CONSEQUENCES

Debilitating dengue fever is spread by mosquitoes.

Officials warn that the United States is not equipped to handle the spread of infectious diseases caused by climate change; little investment or progress has been made in bolstering disease detection and response capabilities in the United States, despite warnings from intelligence agencies; increased heat, humidity, and rainfall have caused the spread of mosquitoes and other bugs which carry deadly tropical diseases to new areas where people have yet build up a resistance; the United States is now experiencing outbreaks of dengue fever and West Nile virus; in 2010 the CDC reported 110 deaths and 1,356 cases of West Nile virus in the United States; intelligence agencies also worry about the potential for the spread of these diseases to destabilize fragile nations across Asia and Africa.

Read the full article here:

http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/us-unprepared-climate-induced-disease-outbreaks

Photo Credit: athirday.info

While the monitoring of new and emerging infectious diseases has greatly improved over the past fifteen or so years mainly due to concerns related to possible bioterrorism events, the U.S. government (and governments around the world) still need to increase the scope of such surveillance and to better coordinate possible response programs.  Such programs are being worked upon but I am afraid that due to budget cuts such surveillance and response programs are going to result in less than adequate measures. These diseases will occur and they will spread especially with the coming environmental alterations due to climate change which will only encourage their development and spread. This is not a concern to be taken lightly. On the contrary, it is a concern that needs to be made clear to our government representatives by us as citizens expressing our concern. This is not a concern to leave up to the government to deal with when they think they are willing to include it into some pork barrel budget loop. This is a concern that we, as a people may feel, literally, in our gut and a concern we need to make clear to Congress that it needs to be funded. – Editor.

Livestock diseases present a growing threat to food security.

Seed Daily

http://www.seeddaily.com/

by Staff Writers

New Delhi, India (SPX) Feb 14, 2011

Increasing numbers of domestic livestock and more resource-intensive production methods are encouraging animal epidemics around the world, a problem that is particularly acute in developing countries, where livestock diseases present a growing threat to the food security of already vulnerable populations, according to new assessments reported at the International Conference on Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health.

“Wealthy countries are effectively dealing with livestock diseases, but in Africa and Asia, the capacity of veterinary services to track and control outbreaks is lagging dangerously behind livestock intensification,“ said John McDermott, deputy director general for research at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), which spearheaded the work.

“This lack of capacity is particularly dangerous because many poor people in the world still rely on farm animals to feed their families, while rising demand for meat, milk and eggs among urban consumers in the developing world is fueling a rapid intensification of livestock production.”

The global conference, organized by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), brings together leading agriculture, nutrition and health experts to assess ways to increase agriculture’s contribution to better nutrition and health for the world’s most vulnerable people.

The new assessments from ILRI spell out how livestock diseases present “double trouble” in poor countries.

First, livestock diseases imperil food security in the developing world (where some 700 million people keep farm animals and up to 40 percent of household income depends on them) by reducing the availability of a critical source of protein.

Second, animal diseases also threaten human health directly when viruses such as the bird flu (H5N1), SARS and Nipah viruses “jump” from their livestock hosts into human populations.

Read Full Article Here:

http://www.seeddaily.com/reports/Livestock_Boom_Risks_Aggravating_Animal_Plagues_999.html

The call for better and more effective animal disease (zoonotic) surveillance has been called for for a number of years now and especially since the emergence of A/H1N1 so-called Swine flu which emerged out of Mexico in April of 2009. It is now know that this strain of influenza virus was circulating through pig production facilities globally for an number of years prior to its emergence in a human population and is now the dominant flu strain being seen in the U.S. this year. Better monitoring of zoonotic diseases would greatly enhance our abilities to predict and counter future occurrences of these diseases not only in animal populations both wild and domestic but human populations as well.  Editor.

Sun Come Up follows the relocation of some of the world’s first environmental refugees, the Carteret Islanders – a community living on a remote island chain in the South Pacific Ocean.

http://www.suncomeup.com/film/Home.html

Sun Come Up Trailer from Sun Come Up on Vimeo.

