Our Oceans are Under Attack

Peru Riled by Greenpeace Stunt at Nazca Lines | ABC News

 

Warming Pacific Ocean May Release Millions of Tons of Methane | Science World Report

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/enviro...the-worlds-oceans-say-scientists-9916874.html

Over five trillion pieces of plastic are floating in the world's oceans, say scientists
There are an estimated 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic floating in the world’s oceans, weighing a total of nearly 270,000 tons, according to a new study.
Plastic has “spread throughout all the world's oceans” with as much in the southern hemisphere as the northern, the researchers said, adding that this was surprising as more of it originates in the north.
In an article for the Plos One journal, they said the figures were “highly conservative” and did not take into account “the potentially massive amount” that is no longer afloat.
Julia Reisser, a researcher with the University of Western Australia, told The Guardian: “We saw turtles that ate plastic bags and fish that ingested fishing lines.
“But there are also chemical impacts. When plastic gets into the water it acts like a magnet for oily pollutants.
“Bigger fish eat the little fish and then they end up on our plates. It’s hard to tell how much pollution is being ingested but certainly plastics are providing some of it.”

 

Organic farming can feed the world if done right, scientists claim

http://www.independent.co.uk/enviro...d-if-done-right-scientists-claim-9913651.html


Organic farming is much more productive than previously thought, according to a new analysis of agricultural studies that challenges the conventional “biased” view that pesticide-free agriculture cannot feed the world.



The study says that organic yields were only 19.2 per cent lower, on average, than those from conventional crops and that this gap could be reduced to just eight per cent if the pesticide-free crops were rotated more frequently.

Furthermore, in some crops - especially leguminous plants such as beans, peas and lentils - there were no significant differences in yields, the researchers from the University of California, Berkeley found.

“In terms of comparing productivity among the two techniques, this paper sets the record straight on the comparison between organic and conventional agriculture,” said Claire Kremen, professor of environmental science, policy and management at Berkeley.

The study comes amid rising concerns that intense farming practices are damaging the environment, with the widespread use of nerve agent pesticides frequently blamed for declining populations of bees and other pollinators. Meanwhile, fertilisers are producing smaller and smaller increases in yields because they are now so effective they are difficult to improve upon.

“With global food needs predicted to greatly increase in the next 50 years, it’s critical to look more closely at organic farming because, aside from the environmental impacts of industrial agriculture, the ability of synthetic fertilizers to increase crop yields has been declining,” said Prof Kremen.

The researchers based their findings on a meta-analysis of 115 studies – a dataset three times greater than any previous such paper – comparing organic and conventional agriculture.

 

NRG Seeks to Cut 90% of Its Carbon Emissions | New York Times

 

More research confirming large methane leakage from shale boom | Skeptical Science

 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11373207

Visualising 268,000 tonnes of floating plastic in the world's ocean
9:51 AM Friday Dec 12, 2014

Exclusive: Some 268,000 tonnes of plastic are floating in the world's oceans. Here, we look at where it's to be found. Each dot on the map represents 20kg of plastic.

Data visualisation and the guest data blog post by dumpark.
A recent study on marine plastic pollution published in the journal PlosOne estimates that some 5.25 trillion plastic particles weighing more than 268,000 tonnes are floating on the world's oceans.
For mobile users, see the visualisation here.
Over a six-year period, researchers from six different countries collected plastic density data from 24 expeditions into the five main oceanic basins and various marginal seas.
Weight and count data was collected by trawling nets for microplastics and using systematic visual sightings for the larger macroplastics.
Using this data we calibrated a numerical model that assumes plastic entering the oceans from rivers, shipping lanes and densely populated coastlines.
To visualise the model-predicted concentration, we produced an interactive map that shows the weight density estimates as a dot density map, where each dot represents 20 kg of floating plastic, totalling more than 13 million dots globally.
We calculated the number of dots for each model cell -an area of around 400 km²- and randomly distributed them within each cell using a circular Gaussian function.
The map also displays the different expeditions that participated in the data collection effort from 2007 to 2013.
For each individual expedition stage, heatmaps show the measured plastic densities for every survey location (horizontal axis) and four classes of debris size (vertical axis). They are available for weight and count densities, as well as for the corresponding model estimates.
The four size classes roughly correspond to the sizes of a grain of sand, a grain of rice, a small water bottle and anything larger.
Based on conservative fragmentation rates, researchers originally expected to find more small particles than larger ones, but this study surprisingly shows that the smallest fragments are generally less abundant than the second smallest size, but are often found in remote regions outside of the garbage patches..
"Our findings show that the garbage patches in the middle of the five subtropical gyres are not final resting places for floating plastic trash,"the study's lead author, Dr Marcus Eriksen said.
"Unfortunately, the endgame for microplastic is dangerous interaction with entire ocean ecosystems. We should begin to see the garbage patches as shredders, not stagnant repositories."
Read the research paper here:

 

The Climate Deniers’ Newest Argument | Time

 

Report Downplays Role of Global Warming in California Drought | National Geographic

 

B.C. carbon tax an effective model for national climate change approach | The Globe and Mail

 

A Little Hope, and Some VERY Scary Math About Climate Change | BigThink

 

Lima climate summit extended as poor countries demand more from rich
http://www.theguardian.com/environm...mate-change-talks-stumble-cash-emissions-cuts
The Lima negotiations began on a buoyant note after the US, China and the EU came forward with new commitments to cut carbon pollution. But they were soon brought back down to earth over the perennial divide between rich and poor countries in the negotiations: how should countries share the burden for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and who should pay?
Advertisement
The talks were designed to draft a blueprint for a global deal to fight climate change, due to be adopted in Paris late next year. But developing countries argued that before signing on they needed to see greater commitments that the industrialised countries would keep to their end of a bargain to provide the money needed to fight climate change. After 10 days of talks, developing countries argued that those assurances were not strong enough.
It was also unclear how industrialised countries could be held to an earlier promise to mobilise $100bn a year for climate finance by 2020, negotiators from developing countries said. “We are disappointed,” said India’s Prakash Javadekar. “It is ridiculous. It is ridiculously low.” Javadekar said the pledges to the green climate fund amounted to backsliding. “We are upset that 2011, 2012, 2013 – three consecutive years – the developed world provided $10bn each year for climate action support to the developing world, but now they have reduced it. Now they are saying $10bn is for four years, so it is $2.5bn,” he said.
The frustration – with the lack of climate finance as well as other aspects of the draft text – was widespread among developing countries, especially those in the gravest danger from climate change.

 

Deniers are not Skeptics | Center for Inquiry

 

An Insurance Policy for Climate Change? How Seed Banks Are Protecting the Future of Food | Bill Moyers & Company

 

UN members agree deal at Lima climate talks | BBC