Polar Bears

This has been the first post in a while as I have been away over the break. Anyways, I have been interested in the news about the impacts of climate change on polar bears in the oceans. It is crazy what is happening to these animals. Many websites provide statistics to this issue and it is unbelievable what the impacts are. I wanted to get some more local results to understand these impacts close to home. On a site for the Times there was an article that stated that since 1987, the population of polar bears in Hudson Bay has dropped by 22% due to climate change. With the increase in temperatures, the ice is melting and the bears are forced to swim long distances. Four carcasses were found in a one month period from bears that had drowned off Alaska (in 2005). It makes me wonder what other types of impacts these temperature changes will have on other marine life and also humans. I know that there are many warnings from scientists and such, but to see these deadly results just proves the threat that climate change can pose.

Arrrr

Since the annotated bibliography was due today, I have been kicking my research for my project into high gear lately. I am covering the history of the Caribbean Sea. Interestingly, most of the history that I have found covers the pirates of the area. Even accounts and logs of exploration and travel are those that were kept by pirates. I hope that the information kept by these pirates is valid and factual for my research. Anyways, it is interesting to find out that the pirates of the area did a better job at keeping records and logs than the actual explorers from Britain (Chritopher Columbus, etc). Either that or I just haven't been able to find these other accounts.

Climate Change...

This is a figure that I found that describes the process of carbon dioxide with the ocean. The paragrah below does a good job in explaining it. I thought it was interesting as a follow up to what we discussed in class on Monday about climate change and carbon dioxide levels as we dicussed last week. The explanation below it says:

There is ongoing chemical "dialogue" between the ocean and atmosphere that influences regional and global climate change in many ways. Sea spray and water vapor from low clouds ultimately cool temperatures at the surface. Meanwhile, desert dust and carbon dioxide settle into the ocean and act as a "fertilizer" to stimulate the growth of phytoplankton, thereby enhancing the ocean's ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere- a process kown as the "biological pump". Over geological time, more than 90 percent of the world's carbon has settled into the deep ocean.

Acidification

I was very interested in ocean acidification after we discussed it in class, and did a little research of my own. Most websites refer to studies conducted by scientists and the predictions made for the future. Many examples include the desrtuction of reefs and extinction of various species. However, I found this interesting diagram pictured above on the website for the Green Car Congress. At first glance it can seem a little confusing, but I think that it does a good job at showing the rapid increases in acidity expected for the future. The part that I found most interesting was the p.p.m. (parts per million), which predicts an increase from about 500 to 2,000 within the next 50 years. That's incredible. It is also interesting to see the pattern in which the acid levels reach below the surface over time. This must be very important when considering the life on different levels of the ocean. It is crazy to think of all of the effects of global warming, and at first thought, most people wouldn't think of the acidity in oceans as being a major factor. But knowing that warmer water can hold less carbon dioxide than warm, I can see the danger that is produced.

Arctic Microbes

Pictured here is Vincent Warwick, a biologist from the Universite Laval and his crew sampling tiny microbes that live in the Canadian Arctic waters/ice. He plans on studying the environment in which such microbes live, and their effects on other life. Vincent believes that these microbes live in these extreme environments of cold temperatures and darkness for a reason. With global warming, the temperatures of the water has been incresing drastically. If the microbes are linked to other types of life, the global warming could lead to the extinction of seals, fish and other species that live in the area. Warwick is also the Canadian Research Chair in Aquatic Ecosystems Studies. He claims that with the breakup of ice, many natural habitats are being lost in the area. He is trying to study these habitats before it is too late and they are completely lost.

Frilled Shark

This is a photograph of a female frilled shark taken shortly before it died last week. The shark, photographed by a Japanese scientist, normally lives approximately 2,000 feet below the surface and is rarely seen alive. The shark in this photo is 5 feet long and was weak due to illness or shallow waters. The scientists moved the shark to a marine park where it died shortly after. Because of the habitat of the species (deep waters, often where humans cannot explore), these sharks are normally seen after they have already died. They are usually found caught in trawlers nets and are hauled up dead. This particular shark did not live more than 2 hours after reaching shallow depths. The frilled shark is known as the "living fossil" because it has hardly changed since prehistoric times.

An Inconvenient Truth

This evening I attended the screening of "An Inconvenient Truth" put on by the Environmental Society and Ecology Action Centre. As you probably know, it is a film about global warming, presented by Al Gore. Anyways, while at the film I noticed many references to the oceans in connection with global warming. I thought I would share a few points. First off is the image above, taken from the movie. It shows Florida, with the coastlines covered by water. Apparently, with the melting of polar ice and a 20ft rise in sea level, this is what Florida would look like. So many people currently live in those areaa and I was suprised to see how much damage 20 feet could do. the film covered the idea of water current interruption due to the warming and many other basics that we all enjoyed in 203 and other introductory courses. However, I was interested on little tidbits of information. One of these was about polar bears. Apparently, many polar bears are being found each year having drowned because there is no ice to rest on. The film says that these bears can swim up to 60 miles looking for ice for rest and eventually drown because so much has melted to to increase in temperature, that there is none to be found. I can only imagine all of the other impacts that global warming would have on the oceans and life.