Today, millions of people have been displaced from their homes and villages as a result of fluctuations in climate patterns world wide. They leave behind them not just their homes but the graves of friends and family along with the hopes and dreams they had for the future.

These people are referred to as Climate Refugees. Climate Refugees are people displaced by climatically induced environmental disasters.

As the planet’s human populations continue grow to reach the 7 billion mark predicted to be reached in this year of 2011, and as we continue to see dramatic changes in the earth’s traditional climate patterns, for certain the numbers of climate refugees will grow and their migrations increase. This is a pattern that has been repeated over and over again in the evolution of not only humans but of all life on earth.

We are all engaged in the CONSEQUENCES of climate change whether we realize it or not, or believe that ‘global warming’ is happening or not. The question is, will we come together as a global people, gather our collective will and do something about it?

Climate Refugees – a documentary film about “the human face of climate change.”

Special Thanks to Lori Wark’s – Adventures in Climate Change

While this post is not exactly related to climate change, it does relate to the consequences of human activities on a very critical component of the biosphere namely our oceans. Plastic debris in the world’s oceans is of a particular concern of mine, a very profound concern in fact and it should be a concern of everyone because ocean plastic pollution is killing the most significant of earth’s ecological systems, our oceans. Note that I do not write ‘the oceans’ but ‘our oceans’ and yes ‘we’ are all responsible for them!

North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre

Sea Education Association (SEA) is conducting the first federally-funded research expedition dedicated solely to examining the accumulation of plastic debris in the North Atlantic Ocean.

On June 10, the Plastics at SEA: North Atlantic Expedition set sail to expand upon 25 years’ worth of data previously collected by SEA that reveals a region of extensive plastic pollution in a narrow latitude band in the western North Atlantic Ocean called the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre, the Atlantic Ocean’s version of the region of the eastern North Pacific Ocean dubbed the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.”

SSV Corwith Cramer

The cruise, which ended on July 14, took place onboard the SSV Corwith Cramer, SEA’s 134-foot brigantine-rigged sailing oceanographic research vessel. The crew consists of 11 professional mariners and 22 additional participants.

This expedition was funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program and Sea Education Association, and is conducted in collaboration with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Woods Hole Sea Grant. The Henry L. and Grace Doherty Foundation and the American Chemistry Council provided additional funding to support educational outreach for this project.

Source: Sea Education Association (SEA)

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Commentary: The fact that mankind has been able to pollute the oceans to the degree we have, not to mention the remaining land masses, is for me probably the most discouraging thing I can imagine. I can recall back in my days in college in the late ’70′s dreaming of how I, as a biologist, would one day travel on expedition to some of the planets most wonderful habitats. Yes, I did lead several research expeditions but as time went on I began to witness more and more lose to pollution and devastation. I find the percentage of that loss, in just my own life time, to be ever so disheartening. It is a travesty I fear from which we will never truly recover. Now, I am not a doomsday type of person and I am not a pessimist, quite the contrary. But I fear that humans as a species have crested the top of the bell shaped culture curve in the petri dish that is the earth.

This is not a message to give up hope, understand. It does not mean that things are hopeless and that we should just not give a damn and give up and allow it to get worse. Let’s make the best of what we have left. Let’s appreciate what we have lost, fix what we can, respect what we still have and learn to cherish our home. There is no other place like it.

Support the work in the Plastics at SEA: North Atlantic Expedition. Get involved. Join with Dr. Sylvia Earle and Mission Blue and remember Sylvia’s words: “No Blue, No Green”.

Some 3.8 billion years ago was a mystery that scientists have long attempted to solve.

Way back then, the Earth was a completely different place, and so was the solar system. The sun shined with less luminescence – as much as 30 percent weaker – which meant the Earth should have been really cold. So cold, in fact, that liquid water would not have existed.

