Environmental Conservation News - 2005

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Retreating glaciers, melting permafrost threaten Arctic lifestyle

ILULISSAT, Greenland (AP) -- The gargantuan chunks of ice breaking off the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier and thundering into an Arctic fjord make a spectacular sight. But to Greenlanders it is also deeply worrisome.

The frequency and size of the icefalls are a powerful reminder that the frozen sheet covering the world's largest island is thinning -- a glaring sign of global warming, scientists say.

"In the past we could walk on the ice in the fjord between the icebergs for a six-month period during the winter, drill holes and fish," said Joern Kristensen, a fisherman and one of the indigenous Inuit who are most of Greenland's population of 56,000.

"We can only do that for a month or two now. It has become more difficult to drive dog sleds because the ice between the icebergs isn't solid anymore."

In 2002-2003, a six-mile-long stretch of the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier broke off and drifted silently out of the fjord near Ilulissat, Greenland's third largest town, 155 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

Although Greenland, three times the size of Texas, is the prime example, scientists say the effects of climate change are noticeable throughout the Arctic region, from the northward spread of spruce beetles in Canada to melting permafrost in Alaska and northern Russia.

Indigenous people, who for centuries have adapted their lives to the cold, fear that even small and gradual changes could have a profound impact.

"We can see a trend that the fall is getting longer and wetter," said Lars-Anders Baer, a political leader of Sweden's Sami, a once nomadic, reindeer-herding people.

"If the climate gets warmer, it is probably bad for the reindeer. New species (of plants) come in and suffocate other plants that are the main food for the reindeer," he said.

Rising temperatures are also a concern in the Yamalo-Nenets region in Western Siberia, said Alexandr Navyukhov, 49. He is an ethnic Nenet, a group that lives mostly off hunting, fishing and deer-breeding.

"We now have bream in our river, which we didn't have in the past because that fish is typical of warmer regions," he said. "On the one hand it may look like good news, but bream are predatory fish that prey upon fish eggs, often of rare kinds of fish."

Global warming

Melting permafrost has damaged hundreds of buildings, railway lines, airport runways and gas pipelines in Russia, according to the 2004 Arctic Climate Impact Assessment commissioned by the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental body.

Research also shows that populations of turbot, Atlantic cod and snow crab are no longer found in some parts of the Bering Sea, an important fishing zone between Alaska and Russia, and that flooding along the Lena River, one of Siberia's biggest, has increased with warming temperatures.

In Greenland, Anthon Utuaq, a 68-year-old retired hunter, worries that a warmer climate will make it harder for his son to continue the family trade.

"Maybe it will be difficult for him to find the seals," Utuaq said, resting on a bench in the east coast town of Kulusuk. "They will head north to colder places if it gets warmer."

Arctic sea ice has decreased by about 8 percent, or more than 380,000 square miles, over the past 30 years.

In Sisimiut, Greenland's second largest town, lakes have doubled in size in the last decade.

"Greenland was perceived as this huge solid place that would never melt," said Robert Corell of the American Meteorological Society, a Boston-based scientific organization. "The evidence is now so strong that the scientific community is convinced that global warming is the cause."

How much of it is natural and how much is caused by humans burning fossil fuels is sharply debated. Greenland itself endured sharp climate shifts long before fossil fuels were an issue, and sustained Norse settlements for 400 years until the 15th century.

"We know that temperatures have gone up and it's partly caused by man. But let's hold our horses because it's not everywhere that the ice is melting. In the Antarctic, only 1 percent is melting," said Bjoern Lomborg, a Danish researcher and prominent naysayer on the magnitude of the global-warming threat.

Rate of melting

An iceberg floats in the bay in Kulusuk, Greenland.

What is clear is that the average ocean temperature off Greenland's west coast has risen in recent years -- from 38.3 degrees Fahrenheit to 40.6 F -- and glaciers have begun to retreat, said Carl Egede Boeggild, a glaciologist with the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, a government agency.

The Sermilik glacier in southern Greenland has retreated nearly seven miles, and the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier near Ilulissat is also shrinking, said Henrik Hoejmark Thomsen of the geological survey.

In 1967, satellite imagery measured it moving 4.3 miles per year. In 2003, the rate was 8.1 miles.

"What exactly happened, we don't know. But it appears to be the effect of climate change," said Hoejmark Thomsen.

In August, the National Science Foundation's Arctic System Science Committee issued a report saying the rate of ice melting in the Arctic is increasing and within a century could for the first time lead to summertime ice-free ocean conditions.

With warmer temperatures, some bacteria, plants and animals could disappear, while others will thrive. Polar bears and other animals that depend on sea ice to breed and forage are at risk, scientists say, and some species could face extinction in a few decades.

The thinning of the sea ice presents a danger to both humans and polar bears, said Peter Ewins, director of Arctic conservation for the World Wildlife Fund Canada.

"The polar bears need to be there to catch enough seals to see them through the summer in open warm water systems. Equally, the Inuit need to be out there on the ice catching seals and are less and less able to do that because the ice is more unstable, thinner," he said.

