The World Can’t Wait

Global Climate Change

by Ellen Gordon

“So today, we dumped another 70 million tons of glob-

al–warming pollution into the thin shell of atmosphere

surrounding our planet, as if it were an open sewer.

And tomorrow, we will dump a slightly larger amount,

with the cumulative concentrations now trapping more

and more heat from the sun...In the last few months,

it has been harder and harder to misinterpret the signs

that our world is spinning out of kilter. Major cities in

North and South America, Asia and Australia are nearly

out of water due to massive droughts and melting

glaciers. Desperate farmers are losing their livelihoods.

Peoples in the frozen Arctic and on low-lying Pacific is-

lands are planning evacuations of places they have long

called home. Unprecedented wildfires have forced a

half million people from their homes in one country and

caused a national emergency that almost brought down

the government in another. Climate refugees have

migrated into areas already inhabited by people with

different cultures, religions, and traditions, increasing

the potential for conflict. Stronger storms in the Pacific

and Atlantic have threatened whole cities. Millions

have been displaced by massive flooding in South Asia,

Mexico and 18 countries in Africa. As temperature

extremes have increased, tens of thousands have lost

their lives. We are recklessly burning and clearing our

forests and driving more and more species into extinc-

tion. The very web of life on which we depend is being

ripped and frayed…The future is knocking at our door

right now. Make no mistake, the next generation will

ask us one of two questions. Either they will ask: ‘What

were you thinking; why didn’t you act.’ or they will ask

instead; ‘How did you find the moral courage to rise

and successfully resolve a crisis that so many said was

impossible to solve.’"

That quote is excerpted from former vice-president Al

Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech of Decem-

TCS Bulletin

Volume 29 (4) 2007

INSIDE

Message from the

President

.....................

2

TCS Member

Comments..............6

Book Review...........7

NewsNotes

..................

8

Word Find.............10

Chapter Updates

.......

11

Membership Infor-

mation ................12

TCS21..................12

Upcoming

Conferences

..............

13

Board of

Directors

....................

14

continued on page 3

President’s Message

TCS 29 (4)

Dear TCS Members,

Many of you know that I recently relocated and made a job change to Washington, DC, where federal policy deci-

sions and implementation can affect our individual and collective ability to improve the state of our coasts and

oceans. With a quickly approaching U.S. presidential election this fall, reauthorization of the nation’s primary

coastal management statute, the Coastal Zone Management Act, and climate change and energy discussions ringing

through the halls of Congress, it’s an exciting time and full of opportunities.

With a new year comes heightened expectations and hope for personal and professional successes in our lives. For

an organization like TCS, a new year brings with it both common goals for the organization and its members and

challenges for meeting the fire hose of demands for improved coastal management around the world.

TCS is in a unique position to create a bridge between the national policy discussions and the work done by state

and local governments, regional bodies, private sector entities and environmental organizations, making the best

use of our body of members that represents different disciplines, regions, organizations, and expertise.

With several new members to our Board of Directors, new policies and committees, and our biennial conference

just six months away, TCS has a bright year ahead. For the Society to be most effective, I invite you to share with

TCS your ideas for how we can best serve as this bridge and how we can enable you to realize your most effective

contribution for this new year.

My sincerest wishes to the TCS family for a bright 2008!

The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent TCS nor its Board.

TCS BULLETIN

VOLUME 29 (4) 2007

2

Sincerely,

Kristen M. Fletcher

TCS President

Climate Change

TCS 29 (4)

TCS BULLETIN

VOLUME 29 (4) 2007

3

ber 10, 2007. “Climate refugees" is a rather chilling new

addition to the lexicon. Gore emphatically lays out our

imperative; to do everything we can, as individuals and

associations, to ensure that it is the latter question we

will be answering.

For the first two weeks of December, much of the world

was represented at the United Nations Climate Change

Conference in Bali. This gathering marked a global effort

to establish a framework for negotiations on a new world

agreement, to replace the soon-to-expire Kyoto Protocol

for curbing global warming. An intransigent U.S., the sin-

gle remaining industrial nation not signed on to the Kyoto

Protocol, held out until nearly the end. In a dramatic

flourish, only when the Conference had extended into a

day of overtime did the U.S. join the historic deal be-

ing brokered on this Indonesian island. Significantly, the

accord sets late 2009 as the target for a climate treaty—

speeding up the original targeted date, but still timed for

well after President George Bush leaves office.

