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Barge Leaking Oil in Galveston Bay After Collision

Sun, 2014-03-23 14:54 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

A barge loaded with marine fuel oil sits partially submerged in the Houston Ship Channel. The bulk carrier Summer Wind, reported a collision between the Summer Wind and a barge, containing 924,000 gallons of fuel oil, towed by the motor vessel Miss Susan.  Photo: U.S. Coast Guard

Dike, ports closed after barge collides with ship

galvestondailynews.com - by Wes Swift, T. J. Aulds and Kevin M. Cox - March 23, 2014

TEXAS CITY — A collision between a barge and a ship Saturday near the Texas City Dike spilled 160,000 gallons of heavy oil into Galveston Bay.

The accident forced authorities to evacuate the dike and surrounding areas — and to close the Houston Ship Channel.

Authorities also suspended operations of the ferry between Galveston and Port Bolivar.

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ALSO SEE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IN LINKS BELOW

http://time.com/34630/barge-leaking-oil-in-galveston-bay-after-collision/

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US - Gulf Coast
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Study links BP oil spill to dolphin deaths

Tue, 2013-12-24 01:22 — Maeryn Obley

A dolphin is seen swimming through an oil sheen from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill off East Grand Terre Island, where the Gulf of Mexico meets Barataria Bay, on the Louisiana coast, July 31, 2010. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP

Image: A dolphin is seen swimming through an oil sheen from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill off East Grand Terre Island, where the Gulf of Mexico meets Barataria Bay, on the Louisiana coast, July 31, 2010. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP

theguardian.com - December 18th, 2013 - Suzanne Goldenburg

US government scientists have for the first time connected the BP oil disaster to dolphin deaths in the Gulf of Mexico, in a study finding direct evidence of toxic exposure.

The study, led by scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, found lung disease, hormonal abnormalities and other health effects among dolphins in an area heavily oiled during the BP spill.

The diseases found in the dolphins at Barataria Bay in Louisiana – though rare – were consistent with exposure to oil, the scientists said.

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Gray whale dies bringing us a message — with stomach full of plastic trash

Thu, 2013-11-07 10:31 — Gina Angiola

November 5,2013, RealNews24  by Brian

Live Free Live Natural. 

July 29, 2013, a sperm whale was stranded on Tershelling, a northern island in the Netherlands. A rescue attempt was attempted, but unfortunately the whale died. A young adult at 13.5 meters was taken for a necropsy at the port of Harlington. The sperm whale had plastic in its stomach, an increasing common phenomenon say researchers at the Biodiversity Centre Naturalis. In  March of this year, a 10 meter long sperm whale washed up on Spain’s South Coast. This whale had swallowed 59 different plastic items totaling over 37 pounds. Most of this plastic consisted of transparent sheeting used to build greenhouses in Almeria and Grenada for the purpose of tomatoes for the European market. The rest was plastic bags, nine meters of rope, two stretches of hosepipe, two small flower pots, and a plastic spray canister. Cause of death was intestinal blockage.

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FUKUSHIMA DISASTER: IMPACTS AND CONTINUING THREATS

Wed, 2013-10-23 12:36 — Gina Angiola

Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) Report, 2013

More than two years since the nuclear disaster began at the Fukushima Daiichi reactors, its impact is massive and widespread. It will be decades before the full scope of the impacts of this ongoing disaster is fully understood but significant health, economic, environmental and social consequences are already evident and quantifiable. Furthermore, independent expert analyses has documented extraordinary industry influence on government regulators, especially widespread collusion among the Japanese government, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the owner/operator of Fukushima, and the nuclear/utility industry. The Fukushima disaster leaves Japan with massive economic loss, radiation exposure to children and others, and a nation grappling with an uncertain nuclear future.

FULL REPORT HERE

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Global
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Situation Report

Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Accident: Ongoing Lessons for New York (and elsewhere)

Sun, 2013-10-20 11:34 — Gina Angiola
This panel discussion,Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Accident: Ongoing Lessons for New York, is an extremely informative review of the devastating nuclear event in Japan, the continuing challenges there, and the implications for our own nuclear energy facilities in the U.S. Start the video around 5 minutes in, as there is dead-time at the beginning. The total length is roughly three hours.

