Category Archives: Oceans

Oceans, Trees

Solutions for Flooding

MarshWe know the climate is warming and that floods and heavy downpours are getting worse. We also know icecaps are melting and sea levels are rising. Many people around the world are affected, especially Bangladesh. It is one of the poorest countries in the world and one that is hardest hit by flooding. Sea levels in the open ocean are rising three millimeters per year but are rising six times faster along the estuaries of southwest Bangladesh.

New Jersey’s beaches and nearby towns are also affected by rising sea levels. Think of Superstorm Sandy and the destruction and loss it caused. One of the reasons coastal towns and cities are being devastated by storm surges is because they have lost their natural defenses. Sand dunes, salt marshes and mangroves have been removed to make way for housing, amusement rides, or hard walled barriers.

Engineers, designers and ecologists now know it is imperative to keep and plant more sand dunes, salt marshes and mangroves. Those soft barriers and natural defenses are necessary. They break up wind, reduce wave heights, and soak up tidal surges. Physics makes it clear, hard barriers (flood gates or sea walls) cannot soak up water. They just push ferocious water back somewhere else. Soft barriers can move with water and soak it up. Mangroves reduce the number of deaths from tsunamis and actually thrive on rising sea levels.

Sadly, we are destroying one percent of mangroves each year, a tragedy which goes unreported. As for salt marshes and sand dunes, I know we have already lost too many. Time is of the essence. Nature can be one of the best defenses against the worst storms and devastating flooding. It is time for us to respect nature, protect it, and work with it. Only then can we avoid unnecessary tragedy and loss.

Oceans, Trees

Beauty and Courage

I recently went to a picnic with some buddies who are environmentalists like me. As we sat around talking we shared some of our frustrations and some of our joy. It made me wonder about my next blog. What is beautiful to you? What are the positive things happening in your life? Did your son or daughter make you laugh? Did you take a walk in the park or in the forest? Perhaps you helped someone do something she could not do alone. Or maybe you looked up at the stars and recognized a constellation or two.

Sadly, there are many people who have never experienced the beauty of nature. They have never put their arms around a tree or walked in a meadow of wild grasses. Some have never seen an ocean or swam in a lake. Others just know the smell of diesel gasoline, and polluted air. Recently, I had the chance to visit Arkansas and Missouri. I was amazed by the beauty of the rolling hills and hay bales, and by all of the lakes and streams. I was happy to go swimming and breathe in some clean, country air.

Luckily, there are so many people making a positive difference in the world and inspiring others to do the same. While I was at my picnic I met Steve Posselt, an Australian who is raising environmental awareness by kayaking around the world. If you look at Steve he has the build and energy of a young man. When I asked him his age he told me he was in his 60’s. I was impressed. He is passionate about leaving a healthy planet for his grandchildren, and about ending our dependence on fossil fuels, especially coal.

I hope you can see beauty around you. And I hope you can protect that beauty. Sometimes, it just takes a little bit of courage to do so.

Oceans

What cruise ships do not tell you

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Powder blue Surgeonfish

How many of you take vacations on a cruise ship? I am sure you are tempted by the idea of traveling to tropical islands and quaint cities. You might also enjoy getting a suntan while sitting by the pool. Perhaps you enjoy all of the dining and entertainment options which are found on board a larger cruiser. You could eat a four course meal with wine on one evening, see a dance performance, or go gambling. If you saw pretty pictures of yellow and blue fish you could decide to go snorkeling or scuba diving. Just beware of what I am about to tell you.

About 20 million people board cruise ships each year. That said, the average cruise ship holds about 3,000 people but newer ones hold 8,000 passengers. What the cruise ship industry is not telling you is the average ship with 3,000 people and crew produces 21,000 gallons of sewage per day. That is enough sewage to fill ten swimming pools in one week. Where does that waste go? It goes, untreated, into the water. This means harmful levels of fecal matter, heavy metals, bacteria, and other contaminants are dumped into the ocean or river. Federal law says sewage only has to be treated if the ship is within 3 nautical miles of shore. Scuba diving or snorkeling might not sound so tempting right now.

The average cruise ships emits more sulfur dioxide than 13 million cars and more soot than 1 million cars. The industry could do better. One way would be use cleaner fuels and have ships plug into onshore power. Cruise lines could also replace sewage treatment technology which is 35 years old. If you don’t like the idea of swimming with sewage, tropical fish and dolphins don’t either. The next time you book a trip, opt for an environmentally friendly cruise line.

Oceans, Oil spills

Where was the most recent oil spill?