Among difficulties that delayed agreement were protract-

ed international negotiations that bore a striking resem-

blance to a cabal of argumentative, pouting children,

finger pointing, ducking blame and responsibility, each

refusing to be the first to agree to change; “I will if you

will," and “you go first, then I’ll try it," with the U.S. on

one side of the debate and China, India and other devel-

oping countries on the other. Nearly 190 nations attended

the conference, which opened with a standing ovation for

Australia’s new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, in recognition

of his recent signing of the Kyoto Protocol. He remarked

that, "The other nations must not allow the U.S. to derail,

delay or water down the Bali mandate."

And indeed, on December 14, 2007, poor and rich na-

tions agreed, for the first time, to each consider ways to

reduce greenhouse gases. The action plan sets the stage

for a new, binding treaty that may be humanity’s best

hope for preventing the worst predictions about global

warming. Developing nations, including giants China, In-

dian and Brazil need only consider “measurable actions,"

while richer nations agreed to seek “quantified emissions

cuts." In an interview with the “Christian Science Moni-

tor," Hans Joachim Schellnhubner, Germany’s top climate

adviser expressed his belief that, “The role of the indus-

trialized countries is to demonstrate that you can protect

the climate and nevertheless prosper and increase your

well-being as a society. Germany has now put together

a package for a 40 percent reduction of emissions—very

ambitious, but we did the calculations and in the end it

will save us money…In particular, we need to be on an

emission-reduction path that doesn’t allow global tem-

peratures to rise more than 2 degrees C above pre-indus-

trial levels. This is very ambitious. But we know if we

get into the 3-5 degrees realm, we will be faced by major

crises like a complete meltdown of the Greenland ice

sheets, a collapse of the Amazon rain forests, a sea-level

rise of 10-20 meters in the long run. So the goal has to

be spelled out, and it has to be as simple as possible. Of

course, achieving this kind of simplicity can be extremely

complicated."

Will history look back and view the Bali conference as the

beginning of a geopolitical shift. In the past, industrial

countries set the terms and cut the deals and presented

developing countries with the results. At the Bali con-

ference, “developing countries were fuming that U.S.

insistence was forcing the road map to confine scientific

recommendations on necessary emission cuts by industrial

countries to a footnote. Their ire was fed by a comment

from a senior member of the U.S. delegation, James Con-

naughton, head of the Council on Environmental Quality

who told reporters that, ‘the U.S. will lead’ on global

climate change, ‘but leadership requires that others fall

in line and follow.’" Kevin Conrad, head of Papua-New

Guinea’s delegation responded, “We seek your leadership.

But if for some reason you are not willing to lead, leave it

to the rest of us. Please get out of the way."

Another unprecedented event announced during the Bali

conference: over 200 climate scientists put away their

traditional dispassionate stance and urged government

leaders to take radical action to slow global warming

because "there is no time to lose." Signers of the peti-

tion called for the world to cut greenhouse gas emissions

in half by 2050. "The amount of carbon dioxide in our

atmosphere now far exceeds the natural range of the

past 650,000 years, and it is rising very quickly due to

human activity," the scientists stated. "If this trend is not

halted soon, many millions of people will be at risk from

extreme events such as heat waves, drought, floods and

storms, our coasts and cities will be threatened by rising

sea levels, and many ecosystems, plants and animal spe-

cies will be in serious danger of extinction."

On November 16, 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on

Climate Change (IPCC), co-recipients of the Nobel Peace

Prize with Al Gore, published their “Synthesis Report of

the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report." It stated that,

Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is

1.

now evident from observations of increases in global

continued from page 1

continued on page 4

Climate Change

TCS 29 (4)

continued on page 5

continued from page 3

TCS BULLETIN

VOLUME 29 (4) 2007

4

by climate change. Particular areas of concern include

coastal ecosystems, especially mangroves and salt

marshes, due to multiple stresses; coral reefs, also due

to multiple stresses (including ocean acidification); and

the sea ice biome, because of sensitivity to warming. Low

lying coastal ecosystems will be seriously impacted by

sea level rise and increased risk from extreme weather

events. Small islands will also suffer disproportionately,

due to high exposure of population and infrastructure to

projected climate changes.

Sobering summative statements in this report include:

Altered frequencies and intensities of extreme weather,

average air and ocean temperatures, widespread

melting of snow and ice, and rising global sea level.

