The Great Barrier Reef

It’s official; the Great Barrier Reef is dying. It is no longer a looming prediction, it is happening.

This is the message coming from Australian reef scientists. How the rest of the country reacts to this fact will determine whether or not the reef will have a final chance to bounce back.

On the 15th August this year, over a lengthy drink with world-renowned underwater videographer David Hannan, I was introduced to this alarming reality. Over the next few months, I travelled across the country interviewing scientists and reef experts alike. My question; is it really true that the largest coral reef structure in the world is dying?

The perfect scenario would be to stop Global Warming, but this would involve the unlikely scenario of massive and rapid international cooperation to radically reduce CO2 emissions. Even if CO2 levels are stopped today, temperatures will continue to rise as greenhouse gases remain in the atmosphere for several hundred years. 

http://www.abc.net.au/queensland/features/greatbarrierreef.htm

Industrial Pollution

In the United States industry is the greatest source of pollution, accounting for more than half the volume of all water pollution and for the most deadly pollutants. Some 370,000 manufacturing facilities use huge quantities of freshwater to carry away wastes of many kinds. The waste-bearing water, or effluent, is discharged into streams, lakes, or oceans, which in turn disperse the polluting substances. In its National Water Quality Inventory, reported to Congress in 1996, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concluded that approximately 40% of the nation's surveyed lakes, rivers, and estuaries were too polluted for such basic uses as drinking supply, fishing, and swimming. The pollutants include grit, asbestos, phosphates and nitrates, mercury, lead, caustic soda and other sodium compounds, sulfur and sulfuric acid, oils, and petrochemicals.
In addition, numerous manufacturing plants pour off undiluted corrosives, poisons, and other noxious byproducts. The construction industry discharges slurries of gypsum, cement, abrasives, metals, and poisonous solvents. Another pervasive group of contaminants entering food chains is the polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) compounds, components of lubricants, plastic wrappers, and adhesives. In yet another instance of pollution, hot water discharged by factories and power plants causes so-called thermal pollution by increasing water temperatures. Such increases change the level of oxygen dissolved in a body of water, thereby disrupting the water's ecological balance, killing off some plant and animal species while encouraging the overgrowth of others.

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0861889.html

MURO AMI

“Muro-ami” burst into the national consciousness because of the well-crafted movie that starred Cesar Montano. The film came too late though, since at the time it was shown the government had already banned the practice. During a discussion on the topic sponsored by the Alternative Law Group, one of the resource speakers, Mike Cusi, head of the Marine Biology Section of the University of San Carlos, even used excerpts of the movie to illustrate muro-ami’s destructive method of fishing. Among the participants of the discussion were young men who in the past were involved in muro-ami fishing. They confirmed as accurate the portion of the movie where swimmers, including children, destroyed corral beds using big stones to scare fishes and lead them to the nets. Two strong concerns brought about the controversy on muro-ami fishing. The first was the reported use of child labor. Not only were these children denied their schooling and stripped of their childhood, some of them also died because of the harsh environment in the high seas. The second concern was environmental destruction. The ecological imbalance resulted in ravaged corral beds, growth of parasitic algae and rapid reduction of fish population. While the negative effects of muro-ami fishing may have been drastically reduced due to the ban, as well as the effective monitoring by concerned agencies, a more destructive kind of fishing has emerged with the consent of the government. Generally similar to muro-ami, the alternative method used by the large-scale fishing companies is called “pa-aling.” Instead of using stones to drive fishes out of corral beds, the swimmers use tubes that release high-pressured air. This method is very effective in driving fishes out of their safe havens. Pa-aling has not been banned because children are not anymore required to join it and corrals are no longer destroyed. From the business point of view, the efficiency and effectiveness of pa-aling brings more profits to our big-time fish businessmen. From the government’s point of view, no laws are violated in pa-aling. Yet, environmentalists are up in arms once more against it. Pa-aling is just too efficient a method in catching fish. It catches all kinds of fish and other sea creatures indiscriminately. It is like a holocaust under the sea. Once fertile fishing grounds are identified, the pa-aling fishing expeditions repeatedly raid these areas, thereby, resulting in over-fishing. With too much over-fishing, we may end up with few fishes to catch and to eat in the near future.

