Category Archives: Dolphin

National Briefing | Southwest: Texas: Cleanup of Oil Spill in Galveston Bay Expands, With Booms Set Up to Guard Shore and Bird Habitats

by Myrna Posted on March 24, 2014

Workers picked quarter-size “tar balls” out of the sand along Galveston Bay while crews lined up miles of booms to keep oil away from the shoreline and bird habitats on Monday, two days after a ship collision caused as many as 170,000 gallons of oil to spill and shut down one of the nation’s busiest seaports. View original post here:  National Briefing | Southwest: Texas: Cleanup of Oil Spill in Galveston Bay Expands, With Booms Set Up to Guard Shore and Bird Habitats ; ;Related ArticlesCrews Work to Contain Oil Barge’s LeakDeadly Landslide in Washington StateOpinion: Lessons From the Little Ice Age ;

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National Briefing | Southwest: Texas: Cleanup of Oil Spill in Galveston Bay Expands, With Booms Set Up to Guard Shore and Bird Habitats

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U.S. Agrees to Allow BP Back Into Gulf Waters to Seek Oil

by Myrna Posted on March 13, 2014

Under the agreement, BP will be allowed to bid for new leases as early as next Wednesday, but only as long as the company passes muster on ethics, corporate governance and safety procedures. Source –  U.S. Agrees to Allow BP Back Into Gulf Waters to Seek Oil ; ;Related ArticlesAlbany County Orders a Halt to Growth in Oil ProcessingNational Briefing | South: North Carolina: Utilities Board Chair Is Subpoenaed in Coal Ash InquiryNational Briefing | West: California: Court Upholds Guidelines to Protect Fish ;

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U.S. Agrees to Allow BP Back Into Gulf Waters to Seek Oil

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Most big countries have climate laws

by BetseyStark Posted on February 28, 2014

Most big countries have climate laws

By

Shutterstock

It’s easy to get depressed about the lack of global progress in fighting climate change. But most large nations are at least taking some action.

GLOBE International, a London-based legislators’ group, surveyed climate- and energy-related laws and policies in 66 big countries, which together produce 88 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases. It found that that 62 of the countries have a flagship climate law or regulation, 61 have laws promoting clean energy, and 54 have energy-efficiency laws. In all, there are 487 climate change–related laws or policies in the 66 countries — a sharp increase from decades past:

GLOBE InternationalClick to embiggen.

“Overall, we report substantive legislative progress [last year] in 8 of the 66 countries, which passed flagship legislation, and some positive advances in a further 19 countries,” the report notes. 

But GLOBE International President John Gummer, a climate adviser to the U.K. government, warns that much more action is needed: “We should be clear that the legislative response thus far is not yet sufficient to limit emissions at a level that would cause only a 2 degree Celsius rise in global average temperature, the agreed goal of the international community.”

The following map shows which countries have the most climate-related laws and policies. The light green color of the U.S. indicates that it lags behind global leaders on tackling global warming. But at least it’s ahead of Canada.

GLOBE InternationalClick to embiggen.


Source
The GLOBE Climate Legislation Study, fourth edition, GLOBE International

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Most big countries have climate laws

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Millions of dolphins could be hurt as oil industry blasts along East Coast

by BillieMcmichael Posted on February 28, 2014

Millions of dolphins could be hurt as oil industry blasts along East Coast

By

Simon du Vintage

The Obama administration tentatively gave its environmental blessing to oil industry plans to look for new deposits in the Atlantic Ocean off the East Coast. Recommendations outlined Thursday in a long-awaited environmental report by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management came as music to the ears of drilling companies.

But the air guns that the industry plans to use in its hunt for underwater oil fields won’t sound so sweet to the staggering numbers of dolphins and whales that could end up being maimed.

The oil industry wants to drill along the East Coast, but the last surveys of oil deposits in coastal Atlantic areas were conducted in the 1970s and 1980s using technology that’s now obsolete. So now industry wants to survey with more modern techniques, which McClatchy news service describes this way: “The seismic tests involve vessels towing an array of air guns that blast compressed air underwater, sending intense sound waves to the bottom of the ocean. The booms are repeated every 10 seconds or so for days or weeks.”

Thirty-four marine mammal species, which use sound to navigate, could be harmed by the seismic testing, and some of the animals could be killed. “By failing to consider relevant science, the Obama administration’s decision could be a death sentence for many marine mammals, needlessly turning the Atlantic Ocean into a blast zone,” said Jacqueline Savitz with the nonprofit Oceana. “In its rush to finalize this proposal, the Obama administration is failing to consider the cumulative impacts that these repeated dynamite-like blasts will have on vital behaviors like mating, feeding, breathing, communicating and navigating.”