11 Year Solar Cycle

But the geologic record shows that water was, indeed, present and provided the foundation for the proverbial “primordial soup” that gave rise to life. How come? This is what’s called the “faint young sun problem.”

There are many theories… Clearly more went on than we know.

Why does this matter to modern day climate change?

“One thing that paleoclimate research definitely does do is to put modern day climate change into perspective,” Geochemist James Kasting of Penn State University points out.

The disappearance of glaciers goes hand in hand with warming temperatures. But it turns out that the process may be more complicated than rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere. For insight, we look to the past.

Dr. M. Vizcaino Trueba

What kept the ice sheets at bay has been explored in a recent paper in the journal Paleoceanography by UC Berkeley geographer M. Vizcaino and colleagues.

The scientists believe that during the Pliocene, a permanent “El Nino state” may have been taking place.

In a permanent El Nino, sea temperatures remain constant across the Pacific, and the cold water upwelling, known poetically as the “cold tongue” goes limp. As a result, warmer air invades North America, Greenland, and part of Eurasia around the Black Sea, raising temperatures by as much as 9 degrees Fahrenheit. Conversely, temperatures become the coolest in much of northeast Eurasia. This overlaps nicely with where glaciers would otherwise exist, northeast Eurasia being glacier-free. The researchers write:

The climate reorganization caused by a permanent El Nino results in temperature anomalies over the northern high latitudes remarkably coincident with known locations of ice sheet growth.

The “cold tongue” could be more important than we thought.

Please read the article in full here: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/A_History_Of_Climate_Change_999.html

Source: Terra Daily – by Staff Writers – Moffett Field CA (SPX) Jun 22, 2010

Photo Credit: Steele Hill, SOHO, NASA/ESA

Numerous studies are documenting the growing effects of climate change, carbon dioxide, pollution and other human-related phenomena on the world’s oceans. But most of those have studied single, isolated sources of pollution and other influences.

Dr Scott Doney, WHOI

Now, a marine geochemist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has published a report in the latest issue of the journal Science that evaluates the total impact of such factors on the ocean and considers what the future might hold.

“What we do on land — agriculture, fossil fuel combustion and pollution — can have a profound impact on the chemistry of the sea,” says Scott C. Doney, a senior scientist at WHOI and author of the Science report. “A whole range of these factors have been studied in isolation but have not been put in a single venue.”

He concludes that climate change, rising atmospheric carbon dioxide, excess nutrient inputs, and the many forms of pollution are “altering fundamentally the…ocean, often on a global scale and, in some cases, at rates greatly exceeding those in the historical and recent geological record.”

Scott Doney is calling for “a deeper understanding of human impacts on ocean biogeochemistry…”.

Please read a more detailed summary of this paper’s findings here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100617185131.htm

Journal Reference:

1.Scott C. Doney. The Growing Human Footprint on Coastal and Open-Ocean Biogeochemistry. Science, 2010; 328 (5985): 1512-1516 DOI: 10.1126/science.1185198

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. “Comprehensive Look at Human Impacts on Ocean Chemistry.” ScienceDaily 21 June 2010. 21 June 2010 <http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2010/06/100617185131.htm>.

Credit: Photo by John Bullister, NOAA/PMEL)

Image of a dying ocean or image of a dying planet?

The first comprehensive synthesis on the effects of climate change on the world’s oceans has found they are now changing at a rate not seen for several million years.

In a report published June 18, 2010 in Science, scientists reveal that growing atmospheric concentrations of man-made greenhouse gases are driving irreversible and dramatic changes to the way the ocean functions, with potentially dire impacts for hundreds of millions of people across the planet. These findings have enormous implications for mankind, particularly if the trend continues.  The Earth’s ocean, which produces half of the oxygen we breathe and absorbs 30% of human-generated CO2, is equivalent to its heart and lungs.

Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, lead author of the report and Director of The University of Queensland’s Global Change Institute, says “We are entering a period in which the very ocean services upon which humanity depends are undergoing massive change and in some cases beginning to fail”. “Further degradation will continue to create enormous challenges and costs for societies worldwide.”

He warned that we may soon see “sudden, unexpected changes that have serious ramifications for the overall well-being of humans,” including the capacity of the planet to support people. “This is further evidence that we are well on the way to the next great extinction event.”

The authors conclude: “… Ignoring the science is not an option.”

Please continue to read and to pass along the complete article here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100618103558.htm

Journal Reference:

1.Hoegh-Guldberg et al. The Impact of Climate Change on the World’s Marine Ecosystems. Science, 2010; 328 (5985): 1523 DOI: 10.1126/science.1189930

Global Change Institute. “Ocean Changes May Have Dire Impact on People.” ScienceDaily 19 June 2010. 21 June 2010 <http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2010/06/100618103558.htm>.

Photo Credit: Image courtesy of Global Change Institute

The Bering Sea Project June 18 2010

Posted on behalf of Wendee Holtcamp, blogging for Nature aboard the research vessel Thomas G. Thompson.

RV Thomas G. Thompson

I’m flying in a 30-seater SAAB 340 turboprop to the international port of Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island, part of the Aleutian Island Chain, and the number one commercial fishing port in the United States. For the next 28 days, I’ll be the sole journalist on the research vessel Thomas G. Thompson, reporting on the science being done by 29 scientists, grad students, and technicians as we venture into notoriously rough and wildly productive Bering Sea.

The Bering Sea Project partners the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) with Alaska’s North Pacific Research Board (NPRB) in a comprehensive, multi-year and multi-disciplinary study of how climate change is affecting the Bering Sea ecosystem from top to bottom. NSF oversees the portion known as the Bering Ecosystem Study (BEST) which examines how changing sea ice conditions affect chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of the region. NPRB oversees the Bering Sea Integrated Ecosystem Research Program (BSIERP), which focuses more on how marine organisms, such as fish, marine mammals and seabirds, are being affected by both natural and human-induced changes to the Bering Sea, particularly related to climate change.

This is year four of the six-year project, in which more than 100 scientists having received funding to study various aspects of the Bering Sea. I’m joining the “summer” cruise of the Thompson’s 2010 expedition.

Please read the complete report by Wendee on the Nature blog: The Great Beyond for June 18, 2010

Source: Nature blog: The Great Beyond for June 18, 2010

Photo credit: Wendee Holtcamp

Check in regularly for Bering Sea Project Updates: http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/

See the link under Expeditions in the sidebar —————>

Debate continues over whether human actions or natural events are primarily responsible for these global climate changes.

Climate Change graphic

Some people argue that rising levels of human-produced greenhouse gases are warming the planet and causing the climate to change.  Others argue that reported greenhouse gas increases are too small to change the climate, and that 20th century warming has been the result of natural processes such as fluctuations in the sun’s heat and ocean currents.  ProCon.org’s newest and 34th website explores the pros and cons in this debate.

Those who believe humans are causing substantial climate change… state that greenhouse gas levels rise mainly from human activities. They argue these increases are amplified by natural feedback loops, leading to significant global warming and climate change that will detrimentally affect human civilization, causing flooding, water shortages, hotter summers and colder winters, and decreased crop harvests.

Those who believe humans are not substantially contributing to climate change,… argue that the amount of human-generated greenhouse gas increases are too small to substantially change the climate. They state that the earth’s forests and oceans are capable of absorbing these small increases, and that 20th century warming has been the result of natural processes including fluctuations in the sun’s heat and ocean currents.

This debate is discussed at length on Climate Change Pro Con . Org at http://climatechange.procon.org/ complete with stastitics, facts, backgrounders, images and videos as well as reader comments, footnotes and sources. It is a MUST READ for anyone interested in the debate over climate change (which should only concern about 7 billion people).

Climate Change Pro Con . Org: http://climatechange.procon.org/

June 15, 2010