Beijing air pollution "as bad as it can get"

BEIJING -- Beijingers were warned to stay indoors on Thursday as pollution levels across the capital hit the top of the scale, despite repeated assurances by the government that air quality was improving.
"This is as bad as it can get," a spokeswoman for the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau told Agence France-Presse.
"Level five is the worst level of air pollution. This is as bad as it has been all year."
According to the bureau's website, 15 out of the 16 pollution monitoring stations in urban Beijing registered a "five" for air quality rating.
The main pollutant was suspended particulate matter, which is usually attributed to coal burning and automotive exhaust.
"Old people and young children should reduce outdoor activities and protect their health," the spokeswoman said.
The Beijing Evening News warned residents not to do their morning exercises on Friday as pollution levels were likely to linger over the capital until a cold front moved in and blew some of the bad air away later in the day.
A lack of wind in the capital over recent days has led to a heavy cover of smog trapping in the pollutants, the paper said.
By nightfall, the pollution was still horrendously thick.
In the run up to the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing has vowed to clean up its air and this year set a goal of 245 "blue sky days," or days with only light pollution.
As of Thursday, the city needed one more day to reach the annual goal, the bureau said. But official "blue sky days" are often hazy affairs with heavy pollution.
Beijing's air quality is routinely rated among the worst in the world by international agencies such as the United Nations and the World Bank, with rampant coal burning, regular dust storms and a growing number of cars cited as the main reasons.
The head of the government's information office, Cai Wu, told reporters on Thursday that Beijing's environment was improving and they should have "full confidence" that the Olympics would be pollution free.BEIJING -- Beijingers were warned to stay indoors on Thursday as pollution levels across the capital hit the top of the scale, despite repeated assurances by the government that air quality was improving.
"This is as bad as it can get," a spokeswoman for the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau told Agence France-Presse.
"Level five is the worst level of air pollution. This is as bad as it has been all year."
According to the bureau's website, 15 out of the 16 pollution monitoring stations in urban Beijing registered a "five" for air quality rating.
The main pollutant was suspended particulate matter, which is usually attributed to coal burning and automotive exhaust.
"Old people and young children should reduce outdoor activities and protect their health," the spokeswoman said.
The Beijing Evening News warned residents not to do their morning exercises on Friday as pollution levels were likely to linger over the capital until a cold front moved in and blew some of the bad air away later in the day.
A lack of wind in the capital over recent days has led to a heavy cover of smog trapping in the pollutants, the paper said.
By nightfall, the pollution was still horrendously thick.
In the run up to the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing has vowed to clean up its air and this year set a goal of 245 "blue sky days," or days with only light pollution.
As of Thursday, the city needed one more day to reach the annual goal, the bureau said. But official "blue sky days" are often hazy affairs with heavy pollution.
Beijing's air quality is routinely rated among the worst in the world by international agencies such as the United Nations and the World Bank, with rampant coal burning, regular dust storms and a growing number of cars cited as the main reasons.
The head of the government's information office, Cai Wu, told reporters on Thursday that Beijing's environment was improving and they should have "full confidence" that the Olympics would be pollution free.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20071227-109058/Beijing_air_pollution_as_bad_as_it_can_get_official_says

Extending a sea ethic would mean recognizing the ocean’s importance to the continued existence of life on our planet and to human futures. From this recognition would flow an appropriate sense of moral imperative, commitment, and urgency—urgency toward ending overfishing and wasteful bycatch and aggressively rebuilding depleted ocean wildlife populations, stabilizing human effects on world climate, slowing habitat destruction, stemming global transport and accidental introduction of "alien" species, curbing the flow of contaminants and trash, developing sustainable seafood farming, cultivating an informed approach to the seafood marketplace, and implementing networks of protected areas in the sea." - Dr. Carl Safina


http://planktonforums.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4308&sid=20753cb6029b382c4586a4987854ae34

Sustainable Fisheries

Fish currently supply the greatest percentage of the world's protein consumed by humans. This fact may soon change, however, given that most of the world's major fisheries are being fished at levels above their maximum sustainable yield and many regions are severely overfished. More than 70% of the world's fisheries are overexploited, which threatens the health, economy, and livelihoods of communities all over the world. The global fishing fleet is estimated to be 250% larger than needed to catch what the ocean can sustainably produce.

http://marinebio.org/Oceans/Conservation/SustainableFisheries.asp

Marine Biology

The ocean gives us life. It provides the majority of our oxygen, the rain, food, excitement, wonder, and mystery. The ocean buffers the weather and helps regulate global temperature, manages vast amounts of our pollutants, contains all kinds of amazing creatures, and supports all life on our planet. But—the ocean is just now beginning to be understood and with that understanding comes the increasing realization that the ocean is in deep trouble. Marine conservation efforts are simply overwhelmed by the number and scale of the problems the ocean faces.

http://marinebio.org/