Oiled-Pelican-Before-After-CleaningJust last week we heard about another oil spill near Santa Barbara, California. The situation was so bad that Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency. The spill damaged two beaches (one is Refugio State Beach), fisheries and animal habitats. It has also caused the death of sea lions, seals, and pelicans. The oil slick measures more than 9 miles long and lies next to a natural marine sanctuary and underwater preserve home to dolphins, whales, sea lions, birds and fish. The oil release was caused by a broken onshore pipeline that spewed oil down a storm drain and into the ocean. At least 105,000 gallons of oil entered the water. Again, as with other oil spills, the safety record of the company which operated the pipeline was called into question. You would think the company, Plains All American Pipeline, would have a shut off valve on its equipment.

Sometimes I just want to bang my head against a wall. How many catastrophes and dead animals do we have to have until we stop using fossil fuels? Fossil fuels are no longer the answer. We can use alternative energy, such as wind and solar, to power our cars, homes and offices. Have you ever heard of a solar or wind spill? Enough solar energy reaches the Earth in one hour to power the needs of the entire world for a full year.

Luckily, many people are helping to save and clean animals covered in oil.  Perhaps scientist Paul Stamets of Washington can help clean up the spill with his oyster mushrooms. Better yet, we could reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. The time is now. Fossil fuels are contributing to climate change and pollution. We need a healthy environment, animals and ecosystems. Without them we are impoverished. Time is running out and it is urgent for each one of us to demand change.

Oceans

Health Matters

b2bThese past weeks have been challenging in many ways. I learned that a student of mine has lupus and another woman has lung cancer. Fortunately, neither condition appears to be life-threatening. And each person has access to quality medical care. I wonder though, how often do we take our good health for granted? It is easy to do, given our pace of life. We run around from dawn until dusk and do not always appreciate our ability to push open a heavy door, see a pink or red tulip in the yard, or smell the scent of pine trees. Perhaps you take excellent care of your health. You eat a wide variety of organic foods, exercise and get enough sleep. Sadly, this does not appear to be enough. And that is what worries me. I am concerned about the amount of pollution which is everywhere and affecting all of us.

Pollution comes in many forms. Soot, for example, belches out of our cars, airplanes, boats, and trucks. Then there is noise pollution from heavy machinery and industrial processes. Next comes soil treated with poisonous fertilizers and heavy chemicals. The list goes on and on. What I am trying to say is that pollution, in all its states, affects us. It affects our physical body and our mental well-being. Just think about how great you feel when you are outside at the beach on a sunny day. Contrast that to how you feel when you walk across the street and are caught in a cloud of exhaust fumes from an old diesel truck that just drove by.

So many people are sick with all sorts of diseases. Pollution weakens our immune systems and damages our health. It also weakens immune systems and damages the health of animals. Do we normally hear about animals with lupus or lung cancer? No. But the truth is animals all over the world are getting sick too. Imagine a dolphin breathing the exhaust fumes from a motor boat. Imagine a bird which eats a piece of plastic thinking it is a piece of food. We can do better. We can do better for them and for us. Ride a bike instead of using the car, use a row-boat instead of a motor boat. And remember, reduce, re-use, and recycle.

Oceans, Seals

Oceans, Seals & Garbage

Did you ever stop and wonder, like I have, what happens to the tons of garbage we produce every day? Sure, some of it gets recycled. And some of it gets burned. And some of it ends up in a landfill. But a lot of it ends up in the ocean. In fact, more than a million pounds of plastic is dumped into the ocean every hour. Yes, read that again, over one million pounds of plastic goes into the ocean every hour.

Right now there is a great Pacific Ocean garbage patch that is believed to contain more than 3 million tons of plastic. And there is another patch in the Atlantic Ocean and one in the Indian Ocean.

What does this mean for the seals, dolphins, fish, whales and other animals? It means a lot of these animals are eating plastic. That plastic ends up in their stomachs. And we all know plastic is not a nutritious food source. I met a beautiful seal who survived a bad diet of plastic because she was rescued in time. Her photo and the garbage which came out of her stomach is above. Sadly, many other seals and animals are not as lucky. They die.

So, what can you do? What can I do? Our garbage goes away somewhere. When you think about it, garbage never really goes away. It just gets transported to another location. I look at my own consumption patterns. I even read about someone who carried his garbage around with him everywhere he went for several weeks. You can bet that he bought less and had a re-usable water bottle. What if we all did that? What if we stopped buying so many things? What if we stopped using and producing plastic? What if we changed our ways? Each one of us makes a difference. Each and every one of our actions counts.