"Canary in the mine shaft"

When NASA started taking satellite images of the Arctic region in the late 1970s and computer technology improved, scientists noted alarming patterns and theorized that the culprit was gases emitted by industries and internal combustion engines to create a "greenhouse effect" of trapping heat in the atmosphere.

Inuit leaders are trying to draw attention to the impact of climate change and pollution.

"When I was a child, the weather used to be more stable. It worries me to see and hear all this," Greenland Premier Hans Enoksen said on the sidelines of a meeting of environmental officials from 23 countries in Ilulissat. The meeting ended with statements of concern -- and no action.

The Kyoto Protocol that took effect in February aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But the 140 nations that have signed the pact don't include the United States, which produces one-quarter of the gases.

The Bush administration says participation would severely damage the U.S. economy. Many scientists say that position undermines the whole planet and they point to Greenland as the leading edge of what the globe could suffer.

"Greenland is the canary in a mine shaft alerting us," said Corell, the American meteorologist, standing on the edge of the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier which he is studying. "In the U.S., global warming is a tomorrow issue. ... For us working here, it hits you like a ton of bricks when you see it."

Source: CNN, Monday, September 12, 2005; Posted: 11:51 a.m. EDT (15:51 GMT)

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Ozone layer making a recovery
Scientists caution it could take decades to restore

By Marsha Walton, CNN
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Earth's ozone layer, which protects both humans and plant life from ultraviolet radiation from the sun, appears to be recovering.

A study just published by the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences shows declining ozone levels have leveled off from 1996 to 2002, and in some areas there even are small increases. But scientists are cautious about the apparent recovery of the ozone layer, which they say has been thinning for many years because of the widespread use of several industrial chemicals. "We will absolutely have to monitor for at least another decade before we can be confident," said Betsy Weatherhead, one of the researchers on the study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

In the mid-1970s scientists discovered that chlorine and bromine compounds, used widely for refrigeration and in aerosol products, was depleting the ozone layer in the stratosphere, from about 6 to 30 miles above Earth. When more UV rays reach Earth, people are more subject to skin cancer, cataracts and other diseases. There also may be consequences for plant life, including lower crop yields and an upset in the ocean's food chain.

The global effort to deal with the ozone problem gained momentum in the mid-1980s, when satellite evidence showed huge "ozone holes" over both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Research indicated that ozone levels had declined by as much as 40 percent at the poles and about 10 percent over parts of North America, South America and Europe. The 1987 Montreal Protocol, ratified by more than 180 nations, triggered changes in the manufacturing and design of products and processes that used chlorofluorocarbons, known as CFCs. The changes affected everything from cleaning products to deodorants to air conditioning.

"When I think of the project, there was just an amazing amount of collaboration, among chemical manufacturers, politicians, auto manufacturers, all realms of science and policy," Weatherhead said. She said a team of statisticians and atmospheric scientists have been working together for 20 years to monitor and understand changes in the ozone layer. They have been collecting data from NASA and NOAA satellites and from ground stations in North America, Europe, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand.

But even with indications of the beginning of an ozone recovery, Weatherhead said people still need to be conscious of the dangers of ultraviolet radiation. People should continue to use sunscreens and UV-blocking sunglasses to protect skin and eyes from the radiation that does make it to Earth's surface. The worldwide effort now may seem like a fast-moving model of cooperation. But it did not seem that way for one of the scientists who identified the problem in 1974.

"Living through it did not seem so quick," said Sherwood Roland of the University of California at Irvine. Roland shared the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Paul Crutzen and Mario Molina for their work in identifying the damage that CFCs could do to Earth's ozone layer. "But the fact that we went from a two page paper in [the scientific journal] Nature in 1974 to worldwide control in 13 years; it does look quick," he said.

Roland says it could be another 40 years before there are significantly higher levels of atmospheric ozone. That's because the chemicals that reached Earth's atmosphere decades ago still are affecting ozone levels. Both Roland and Weatherhead say there's another big unknown in understanding the ozone layer. "The big question is, what role does climate change have in all of this?

"Weatherhead said. But the response to climate change issues already has been much different from reaction to the ozone problem. "Changing from one style of refrigerator to another is a smaller and easier change than changing the way we all use fossil fuels," Weatherhead said.

"Everybody involved with the Montreal Protocol, the scientists, industry, government regulators, were all science oriented, and tended to believe science. That makes a difference. Most of the world call for action on global warming is more attuned to the science than the U.S. is," he said.

Source: CNN, Friday, September 2, 2005; Posted: 4:58 p.m. EDT (20:58 GMT)

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Divers discovered the USS Spiegel Grove had rolled upright, apparently courtesy of waves spawned by Hurricane Dennis.

Hurricane Dennis fixes botched Florida reef
MIAMI, Florida (Reuters) -- Mother Nature tidied up a man-made mess off the coast of the Florida Keys when the force of Hurricane Dennis flipped a sunken U.S. Navy ship into the perfect position to help form an artificial reef.

