CONSEQUENCES

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”.

Forests at Risk: Swiss Needle Cast Epidemic in Douglas-Fir Trees Unprecedented, Still Getting Worse- ScienceDaily – (Apr. 12, 2010)

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100405152557.htm

Source: Science Daily / University of Toronto

Coastal Pacific Northwest Forest Grove - photo credit Jim Mau c 2010

Researchers at the College of Forestry at Oregon State University (OSU), in a paper published in the professional journal Forest Ecology and Management, state that Swiss needle cast is epidemic in Douglas-fir forests of the coastal Pacific Northwest, is continuing to intensify and appears to be unprecedented over at least the past 100 years.

Swiss needle cast is a native fungal disease specific to Douglas-fir first described in Europe. Rarely does Swiss needle cast kill trees but it does cause discoloration, loss of needles and growth reduction. Swiss needle cast is common in the Pacific Northwest wherever Douglas-fir grows. Since it began to develop in1984, a perfect storm of conditions that favor this fungus has caused a major epidemic that continues to grow today.

The OSU study concluded that warmer conditions are associated with significantly reduced growth in diseased trees, which may reflect earlier fruiting of the fungus

The researchers say this is the result of the planting a monocultures of Douglas-fir for decades in replacement of coastal forests, which previously had trees of varying ages and different species.

Weather is known to be a driver in the epidemiology and spread of this disease and while it can not be said yet whether climate change is part of what’s causing these problems, certainly warmer conditions, milder winters and earlier springs would be consistent with the spread of this fungus.

Swiss needle cast has been shown to be associated with climate, especially long-term warming trends during the late winter and early spring.

MLA – Oregon State University. “Forests at Risk: Swiss Needle Cast Epidemic in Douglas-Fir Trees Unprecedented, Still Getting Worse.” ScienceDaily 12 April 2010. 12 April 2010 <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100405152557.htm>.

Journal Reference:

1. Black et al. Impacts of Swiss needle cast on overstory Douglas-fir forests of the western Oregon Coast Range. Forest Ecology and Management, 2010; 259 (8): 1673 DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2010.01.047

Forest Ecology and Management : http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2010.01.047