#Oregon Stars Are Dying - No More Twinkle, Twinkle...

Sea star disease epidemic surges in Oregon, local extinctions expected

 Contact: David Stauth, 541-737-0787; Kristen Milligan, 541-737-8862



CORVALLIS, Oregon (OSU) – Just in the past two weeks, the incidence of sea star wasting syndrome has exploded along the Oregon Coast and created an epidemic of historic magnitude, one that threatens to decimate the entire population of purple ochre sea stars.

Prior to this, Oregon had been the only part of the West Coast that had been largely spared this devastating disease.

The ochre sea star, which is the species most heavily affected by the disease in the intertidal zone, may be headed toward localized extinction in Oregon, according to researchers at Oregon State University who have been monitoring the outbreak. As a “keystone” predator, its loss could disrupt the entire marine intertidal ecosystem.

Researchers say this is the first time that die-offs of sea stars, more commonly known as starfish, have ever been identified at one time along such a wide expanse of the West Coast, and the sudden increase in Oregon has been extraordinary.
The best information is from the intertidal zone, which is easier to access for monitoring. In this area, less than 1 percent of the ochre sea stars in Oregon were affected in April, and only slightly more than that by mid-May.

Baffling Scientists?

Watch!

Today, an estimated 30-50 percent of the Oregon populations of this sea star species in the intertidal zone have the disease. The highest losses are at Fogarty Creek, where about 60 percent are affected. Researchers project that the epidemic will intensify and, at some sites, nearly 100 percent of the ochre sea stars could die.


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"Say Dad, did you hear the news about Oregon?"

"Very sad, son"

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BIG Oil Ravages #Amazon National Park

Ecuador signs permits for oil drilling in Amazon's Yasuni national park

Companies could start extracting oil underneath key biodiversity reserve on Earth by 2016



By Adam Vaughan   

(theguardian.com) – Drilling for oil in a part of the Amazon rainforest considered one of the most biodiverse hotspots on the planet is to go ahead less than a year after Ecuador's president lifted a moratorium on oil drilling there.
Last August, Rafeal Correa scrapped a pioneering scheme, the Yasuní Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT) initiative, to keep oil in the ground under a corner of the Yasuní national park in return for donations from the international community.

He said only $13m (£8m) of the $3.6bn goal had been given, and that "the world has failed us", giving the green light to drilling.

On Thursday, environment minister, Lorena Tapia, said permits for drilling had been signed for the 6,500-square-mile reserve, known as block 43, and oil production might begin as soon as 2016.

The permits allow Petroamazonas, a subsidary of the state oil company, to begin construction of access roads and camps to prepare for drilling.

Esperanza Martinez, an environmental activist in Ecuador, was quoted in a leading national daily as saying Petroamazonas had a bad record on oil spills and it could not be trusted to drill safely in the Yasuní-ITT.

Earlier this month, Ecuador's government rejected a petition calling for abandoning plans for drilling in the area, saying the organisers had failed to get enough signatures to trigger a national referendum.

The petition's backers, YASunidos, accused the government of fraud after only 359,762 signatures of around 850,000 submitted were deemed genuine – the threshold for forcing a referendum is 583,323.


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Can trees survive without Man? 

Can Man survive without...

SHOCKING!

Record Heat Bakes #Australia - #GOP Climate Experts say..."Uh!"

Australia experiences its hottest two years on record

High temperatures, which are forecast to continue through winter, are a clear sign of climate change, report warns

 heguardian.com,

Press) – Australia has experienced its hottest two years on record and high temperatures are set to continue through winter in a clear sign of climate change, a report warns.
May 2012 to April 2014 was the hottest 24-month period ever recorded in Australia, but that is likely to be eclipsed by the two years between June 2012 and May 2014, according to the Climate Commission's latest report, Abnormal Autumn.

"We have just had an abnormally warm autumn, off the back of another very hot 'angry summer'," Professor Will Steffen of the Climate Council said.

"The past two-year period has delivered the hottest average temperature we have ever recorded in Australia.

"Climate change is here, it's happening, and Australians are already feeling its impact."