Observational evidence from all continents and most

2.

oceans shows that many natural systems are being

affected by regional climate changes, particularly

temperature increases.

There is medium confidence that other effects of re -

3.

gional climate change on natural and human environ-

ments are emerging, although many are difficult to

discern due to adaptation and non-climatic drivers.

The Synthesis Report points out that certain systems,

sectors and regions are likely to be especially hard hit

Warming of the climate

system is unequivocal

• Increasing global air and ocean

temperatures

• Rising global average sea level

• Reductions of snow and ice

mitigation action. Their applicability depends on national

circumstances..."

What will we tell the next generation.

The impacts of changing climate are already many and

varied. Please be sure and take a look at this issue’s

NewsNotes. In keeping with our thematic focus, all of

the stories focus on coastal and ocean aspects of these

changes.

Ellen Gordon, Bulletin Editor agrees with the Dalai Lama

when he said, on November 15, 2005, “I believe that the

twenty first century can become the most important cen -

tury of human history. I think a new reality is emerging.

Whether this view is realistic or not, there is no harm in

making an effort."

together with sea level rise are expected to have mostly

adverse effects on natural and human systems.

Anthropogenic warming and sea level rise would continue

for centuries due to the timescales associated with the

climate processes and feedback, even if greenhouse gas

concentrations were to be stabilized. Impacts may be

abrupt or irreversible, depending upon the rate and mag-

nitude of the climate change.

Nonetheless, the report offers hope; “Both bottom-up

and top-down studies indicate that there is high agree-

ment and much evidence of substantial economic poten-

tial for the mitigation of global greenhouse gas emissions

over the coming decades that could offset the projected

growth of global emissions or reduce emissions below

current levels…A wide variety of policies and instruments

are available to governments to create the incentives for

Climate Change

TCS 29 (4)

TCS BULLETIN

VOLUME 29 (4) 2007

5

continued from page 4

Route 133 in Ipswich, MA during May 2006 flooding. Yes, this is

a road!

Pedestrian Bridge downstream of the Ipswich Mills Dam in

downtown Ipswich, MA during the May 2006 flooding. There is

normally about 4 feet between the bridge and the water!

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE. © Stephan Pastis/Dist. by United Feature Syndicate Inc.

TCS Member Comments

TCS 29 (4)

TCS BULLETIN

VOLUME 29 (4) 2007

6

TCS Members Speak Out

Invited to offer their comments on the theme of this Bul-

letin issue, Global Climate Change, here are responses

we received from members.

It would be easy for surfers to get lulled into thinking that

global climate change might be good for surfing. Warmer

water, increased frequency and strength of storms (that

produce those waves we love) and hotter summer days all

sound pretty good. That said, global warming will also kill

coral reefs that make some of our best waves, increase

coastal erosion leading to loss of access, beaches and

coastal property, and increase sea level rise swamping

some of our favorite breaks. That is only the beginning

of the problems. You can learn more about the Surfrider

Foundation’s perspective on global climate change at:

http://www.surfrider.org/srui.aspx.uiq=a-z/global_warm-

ing. - Chad Nelsen, Surfrider Foundation, PO Box 6010,

San Clemente, CA 92674. phone: 949.492.8170x40,

email: cnelsen@surfrider.org

Actually there is something I have been wanting to say to

all the naysayers. Even if you don't believe that humans

are contributing to climate change; individuals, industry

and governments should take action for many reasons. We

need to cut use of and dependence on fossil fuels to save

money, prevent air and water pollution, reduce wastes,

reduce conflicts and save lives (fighting over oil), and

more. Some argue that costs are too high or too much

land is needed for solar power. However, in Florida for

example, there are many large developments with lots

of rooftops. If these had photovoltaic panels, they could

power not only the subdivisions, but also whole towns.