The government’s new environmental assessment warns that more than a million bottlenose dolphins could be hurt every year by the acoustic blasts, which would extend from the shoreline to as far as 400 miles offshore, from Delaware down to Florida. More than 600,000 short-beaked common dolphins and more than 500,000 Atlantic spotted dolphins could also be affected, along with humpback whales, baleen whales, and other endangered species.

Estimating the damage that could be caused by the air guns is a difficult task, and the report states that its figures are “based on acoustic and impact models that are by their very nature conservative and complex.” The report also includes estimates that would see far fewer whales and dolphins harmed. And some outside experts say threats are not that dire: “There’s no argument that some of these sounds can harm animals, but it’s blown out of proportion,” Arthur N. Popper, head of the University of Maryland’s laboratory of aquatic bioacoustics, told The New York Times.

The report is part of a long administrative process required to move forward with surveys and the easing of a long ban on drilling the Atlantic seafloor. The New York Times explains what’s next:

Actual drilling of test wells could not begin until a White House ban on production in the Atlantic expires in 2017, and even then, only after the government agrees to lease ocean tracts to oil companies, an issue officials have barely begun to study.

The petroleum industry has sunk 51 wells off the East Coast — none of them successful enough to begin production — in decades past. But the Interior Department said in 2011 that 3.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 312 trillion cubic feet of natural gas could lie in the exploration area, and nine companies have already applied for permits to begin surveys.

Much of the controversy around Thursday’s report has focused on largely invisible impacts on charismatic sea life, but the report warns of another obvious risk associated with an exploration and drilling spree: oil spills.

Those can have bad impacts on sea life too. Just ask fishermen along the Gulf of Mexico.


Source
Feds Sentence East Coast to Dynamite-Like Blasts for Big Oil, Oceana
U.S. Moves Toward Atlantic Oil Exploration, Stirring Debate Over Sea Life, The New York Times
Feds support air gun blasts to find Atlantic oil, gas, McClatchy

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Millions of dolphins could be hurt as oil industry blasts along East Coast

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The Beauty of Music, Visualized

by ClemmieSwenson Posted on February 14, 2014

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

The beauty of great data visualization is that it renders wildly complex information into easily digestible pieces. What was once complicated still is, but now it’s much easier to understand. Music does that in its own way, taking individual notes that fit together via incredibly complex patterns and stringing them together to make a rich and nuanced flow that gets past the complexity. When the two come together, you get something like this. Prepare to be mesmerized and blow part of an otherwise productive day with Igor Stravinksy’s The Rite of Spring, visualized, from the people at The Music Animation Machine.

h/t Flowing Data

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The Beauty of Music, Visualized

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Oil spills break fishes’ hearts

by UMMLatoyagycy Posted on February 14, 2014

Oil spills break fishes’ hearts

By

Shutterstock

This Valentine’s Day, BP should dedicate some hearts to fish that were exposed to its Deepwater Horizon spill — new research suggests that the spill may have broken theirs.

Scientists investigating the aftermath of the 2010 oil spill have discovered that even very low concentrations of crude in seawater interfered with the normal pumping of tuna hearts. After exposing captured yellowfin and bluefin to BP oil-spill samples, the researchers detected irregular heartbeats, which can lead to fatal cardiac arrest.

Because a wide range of animals have similar heart designs, the researchers are warning that species from turtles to dolphins could also be affected. Even exposed humans could be at risk.

“The ability of a heart cell to beat depends on its capacity to move essential ions like potassium and calcium into and out of the cells quickly,” said Stanford University researcher Barbara Block, coauthor of a study published Friday in the journal Science. “We have discovered that crude oil interferes with this vital signaling process essential for our heart cells to function properly.”

Check out these graphs from the paper. The top one shows the normal and consistent pumping of 20 healthy tuna heart cells. The bottom one shows arrhythmia in 20 heart cells exposed to BP’s spilled oil.

Science

Click to embiggen.


Source
Stanford, NOAA scientists discover mechanism of crude oil heart toxicity, Stanford University
Crude Oil Impairs Cardiac Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Fish, Science

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Oil spills break fishes’ hearts

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Guns Are for Shooting "All Black People" and Other Horrifying Quotes From the NFL’s Dolphins Investigation

by Thorzar Posted on February 14, 2014

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

In November, after Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Jonathan Martin left the team due to bullying from teammate Richie Incognito, the NFL commissioned an independent investigation to look into the matter. The results of that investigation, released today, reveal a pattern of racist, homophobic, and generally awful instances of harassment that took place inside and outside the Dolphins’ locker room. Read the lowlights—which are vulgar and graphic—below.