The panel includes the former Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan; Ralph Nader, political activist, author, attorney and lecturer; Dr. Gregory Jaczko; former NRC Commissioner, Peter Bradford; and nuclear engineer, Arnie Gundersen. The panel specifically addresses concerns regarding the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant now operating with an expired license in Buchanan, New York.

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Global
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Cutting Short-Lived ClimatePollutants Slows Rising Seas

Mon, 2013-10-14 00:58 — Gina Angiola

Climate Central,  April 14, 2013

Cutting CO2 emissions is critical in the long term, but readily achievable reductionsof non-CO2 pollutants would do far more to slow sea level rise this centurythan actions to reduce CO2 emissions alone, protecting millions of people and billions of dollars of real estate from rising seas.

The article, "Mitigation of short-lived climate pollutants slows sea level rise", by Hu et al., is a collaboration between scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Climate Central, and examines how much the rate and amount of global sea level rise can be reduced by cutting emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and four short-lived climate pollutants (SLCP) — methane, tropospheric ozone, hydrofluorocarbons, and black carbon — by mid-century (2050) and in the long term (2100). These results are compared to a "Business As Usual" scenario and to mitigating CO2 only.

FULL ARTICLE AND INTERACTIVE MAP HERE

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The Oceans are Heating, Acidifying and Choking

Sat, 2013-10-05 10:28 — Kathy Gilbeaux

newscientist.com - by Fred Pearce - October 4, 2013

CLICK HERE - State of the Ocean Report 2013

We know the oceans are warming. We know they are acidifying. And now, to cap it all, it turns out they are suffocating, too. A new health check on the state of the oceans warns that they will have lost as much as 7 per cent of their oxygen by the end of the century.

The cascade of chemical and biological changes now under way could see coral reefs irreversibly destroyed in 50 to 100 years, with marine ecosystems increasingly taken over by jellyfish and toxic algal blooms.

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(CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION)

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Hundreds of Dead Stingrays Found on Mexico Beach

Tue, 2013-07-30 23:35 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

Hundreds of dead stingrays have been found on a beach in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz.  Reuters

bbc.co.uk - July 17, 2013

. . . Veracruz's Environment Minister Victor Alvarado Martinez has asked federal authorities for help investigating the incident. . .

. . . Chachalacas fisherman Jaime Vazquez said that in his more than three decades in the job he had ever seen any of his colleagues dump dead fish on the beach.

He told local media that any unwanted fish would have been returned to the sea while still alive.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)


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Ocean-Based Food Security Threatened in a High CO2 World

Tue, 2012-10-02 22:57 — Kathy Gilbeaux

oceana.org - September 24, 2012

Emissions from human activities are changing the ocean’s chemistry and temperature in ways that threaten the livelihoods of those who depend on fish and seafood for all or part of their diets. The changes may reduce the amount of wild caught seafood that can be supplied by the oceans and also redistribute species, changing the locations at which seafood can be caught and creating instability for ocean-based food security, or seafood security. This report ranks nations based on the seafood security hardships they may experience by the middle of this century due to changing ocean conditions from climate change and ocean acidification. This is done by combining each nation’s exposure to climate change and ocean acidification, its dependence on and consumption of fish and seafood and its level of adaptive capacity based on several socioeconomic factors. Country rankings are developed for risks from climate change and ocean acidification independently, as well as from both problems combined.

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Swimming With the Trash: A Marine Drone Seeks to Scoop up Plastic

Thu, 2012-07-12 23:09 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Albert Gomez

      

good.is - July 11, 2012

While there's been plenty of media pointing out or raising awareness about the disaster submerged right beneath sea level— the mountain-sized patch of plastic and other garbage that's been collecting in oceans around the world, particularly in the Pacific—there's less attention to some of the solutions that are currently in the works. Part of the reason is that the problem seems so huge (indeed, it's beyond the point of return) and so distant that it's not necessarily the easiest to conceive of steps to take action against.

Yet a crew of big-thinking designers has a concept for a trash-skimming and sensor-equipped "marine drone" that could detect trash in the ocean and scoop it into its net to be recycled. The drone is designed to navigate the ocean for two weeks at a time and would use an infrasound system to keep fish at bay.

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