- Anonymous TCS Member

One of the reasons that threats from climate change to

coastal areas, including stronger and more frequent ma-

jor storms and sea level rise, are so serious is that federal

policy has helped put more Americans in harm’s way. Fed-

eral flood insurance has subsidized rapid coastal develop -

ment over the last few decades, and the result is massive

losses from hurricanes, increasing costs of beach renour-

ishment, and other costs of mitigation. Although we may

be “stuck with" federal flood insurance as an ongoing

commitment of sorts, there are new proposals to create

federal subsidies for wind damage insurance as well. One

rationale is that private insurers, who make their money

by assessing risk, are increasingly reluctant to issue wind

damage coverage in certain areas, are raising rates when

they do issue coverage, and are calling for much stricter

and more expensive building codes in wind-prone coastal

areas. Federal subsidies skew the market by masking real

costs and penalizing non-consumers of these subsidized

services. When climate change raises the risks of coastal

wind damages, does it make sense for federal subsidies

for coastal construction to put more people and struc-

tures at risk. - Lawrence B. Cahoon

Coverage of climate change and associated sea level rise

needs improvement. Communicating about them is chal-

lenging because they are gradual, long-term phenomena,

and other risks are more immediate. Legitimate scientific

debate is ongoing. People know there is controversy, but

the range of predictions and underlying assumptions often

are not explained clearly. Communications should accu-

rately portray scientific information, come from trusted

sources, be impartial, and outline policy options. Mes-

sages should be crafted carefully, tailored, and clear. Fol-

lowing this approach would better inform individuals and

communities and hopefully motivate them to consider and

pursue ways to mitigate and adapt to future conditions.

- Rebecca L. Feldman, Master of Environmental Manage-

ment, 2007; Coastal Environmental Management & Geo-

spatial Analysis; Nicholas School of the Environment and

Earth Sciences

Whether the atmosphere cools or warms, the oceans are

changing at unprecedented rates. We are faced with a

combination of changes underway in our oceans that,

for lack of a better phrase represent a “perfect storm."

In our oceans, CO2 is rising and pH is falling; oxygen is

declining, sea temperatures are rising; unprecedented

amounts of nitrogen are entering our oceans. All of these

factors react with each other, exacerbating the direction

of change leading to potential collapse of our marine eco-

systems, uncertainties about availability of protein from

the sea and ultimately to food shortages. These changes

are the result of our way of life and require urgent soci-

etal change--from stopping CO2 emissions to rethinking

how we grow crops with fertilizers. We have no alterna-

tives. Suggestions such as iron fertilization and other

technical fixes represent reckless band-aids. And carbon

sequestration make such a small dent in ridding our world

of CO2 and leaves such an unacceptable environmental

footprint and impact, not to speak of waste of energy to

capture the CO2 that we are left with only one solution;

not to emit these harmful substances.

Also, our oceans are by far the largest sink for CO2 by

magnitudes. Yet the rate of uptake has begun to decline

as the capacity of other sinks is becoming saturated,

leaving our atmosphere without sinks in the foreseeable

continued on page 11

Forty, Fifty, Sixty: A Fictional Trilogy

about Global Warming

global warming made more palatable with

a good story

Forty Signs of Rain, Fifty Degrees Below,

Sixty Days and Counting

By Kim Stanley Robinson

Reviewed by Beverly Jernberg

I’m a rather lazy student and enjoy learning from a good

writer with a gift for storytelling who does all the re-

search. When a friend told me about Kim Stanley Robin-

son’s fictional series on global warming, I started to read

and found them to be engaging, humorous--and terrifying.

The books are set in the near future (the Bush adminis-

tration is not named, but almost perfectly described),

primarily in Washington D.C. The main characters are

scientists working for the National Science Foundation, a

federal agency. The actual science fiction aspect is pretty

minimal, with the exception of super-accelerated climate

change, some fancier cell phones, surveillance equip-

ment--and the concept that a minor government agency

can convince indifferent, self-satisfied politicians to do

something about global warming!

In Forty Signs of Rain, temperatures have risen 6°F, the

coral reefs have died, and a huge, Katrina-like event

happens to Washington, DC. Robinson contrasts the world

events with wonderful domestic situations. Anna Quibler,

one of the directors at NSF, is a warm, appealing working

mom. She opens the first book with her workday morn-

ing; Robinson’s writing is so good that he makes even that

dull event an attention grabber. Her husband, Charlie

Quibler, is a stay-at-home dad to their two boys and an

environmental adviser to a pro-environment senator. His

interactions with his 18 month old son are hilarious and

heartwarming.

Frank Vanderwal, temporarily at NSF on leave from a

University faculty position and an angry ex-girlfriend in

California has the most adventures, both internal and

external. Trying to remain the cool, cynical, detached

scientist, he is completely undone by a monk’s remark

and a sexy encounter in a stuck elevator. A group of Bud-

dhists from a fictional island in the Indian Ocean that’s in

imminent danger from rising sea level round out the cast

and provide a wonderful counterpoint to the western-

thinking scientists.