Incognito leaves a racist voicemail for Martin (page 10):

“Hey, wassup, you half-nigger piece of shit. I saw you on Twitter, you been training 10 weeks. I’ll shit in your fuckin’ mouth. I’m gonna slap your fuckin’ mouth, I’m gonna slap your real mother across the face laughter. Fuck you, you’re still a rookie. I’ll kill you.”

Incognito and others taunt and harass an Asian American trainer (page 22):

Incognito, Jerry and Pouncey admitted that they directed racially derogatory words toward him, including “Jap” and “Chinaman.” At times, according to Martin, they referred to the Assistant Trainer as a “dirty communist” or a “North Korean,” made demands such as “give me some water you fucking chink,” spoke to him in a phony, mocking Asian accent, including asking for “rubby rubby sucky sucky,” and called his mother a “rub and tug masseuse.” Martin and others informed us that Incognito and Jerry taunted the Assistant Trainer with jokes about having sex with his girlfriend. Incognito admitted that these types of comments were made to the Assistant Trainer.

On December 7, 2012 (the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor), Incognito, Jerry and Pouncey donned traditional Japanese headbands that featured a rising sun emblem and jokingly threatened to harm the Assistant Trainer physically in retaliation for the Pearl Harbor attack. Martin reported that the Assistant Trainer confided to him that he was upset about the Pearl Harbor prank, finding it derogatory and demeaning.

Incognito and an anonymous teammate exchange text messages joking about shooting black people (page 103):

Player B: Fuck yea! That what I’m doin my .338 in. Badass

Incognito: That’s gonna be sick

Player B: Especially if u plan living in Arizona in the future, that’s exactly what you want

Incognito: Yea. For picking off zombies

Player B: Lol isn’t that why we own any weapons!?

Incognito: That and black people

Player B: Mmm def all black ppl

Incognito and others, including a coach, engage in homophobic taunting (page 19):

Incognito and others acknowledged that Player A was routinely touched by Incognito, Jerry and Pouncey in a mockingly suggestive manner, including on his rear end, while being taunted about his supposed homosexuality. Incognito specifically admitted that he would grab Player A and ask for a hug as part of this “joke.”

Martin said that on one occasion, Pouncey physically restrained Player A and, in full view of other players, jokingly told Jerry to “come get some pussy,” and that Jerry responded by touching Player A’s buttocks in a way that simulated anal penetration. Pouncey and Jerry both denied this allegation. Given the seriousness of this allegation and the conflicting recollections, we decline to make any findings about this particular alleged incident.

The evidence shows that offensive line coach Jim Turner overheard and participated in this behavior toward Player A. During the 2012 Christmas season, Coach Turner gave all of the offensive linemen gift bags that included a variety of stocking stuffers. In each gift bag except for Player A’s, Turner included a female “blow-up” doll; Player A’s bag included a male doll.

Incognito tries to get teammates to get rid of evidence—a “fine book” that lists financial penalties for offenses like wearing “ugly ass shoes” or being a “pussy” (page 42):

“They’re trying to suspend me Please destroy the fine book first thing in the morning.”

Martin tells his parents about the taunting and his struggles with depression (page 15):

“I care about my legacy as a professional athlete. But I’m miserable currently. A therapist & medication won’t help me gain the respect of my teammates. I really don’t know what to do Mom.”

“People call me a Nigger to my face. Happened 2 days ago. And I laughed it off. Because I am too nice of a person. They say terrible things about my sister. I don’t do anything. I suppose it’s white private school conditioning, turning the other cheek”

Martin texts a friend with the pros and cons of continuing to play football (page 112):

-Football games are fun

-I can make a lot of money playing football and be set for life

-I have a legacy that will live after I die

-not many people get to live their childhood dream

-I am the left tackle for the Miami dolphins

-if I quit, I’ll be known as a quitter for the rest of my life

-my legacy at Stanford will be tarnished

-I will never be able to look any coach from my past in the eye

-I hate going in everyday.

-I am unable to socialize with my teammates in their crude manner

-I already have a lot of money. I could travel the world, get my degree. Then get a real job

-I could lose 70 lbs and feel good about my body

-I won’t die from CTE

-Maybe I’ll start to LIKE myself

-I don’t need to live lavishly. I could live very frugally

-why do I care about these people? All I need is my family

Read the full report here:

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Miami Dolphins investigation (PDF)

Miami Dolphins investigation (Text)

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Guns Are for Shooting "All Black People" and Other Horrifying Quotes From the NFL’s Dolphins Investigation

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We’re Still at War: Photo of the Day for February 14, 2014

by XZQKirbymrteo Posted on February 14, 2014

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

Sgt Jason O. Lucas, an infantryman assigned to Predator Company, 4th Squadron “Longknife”, 3d Cavalry Regiment, kisses his wife Emily during a redeployment ceremony held Jan. 30 at the West Fort Hood Gym. Lucas returned from a nine-month long deployment in Afghanistan with III Corps. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Michael Dator, 3d Cavalry Regiment Public Affairs)

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We’re Still at War: Photo of the Day for February 14, 2014

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Canadian tar-sands oil could start flooding into Europe

by SandraJohansen Posted on January 24, 2014

Canadian tar-sands oil could start flooding into Europe

By

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Hey, European drivers, how would you like your gasoline to be even more filthy and climate-changing than it already is?

