered fin whales, the second largest whale species. But the president stopped short of imposing trade sanctions. He issued a Message to Congress with the details, including this passage: Of particular concern to…
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Indo mornings
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/27708915[/vimeo] From Ben Wilson Surf
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The blob, deconstructed
I tell ya. You spend your days toiling away doing clever experiments, discovering new species, burning the midnight oil to prepare inspiring lectures for skeptical college students, crafting compelling grant proposals, solving the world’s environmental problems, pushing back the frontiers generally. Typical professor stuff. But what do people want to hear about? Blobs. No, not…
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Three ocean scientists receive Heinz awards
Shout-out to three of our colleagues who’ve received the prestigious Heinz award for work that benefits the environment. The Pittsburgh-based Heinz Family Foundation has presented the awards since 1994 in memory of Sen. John Heinz III. From the WaPO: “Teresa Heinz told The Associated Press that the awards recognized innovative approaches to serious topics for…
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Happy Friday… here’s a submarine sonnet!
Bathyscaphe One thousand fathoms down, our halogens strike tube worms blooming in the methane seeps and spiral plumes of sulfides. We descend into the fizz escaping from the deep so vast and vacant that our sonar pings unanswered, and sinking still, the only light is ghostly cobalt, specks phosphorescing past the bathyscaphe’s thick glass. Sealed…
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The coolest animal in the world
As a marine biologist it’s my job to understand the complex workings of our mysterious ocean planet, and to wrestle with the great questions of our time. One that has been exercising me lately is this: What is the coolest animal on earth? After considerable deliberation, I’ve made my decision. And I don’t say this…
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How much is the ocean worth? In Australia at least $25B a year
A new report from an Australian think tank has made an attempt to estimate the value of services that the ocean surrounding the continent of Australia provides free of charge to human society, such as fishing, clean water, nursery habitats, carbon sequestration, and so on. The conclusion: Australia’s marine ecosystems are worth $25 billion a…
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Minds in the water
A movie by pro surfer Dave Rastovich of Surfers for Cetaceans. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3GExD8djwo&[/youtube] Surfers and the rest of us that enjoy or live off the ocean have a responsibility.
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The Erie Canal as Civil War Catalyst
For centuries, most trade west of the Atlantic coast was limited to passive passage along the Mississippi, sending products downstream merrily, merrily, merrily on a lazy river ride from the Great Lakes region to ports like New Orleans. That is, until we had the bright idea to forge our own passageway east. The Erie Canal,…