Robinson, an award winning sci-fi writer with a large

Book Review

TCS 29 (4)

TCS BULLETIN

VOLUME 29 (4) 2007

7

following, has much in common with his characters. He

grew up in California, has lived in Switzerland and in

Washington D.C. He is married to an environmental

chemist, and has been a stay-at-home dad to their two

boys while continuing his prolific writing. His PhD is in

literature, but he is hugely interested in science and the

outdoors.

He cuts our politicians very little slack. At one point,

Charlie is called to an emergency meeting with the

president’s science advisor. Charlie thinks of the guy as

a “pompous ex-academic of the worst kind, hauled out

of the depths of a second-rate conservative think tank."

The president is called “the happy man" with “such a

huge amount of low cunning that it amounted to a kind of

genius."

In the second book, Fifty Degrees Below, the Gulf Stream

stops and it gets very, very cold. Frank finds himself

homeless in the aftermath of the storm because his

apartment lease has expired and new rentals are impos-

sible to find (flooding during the Katrina-like event having

destroyed parts of residential DC), at the same time that

he’s committed to a second year at NSF. Being an experi-

enced outdoorsman with all the necessary gear, he builds

a tree house in a closed section of Rock Creek Park, goes

to a gym for his showers & keeps his clothes in his van.

This was my favorite part of all three novels for the same

reason that the author ascribes to Frank: a childhood ex-

perience at Disneyland’s Swiss Family Robinson treehouse.

When the extreme weather hits, he struggles to cope both

on a global level at work and on a personal level, living

outdoors in the deep cold.

In Sixty Days and Counting, the third in the series, sea

level continues to rise dramatically and a president is

finally elected who is devoted to stopping global warming.

It’s an interesting exercise to see what Robinson’s ideal,

committed leader does to address the huge environmental

problems that have evolved.

Certainly there are flaws, but they are well worth over-

looking, as the story is wonderfully told, making global

warming a personal, very real prospect. Robinson weaves

in the scientific explanations, his world view philosophy,

Buddhism, and economics with a light hand, creating a

thoroughly enjoyable read.

Bev Jernberg is an avid DC-area paddler and gardener

who prefers winters without subzero temperatures.

NewsNotes

TCS 29 (4)

Climate Change Hits Seabirds in Australia

Birds Australia has released a report that the impact of a

recent coral-bleaching event in the southern Great Barrier

Reef has propagated up the food web to tropical seabirds.

The bleaching event has lead to a decrease in food sup-

ply that ultimately caused the death of more than 2,000

adult shearwaters and breeding failures at several seabird

colonies, with some island colonies experiencing a loss

of all chicks. The group argues for dire consequences for

northern Australia’s seabirds if bleaching events become

more common and more widespread as they are predicted

to with climate change. This would come as a sharp blow

to Australia’s seabirds, as most colonies are already in

decline from other causes, such as invasive species and

habitat loss. Excerpted from APINFO. http://www.bird-

saustralia.com.au/soab/

Scientists Warn Soft Corals Are Melting

In his recent study, Hudi Benayahu, Tel Aviv University

Professor and head of TAU's Porter School of Environmen-

tal Studies made the stark discovery that soft corals are

disappearing from their watery habitats around the world.

Benayahu told Science Daily on Nov. 13, “Environmental

stress is damaging the symbiotic relationship between soft

corals and the microscopic symbiotic algae living in their

tissues." He adds, “There is no doubt that global warming

is to blame."

Like their reef-forming relatives, soft corals play an

important role in marine ecosystems, by providing pro-

tection for numerous fishes and other marine life. In

addition, some soft coral species contain important

compounds used in pharmaceuticals. During the past

two years, Benayahu has observed his study sites around

the globe go from 50 to 60 percent soft coral cover to

5 percent, today. Excerpted from APINFO. http://www.

sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071112105938.htm

Without Its Insulating Ice Cap, Arctic Surface Waters

Warm to as Much as 5 Degrees C above Average

Record-breaking amounts of ice-free water have deprived

the Arctic of more of its natural "sunscreen" than ever

in recent summers. The effect is so pronounced that sea

surface temperatures rose to 5 degrees C above aver-

age in one place this year, a high never before observed,

says the oceanographer who has compiled the first-ever

look at average sea surface temperatures for the region.

