#Fukushima Story - Pacific Coast #Sardines Industry Faces Complete Collapse

Pacific Sardine Industry Shutdown Looms As Species Collapses

Pacific coast sardines are facing a population collapse so severe that Oregon's multimillion-dollar sardine industry almost certainly will be shut down this summer.

Anticipating fishermen will pursue anchovies instead, ocean conservationists are pushing for pre-emptive measures to avoid repeating the collapse with another species.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council, which regulates the fishing industry off the coast of Oregon, California and Washington, is expected to vote Sunday to close the West Coast sardine fishery in response to new population estimates that indicate the species' still hasn't emerged from an eight-year plummet. The Oregonian - Read More.

More Nuclear Fukushima Pacific Coast Fish 

Miami Herald Prediction: Climate Means Dior Future

Climate change has arrived

OUR OPINION: Dire future if no action is taken

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/04/13/4054744/climate-change-has-arrived.html#storylink=cpy

MIAMI HERALD:Editorial

13 April 2014 (Miami Herald) – In case there was still any doubt, and there shouldn't be at this point, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations group of scientists, has made it official: Climate change is not coming, it’s already here. And it’s going to get worse unless the whole world — especially the industrial world — greatly reduces greenhouse emissions causing global warming.

The U.N. panel periodically weighs in on the state of the Earth’s climate. Its latest report cites melting ice caps, collapsing sea ice in the Arctic, heat waves and heavy deluges that are increasing in intensity and threatening crops, bringing on concerns about sustainable food supplies. Coral reefs are dying. Oceans are rising, while the oceans’ waters are becoming more acidic as they absorb carbon dioxide emitted by vehicles and power plants.

Then there's Florida...

“Climate change impacts are projected to slow down economic growth, make poverty reduction more difficult, further erode food security, and prolong existing and new poverty traps” in urban areas and emerging “hot spots” of hunger, the report says. Some of the people most at risk have little to do with causing global warming. Low-lying countries like Bangladesh and island nations in the Pacific Ocean could be the worst hit over the next few decades. 

Read More 

BP Spill Attacks Fish Hearts

Damning study blames BP oil spill for heart defects in fish

 By Arielle Duhaime-Ross




(The Verge) – Last December, scientists announced that dolphins in Louisiana were experiencing lung diseases and low birthrates in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that released more than 636 million liters of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Now, researchers have also found evidence of potentially lethal heart defects in two species of tuna and one species of amberjack — all economically important species for commercial fisheries. This news, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today, comes less than a week after the announcement that BP will once again be allowed to explore the Gulf of Mexico for oil.


To study the effects of the BP oil disaster, scientists recreated the oceanic environment that yellowfin amberjack, yellowfin tuna, and bluefin tuna larvae would have encountered in 2010 in the lab. They did so by introducing the larvae to Deepwater Horizon oil samples at environmental conditions that matched those of the spill. Fish are extremely vulnerable during development, so studying fish larvae is the most direct way of demonstrating the effect of noxious compounds.

Upset Fish

The researchers found that the fish exhibited a number of heart defects including slower heart rates, fluid accumulation, and arrhythmia — a condition characterized by an irregular heartbeat. In the areas where the oil concentrations were the highest, the oil would have caused the larvae to die of heart failure, says John Incardona, research toxicologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and co-author of the study. Fish larvae that were located further away probably survived, but if these heart defects mean that "they can't swim as fast, so they are either going to get eaten or they won't be able to eat enough," he says. "That leads to reduced survival."
 
These sorts of results are not entirely new. Previous experiments on the effect of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill that devastated Alaska's waters have yielded similar results. But that spill involved oil coating the shoreline, "so the fish species that were affected were animals that physically deposit their eggs on or near the shoreline," Incardona says. So this latest experiment represents the first time that scientists have been able to demonstrate cardiovascular effects in pelagic fish — fish that hang out in the middle of the water column, instead of at the surface of the water or near the bottom.

Read More

#BBC Acidic Oceans = Is Life on Venus Possible?