When the European Commission proposed new climate and energy rules for the European Union this week, it recommended opening a door for companies that want to import Canadian tar-sands oil into the continent. Responding to Climate Change explains:

Oil from Canada’s carbon-intensive tar sands — one of the world’s single biggest sources of greenhouse gas pollution — could be used in the petrol tanks of European motorists from 2020 after the European Commission proposed to scrap curbs on imports of highly emissions-intensive fuels. …

“[The EC proposal] is good news for oil companies and Alberta, with its high-carbon tar sands, but bad news for Europe in our move towards a more sustainable transport system,” said Nusa Urbancic, a campaigner with Transport and Environment.

The Natural Resources Defense Council warns that without the E.U. restriction on dirty fuels imports, “global oil market trends suggest that Canadian tar sands exports to Europe will grow from a trickle to a flood.” From a new NRDC report:

Canadian tar sands crude currently only makes up 0.03% of European fuel stocks from an estimated 4,000 [barrels per day] of diesel imported from the U.S. Gulf Coast. However, changes in global energy dynamics left unchecked could lead to a significant rise in the use of tar sands derived fuel, increasing to upwards of 725,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2020 and 640,000 bpd by 2030 according to estimates by NRDC. 

This could make European Union goals to reduce greenhouse gas intensity in the transport sector more difficult.

This NRDC diagram illustrates how the Keystone XL pipeline would help tar-sands miners and refiners ship their product to Europe:

NRDCClick to embiggen.


Source
Canada tar sands set to benefit from EU 2030 climate plan, Responding to Climate Change
Canadian tar sands exports to Europe could grow from a trickle to a flood undermining Europe’s climate goals, Natural Resources Defense Council

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Canadian tar-sands oil could start flooding into Europe

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Enviros step up fight over oil shale mine in Utah

by Arterisa Posted on January 23, 2014

Enviros step up fight over oil shale mine in Utah

By

zeesstof

The mining is planned for Utah’s Book Cliffs.

Environmentalists are, unsurprisingly, not happy about a scheme to strip-mine parts of the Utah desert and toast them at 725 degrees for months on end to get at oil shale deposits.

Oil shale doesn’t actually contain oil, but it can be processed into synthetic oil via an elaborate and expensive process. This Utah project would be the first oil shale mine in the U.S.

Environmental groups are ratcheting up their fight against the plans. Here are the details from a press release put out Wednesday by the Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Trust, and three other groups:

Oil shale strip mining atop Utah’s Book Cliffs is being challenged by conservation groups. The challenge is a “request for agency action” filed Tuesday, over the ground water discharge permit approved by the Utah Department of Water Quality. The permit, which authorizes Red Leaf Resources to test an oil shale mining facility, lacks measures to prevent or detect surface or groundwater pollution, in violation of state law. …

“The scheme used by Red Leaf Resources is basically the same as it was for failed ventures a century ago: mine it, crush it, sort it, put it in an oven, heat it, gather the liquid into a sump, hope that it doesn’t burn the facility down, and get it to a refinery before it congeals,” said John Weisheit, conservation director with Living Rivers.

Red Leaf Resources is dismissing the environmentalists as carbon haters. Deseret News reports:

Jeff Hartley, Red Leaf’s spokesman, said the objection by the environmental groups is less about water and more about energy philosophy.

“My response to criticism of oil shale is that either you hate carbon-based energies or you don’t. And if you hate carbon-based energy sources, you will never like oil shale,” he said. “And if you realize that oil, gas and coal are part of our energy portfolio, you have to embrace oil shale, that it will be successful, and that is what Red Leaf will prove out.” …

Hartley said the goal is for Red Leaf to be producing 300,000 barrels of oil by the end of 2015 — representing the world’s first commercial production of oil shale in decades.

No, Mr. Hartley, to “realize” that gas and oil are currently a part of our energy portfolio most certainly does not mean that one has to “embrace oil shale.” That’s some bullshit logic.


Source
Controversial Utah Oil Shale Project Challenged, Grand Canyon Trust
Fight erupts over uintah basin oil shale mining project, protection of water, Deseret News

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Enviros step up fight over oil shale mine in Utah

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