Such superwarming of surface waters can affect how

thick ice grows back in the winter, as well as its ability to

withstand melting the next summer, according to Michael

Steele, an oceanographer with the University of Washing-

ton's Applied Physics Laboratory. Indeed, since September,

the end of summer in the Arctic, winter freeze-up in some

areas is two months later than usual. The extra ocean

warming also might be contributing to some changes

on land, such as previously unseen plant growth in the

coastal Arctic tundra, if heat coming off the ocean dur-

ing freeze-up is making its way over land, says Steele.

Source: University of Washington, EurekAlert.

http://www.eurekalert.org/

Urea Fertilization Experiment Alarms Environmental

Groups

Environmental groups led by Greenpeace South-East Asia

cautioned the Philippine government on Monday, Novem-

ber 12 to stop experimental urea dumping in the Sulu Sea,

the body of water between the Philippines and Malaysia.

The project by Ocean Nourishment Corp., an Australian

biotech company, involves the release of urea granules

into the ocean in order to act as a fertilizer to increase

plankton growth. Plankton absorbs carbon dioxide from

the atmosphere and the company is touting its project

as a carbon offset initiative and a way to combat climate

change.

However, environmentalists are concerned that increasing

plankton levels could suffocate marine life and perma-

nently change ecosystems, which could potentially affect

the food supply and livelihoods of thousands of regional

fishers. Beau Bacongis, Greenpeace South-East Asia cam-

paigner, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur that ocean nourish-

ment, which is being promoted as a solution to climate

change is “really an unnecessary distraction" towards

efforts to fight global warming. In October, the company

released one ton of urea into the Sulu Sea without per-

mission from the Philippine government and is now under

investigation. The company has plans for a larger experi-

ment in which they will release 1,000 tons of urea into

the Sulu Sea. Excerpted from APINFO.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gMp6Gt_xbFLr1G-

m8TjrTE_zcGFKQ

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/

view_article.php.article_id=100151

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/11/austra-

lian-comp.html

AMWA Releases Report on Threats to Water Systems

from Global Warming

Global warming will raise the risk of water pollution and

flood damage to urban water systems, the Association of

Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) said in a report yes-

terday. The association of publicly owned drinking-water

continued on page 9

TCS BULLETIN

VOLUME 29 (4) 2007

8

line/us/AP-Arctic-Melt.html._r=2&pagewanted=all&oref

=slogin&oref=slogin http://www.planetark.com

Tiny New UN Fund to Combat Droughts, Rising Seas

A new UN fund to help poor nations cope with climate

change threats such as droughts or rising seas can start

up in 2008 after a draft deal at UN talks in Bali, the

United Nations said on Tuesday. The Adaptation Fund

now comprises only about $36 million (U.S.) but could

rise to $1-$5 billion a year by 2030 if investment in green

technology in developing nations surges, according to the

highest UN projections. "The fund can become opera-

tional…at the beginning of 2008," Yvo de Boer, head of

the UN Climate Secretariat, told a news conference of

the preliminary deal. Source: Reuters, PlanetArk.

http://www.planetark.com/

Bali’s Fishermen Adapt to Climate Change

As countries from around the world met in Bali to thrash

out a new framework on fighting global warming, the lo-

cal fishing community is adapting to the looming impact

of climate change. Many are turning away from fishing

to a small but innovative scheme aimed at reviving the

tropical island's coral reef, which is threatened by rising

temperatures and over-exploitation. The scheme, run

by environment group World Wildlife Fund, encourages

people to give up damaging fishing practices and turn

instead to the more sustainable and lucrative practice of

seaweed farming. Source: ABC News, Australia.

http://www.abc.net.au/

Carbon Emissions Threaten Coral Reefs

NOAA Coral Reef Watch coordinator Mark Eakin and 17

fellow coral scientists from around the globe say corals

could begin to completely disappear in 50 to 75 years due

to steadily warming temperatures and increasing ocean

acidification caused by carbon dioxide emissions. Their

findings were published today as the cover story in jour-

nal Science. "Our findings are simple. Increasing concen-

trations of atmospheric carbon dioxide are warming and

acidifying the oceans," said Eakin “The impacts will be

dramatic. Coral reef ecosystems will begin to disappear

within the next 50 to 75 years. Warming and acidification

will have devastating impacts on marine biodiversity and

human livelihoods, especially in developing nations that

depend on reefs for much of their economic well be-

ing. Even if atmospheric CO2 stabilized at 550 ppm, not

increasing to the 880 ppm projected by 2100, no existing

coral reef could survive, the researchers said.