BBC News 
Acidic Oceans

Worst in 300 Million Years? 

 Read More Here

What is the greatest fear of all the threats that could shorten our existence on this planet - Acidic Oceans? 

Life began there and it is pervasive to the existence of all life support systems on the planet. Without it - our planet would become the same as Venus or Mars, having toxic atmospheres that cannot sustain any form of living creature on its surface.

The Oceans and Atmosphere are in a delicate marriage that depends on a balanced relationship amoung all their complex elements, loops and feedback systems. Should positive feedbacks of acidification begin to escalate in an exponential manner, then both the atmosphere and all forms of life are in a heap of trouble. All you have to imagine are the Oceans becoming massive acidic chemical pools covering seventy-five percent of the planet's surface. It is then easy to picture the devastating implications.

As the BBC article points out, there is growing evidence that changes are now occurring more rapidly than ever. Our concerns are many: Who is monitoring the changes? How accurate are the measures? What are the trends, and how do they forecast out? When do we reach the point of no return? Can the acidification be reversed? And many more.

Too many questions to answer - Right? But, without clear substantive answers we are all operating in the dark as to the possibility of a highly accelerated Ocean acidification occurring at virtually overnight exponential rates.

And you think the economy is a problem? Hmm. 

Dr Peter G Kinesa

November 19, 2013

Life on Venus? 

#BBC - Oceans Doomed?

Oceans Doomed?

IPSO Review Reports Decline

(BBC Article)
Read More Here

Here's another report that ties back the declining state of the Oceans to climate change, pollution, over-fishing and CO2 absorption, thus making the Oceans less alkaline and more acidic. Risking the extinction of the largest number of ocean species ever witnessed in human history. It is important to keep in mind that the health of the Oceans also impacts the speed of climate changes. They effectively feed on one another - serving to build into a rapid exponential decline in both systems that are critical to sustaining human enterprise. Fears are growing that the acidity of the Oceans is more rapid than expected, some even expect most will be acidic by the turn of this century.

Not good news!

So again, there are more and more signs that the environment is caving into the pressures of supporting ever-increasing economic activity. There may be a chance that the eco-systems are also set to continue declining, despite all efforts to immediately stop emissions and pollution. And as we know, that stoppage is not going to happen as long as we pursue endless economic and population growth. There is no sense of urgency, despite the traumatic consequences.

As a result, we can expect that natural forces will ultimately take matters into their own hands. There should be a fear that whatever occurs - could happen without much warning. Then all the urgency in the world cannot abate and remedy the deadly outcomes.

Dr Peter G Kinesa 

October 4, 2013        

Jus

#JAPAN - Radiation Leaks Escalate - Markets Nervous?

JAPAN - Radiation Leaks Escalate - Markets Nervous?

(Read More)

Stop the Nukes?

Continuing to keep an eye on this radioactive hot spot as it has significant implications on just about everything; including the Japanese money markets, economy, currency and world energy prices.  

Should pressure from this growing public concern force Japan's return to fossil fuels, then it should add further to global oil demand, moving prices much higher. What is really more concerning are the effects of this radiation on living and environmental conditions. Is there a possibility of turning parts of Japan into a giant nuclear wasteland? Remember too, the same folks trying to fix this problem were the ones who caused it! Einstein did not think that this was a good idea.

Lets not also forget that this will dampen interest in nuclear power, as an alternative to fossil fuel, around the world. Not good for an industry that is already struggling with slowing demand. But a positive change for fish stocks and those who depend on them for survival.

Meanwhile, do you ever wonder about the intelligence of our species?

"Jack, let's build a nuclear reactor?"

"Where Steve?"

"How's about by the ocean near lots of people and fish that sits on a fault line exposed to large tidal waves?"

"Are you sure Steve?"

"Certainly - it is the most economically viable choice"

Now imagine that some form of this line of simple reasoning actually occurred. Worse. It will probably happen again. 


Dr Peter G Kinesa
August 14, 2013

Remaining Fukushima Fish demand  vote?