Powerful waves and currents generated by the hurricane flipped over the 510-foot (155-meter) USS Spiegel Grove and set it to rest on its keel on the ocean floor, reef project managers said on Tuesday.

That was the position Key Largo scuba divers and tourism promoters had aimed for when they scuttled the 6,880-tonne hulk in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in 2002.

"I'm flabbergasted," said Rob Bleser, the volunteer project director, after diving on the reoriented wreck on Monday. "Nature took its course and put it where it belongs."

The Cold War relic was the largest vessel ever deliberately sunk to form the backbone of a coral ridge to nurture sea life and amuse scuba divers.

Work crews had planned to slowly sink it upright. But it went down prematurely and rolled over, creating a navigational hazard when it landed bottom-up with the stern on the seabed and the bow jutting above the waterline.

Salvage crews used giant airbags and steel cables to nudge it over onto its starboard side, where it was safe from passing vessels but slightly disorienting for divers to swim through.

Then Hurricane Dennis blitzed past on Saturday, staying well west of the islands of the Florida Keys but kicking up 20-foot (5.6-meter) waves.

"Waves that high in close proximity to the reef can produce unusually strong currents with tremendous force," said National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Strahan.

The Spiegel Grove carried landing craft and cargo in the Mediterranean and Caribbean and was retired in 1989. It lies in 130 feet (40 meters) of water, a few miles off Key Largo.

Source: CNN, Tuesday, July 12, 2005; Posted: 1:57 p.m. EDT (17:57 GMT)

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Pro-whalers close to easing ban
ULSAN, South Korea (AP) -- Countries in favor of resuming commercial whale hunts say they are close to securing a voting majority in the organization that regulates whaling for the first time since the practice was banned nearly two decades ago.

The International Whaling Commission ended the hunting of the mammals in 1986, handing environmentalists a major victory in protecting several species that were near extinction after centuries of whaling. But on the eve of its annual meeting Monday, the 66 member nations are divided over ending the ban.

Norway holds the world's only commercial whaling season in defiance of the ban, while Japan kills whales for what it describes as scientific research, then selling the meat for human consumption. Japan, Norway and other nations this year are expected to take more than 1,550 whales.

Japan annually kills about 440 minke whales in the Antarctic Ocean and another 210 in coastal waters in the northwestern Pacific. Iceland also conducts research hunts, which it resumed in 2003 after 14 years. In both countries, eating whale meat is considered a tradition.

A complete end to the moratorium is considered unlikely at the five-day meeting of the Cambridge, England-based commission, since it would require the approval of 75 percent of members who vote. But pro-whaling countries say they are close to getting a majority, which would let them vote in changes they favor. With a majority, they could pass resolutions supporting Japan's research program, or even the resumption of limited kills.

"We remain very optimistic ... that the scales are tipping in our favor," said Joanne M. Massiah, minister of food production and marine resources for Caribbean nation Antigua & Barbuda, which supports the resumption of commercial whaling.

Australia, New Zealand and anti-whaling groups such as Greenpeace oppose any expansion of whaling. The main issue "this year is whether Japan will expand its so-called research whaling," said Patrick R. Ramage, spokesman for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, a U.S.-based conservation group. The United States urged Japan in June to end its program of killing whales, warning against any expansion of what Tokyo calls its research program.

"Any unilateral move to increase the number or type of whales killed and marketed under the guise of science is unacceptable," Scott Smullen, spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said on June 1.

NOAA is the U.S. government's scientific research and whale management agency. Some in Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party say their government should consider withdrawing from the whaling body unless it makes measurable progress towards allowing commercial hunts.

"Japanese people have been frustrated for so many years," Japanese lawmaker Yoshimasa Hayashi told The Associated Press. "Every year the frustration is brewing."

Last year's whaling panel meeting ended with a resolution for Japan to halt its research program. That generated angry calls in Tokyo for the country to retaliate by quitting the group, or at least withhold funding.

Source: CNN, Sunday, June 19, 2005; Posted: 11:44 p.m. EDT (03:44 GMT)

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Dead whale found on Southampton beach
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) - A dead whale washed ashore on a beach in Southampton, on Long Island's east end.

A team of biologists from the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation was dispatched to the scene to investigate what happened to the 60-foot fin whale, believed to be a female, which was found on Sunday.

A necropsy will be done to determine the cause of death, according to a statement issued by Julika Wocial, a rescue program supervisor with the foundation.

The foundation will then work with village of Southampton and the state Department of Environmental Conservation to dispose of the carcass.

Wocial said the Riverhead Foundation has been monitoring 14 fin whales in the area for the past few months. Fin whales are baleen whales that feed on small schooling fish, squid and plankton. Adults can reach between 56 and 79 feet and weigh up to 70 tons.

Source: Newsday, Monday, April 4, 2005 Posted: 11:07 AM EDT

To report a sighting of a healthy, sick, alive or dead marine mammal or sea turtle, contact the emergency hotline number listed below.

The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation
24-Hour Stranding Hotline: 631-369-9829

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