Even emission curbs will not be enough without con-

NewsNotes

TCS 29 (4)

systems predicts rising temperatures will increase evapo-

ration and rainfall and decrease snow pack. Nationwide,

increased precipitation and flooding could overwhelm

wastewater treatment facilities, the report says. Citing

U.S. EPA research, the report says most treatment plants

and overflow-control programs were designed according

to historic water flows and do not take into account sea

level rise spurred by rising temperatures. "As a result, it

is conceivable that water suppliers will face a continually

increased influent challenge from sewage overflows, pro-

ducing high concentrations of Giardia, Cryptosporidium

and coliforms," the report says. The report urges planners

to consider methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,

including a re-examination of water transmission and dis-

tribution methods to reduce electricity use during peak

periods, as well as integrating renewable energy sources

like solar or wind-powered pumping. Excerpted from

CSO Weekly. http://www.amwa.net/galleries/climate-

change/AMWA_Climate_Change_Paper_12.13.07.pdf

Antarctica's Penguins Threatened by Global Warming

Antarctica's penguin population has slumped because of

global warming as melting ice has destroyed nesting sites

and reduced their sources of food, a WWF report said on

Tuesday. The Antarctic peninsula is warming five times

faster than the average in the rest of the world, affecting

four penguin species; the Emperor penguin, the largest

and the grandest in the world, the Gentoo, Chinstrap and

Adelie, it said. Source: Reuters, PlanetArk.

http://www.planetark.com/

Have Shrinking Ice Sheets Reached a Tipping Point.

The world's ice sheets may have reached a "tipping point"

beyond which significant melting is irreversible, scien -

tists said at the American Geophysical Union's December

meeting in San Francisco. Recent satellite observations

have revealed that Arctic sea ice shrunk to its smallest

level since scientists began monitoring with satellites

in 1979 and that the Greenland ice sheet thawed at a

record pace this summer, outpacing the previous high set

in 1998 by more than 60 percent. "The amount of ice

lost by Greenland over the last year is the equivalent of

two times all the ice in the Alps, or a layer of water more

than one-half mile (800 meters) deep covering Washing-

ton DC," said Konrad Steffen of the University of Colorado

at Boulder. At the South Pole, scientists have document-

ed large-scale melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet.

NASA climate scientist Jay Zwally states that new data

shows that the Arctic Ocean could be nearly ice-free at

the end of summer by 2012. Excerpted from CSO Weekly

and Reuter’s, PlanetArk. http://www.nytimes.com/apon-

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continued on page 10

NewsNotes / Word Find

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certed management of other threats to these ecosystems.

Under guidance from the NOAA co-chaired US Coral Reef

Task Force, some ecosystem managers at the local level

have been devising "local action plans" to cope with coral

bleaching impacts.

www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/20071213_carbon-

coral.html

Additional Resources of Possible Interest

Rhode Island’s draft climate change and sea level rise

regulations will be supplemented and further modified in

the coming months, and are the basis for the State's plan-

ning and regulatory changes. http://www.crmc.ri.gov/

news/pdf/Redbook_145rev_Oct4proposed.pdf

The Institute of Development Studies In-Focus (Issue 2,

November 2007) focuses on recent research on climate

change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. http://

www.ids.ac.uk/go/publications/ids-series-publications/

in-focus

A report entitled Regional Impacts of Climate Change:

Four Case Studies in the United States was prepared for

the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. http://www.

pewclimate.org/regional_impacts

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The total economic cost of climate change in the United

States will be major and nationwide in scope, but remains

uncounted, unplanned for and largely hidden in public

debate, says a new study from the University of Mary-

land. The report, The U.S. Economic Impacts of Climate

Change and the Costs of Inaction, is the first to pull

together and analyze the previous economic research on

the subject, along with other relevant data, in order to

develop a more complete estimate of costs.

www.cier.umd.edu/climateadaptation/index.html

The Synthesis Report of the Intergovernmental Panel

on Climate Change provides an integrated view of cli-

mate change as the final part of the IPCC's 4th Assessment

Report. All of the IPCC reports are available at: http://

www.ipcc.ch.

The U.S. Drought Portal was officially launched on

November 1, 2007. It was created to provide compre-

hensive information on emerging and ongoing droughts,

and to enhance the nation's drought preparedness. www.

drought.gov

For real time coral reef data on bleaching and tempera-

tures, see: http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/

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