The average temperature across Australia in April was 1.11C above the long-term average, the report says, citing Bureau of Meteorology figures.

The average minimum temperature was 1.31C above normal.

Unseasonable temperatures in the autumn "warm wave" set records, with Sydney, Adelaide, and Melbourne setting benchmarks for the consecutive number of May days when the mercury reached 20C or higher.

In its report, the Climate Council says the abnormally warm weather in April and May "are part of a longer-term trend towards hotter conditions in the summer months and more warm spells in autumn and winter"


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Hottest Summer on Record!

#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? 

Live Science - Ice Caps Melting, Worst in 44,000 Years!

Ice Caps Melting

 Live Science

Worst in 44,000 Years! 
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Stunning Canadian Artic Images 

Does this mean that Santa Claus is soon going to have move his  headquarters and manufacturing facilities from the North Pole? The problem: Where does he move them to? Will it affect Christmas deiveries?

For sure, there is a tone of sacacism in these questions, but it is actually one of the implications that stems from the melting of the polar ice caps. Poor Rudolf. We are not going to revisit the climate debate in these commnents as we think that the Live Science article provides all the material you need to further evauate the issue. Instead, what we really want to bring to your attention are the pictures of the melting ice caps and the land that is now being exposed.

Pictures again speak volumes of the gravity of the warming global climate making it easier to understand how positive feedback loops are formed to further agrivate this problem.

How the deniers want to explain away such evidence, tests the boundaries of all reason. But no doubt they will try.

Meanwhile, we have the pictures.

Dr Peter G Kinesa
November 7, 2013

"Wow Elf Donter! It is getting warmer..."

Santa Claus, 2012

#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

#California Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

#California Smoke Gets in Your  Eyes 
(Read More)

NASA Satellite View

Earlier we posted an important climate economic graph reflecting the upward shift in temperatures in six California regions - 1950 to 2010. If there are any doubters out there who think that a warmer climate is not causing displacements and health hazards to human conditions then they are certainly missing the tides of what may come. Major wildfires such as Yosemite pose not only health and living hazards, but the economic costs associated with containment and prevention may become overwhelming for a State already struggling with its finances.

And the wildfire damage also leads to further erosion in the quality of top soil. This means when the rains do come the coastal mountains respond by covering the scenic PCH with tons of fallen earth. Again giving rise to more costs to be born as the  sequential consequences of a warming climate   

Furthermore, fears of fire triggered by the smallest ember could lead to stricter regulations on campfires, barbecues, fireworks and maybe even smoking of any sort.These regulations would also affect other industries, commerce and tourism. At this point, no one knows what to anticipate as the climate's rising temperatures makes many areas much dryer. 

For sure, if conditions persist, the State will not be able escape deep economic consequences in the years ahead. Adding another concern to our list of non-financial metrics.

Dr Peter G Kinesa
September 5, 2013

  "On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair

Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air..

 Welcome to..."

Eagles, Lyrics Hotel California

   

Top Economic Graph "CALIFORNIA STEAMING"

Top Economic Graph "CALIFORNIA STEAMING"  

(Read More)

 

Here again we can look at key non-financial metrics that dig deeper into the wealth of an economy. California is already plagued by financial woes as budgetary deficits have brought the state to the brink many times. It is dancing on thin ice and requires the environment and climate to co-operate, if there is any hope of repairing fiscal issues. Not likely, as these climate graphs indicate.

Since 1950, the min and max temperatures have been increasing in all six regions in the state. Warmer temperatures means more wildfires as well as poorer growing conditions for agriculture, a major export from the state. This also means the supply of water will become more critical to serve both local fire-fighting and agricultural needs. This can only mean higher costs that will get passed on to food production; in turn consumers.

So, with this in mind we should keep a focused eye on the number and size of wildfires given their far-reaching economic implications within and outside the state. Hopefully, the Santa Ana winds don't make surfers and surfing also a past-time similar to those of California sun-bathers from millions of years ago.

Or, I wish they ought to be... 

Dr Peter G Kinesa

September 4, 2013

Land of the Endless Summer?