Is the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 killing Gulf of Mexico dolphins?

Deepwater Horizon April 21, 2010. Image: United States Coast Guard

When the Deepwater Horizon exploded and collapsed in April 2010, it released of “an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil into the northern Gulf of Mexico.” Fatal to 11 oil workers, injurious to others, and disruptive of the environment and fishing industry along the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts, the “largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry” has for many of us, receded into the past. Its aftereffects, however, continue to reverberate and now pose a serious threat to dolphins in areas "that received heavy and prolonged oiling."  

According to a recent multicenter study published in Environmental Science & Technology, a “guarded” or “grave” prognosis has been given to 65% of the bottlenose dolphins studied in Barataria Bay, Lousiana. 

“The oil spill resulting from the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform initiated immediate concern for marine wildlife, including common bottlenose dolphins in sensitive coastal habitats. To evaluate potential sublethal effects on dolphins, health assessments were conducted in Barataria Bay, Louisiana, an area that received heavy and prolonged oiling, and in a reference site, Sarasota Bay, Florida, where oil was not observed.” (emphasis added)

“Barataria Bay dolphins were 5 times more likely to have moderate–severe lung disease, generally characterized by significant alveolar interstitial syndrome, lung masses, and pulmonary consolidation. Of 29 dolphins evaluated from Barataria Bay, 48% were given a guarded or worse prognosis, and 17% were considered poor or grave, indicating that they were not expected to survive. Disease conditions in Barataria Bay dolphins were significantly greater in prevalence and severity than those in Sarasota Bay dolphins, as well as those previously reported in other wild dolphin populations. Many disease conditions observed in Barataria Bay dolphins are uncommon but consistent with petroleum hydrocarbon exposure and toxicity.” (emphasis added)

Source: Health of Common Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Barataria Bay, Louisiana, Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Related Article: Focus on Ocean’s Health as Dolphin Deaths Soar

Crops for ethanol destroying millions of acres of habitat

Image: Graylight

"Since the government began requiring oil companies to add billions of gallons of ethanol to their gasoline each year, the states of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska have lost 2.8 million acres from the conservation reserve program, as farmers planted nearly 10 million more acres of corn, the main feedstock used to produce ethanol. About 5 million other acres are now included in other conservation programs, but nearly all that land is being actively farmed."

Ethanol's Rise Can Mean Loss Of Hunting Lands

Plant a Billion trees in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest

NASA and Miguelrangeljr

Described by the Nature Conservancy as “one of the world's most magnificent and endangered forests,” the Atlantic Forest in Brazil is in peril.

“Centuries ago, the Atlantic Forest covered nearly 330 million acres, an area roughly the size of the eastern seaboard of the United States. Today only 7 percent remains, much of which is in isolated fragments. Home to 130 million people, the Atlantic Forest has taken heavy hits from urban expansion, coastal and industrial development, agriculture, ranching and illegal logging. Despite the forest’s diminished state, 70 percent of Brazil’s population relies on it for its drinking water.”

Learn more about the Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion trees project to save this threatened global resource.

Quote: Immigration from Pacific Island nations

There's an exodus underway from Pacific Island nations to America, one driven by multiple factors, according to island leaders and migrants. People relocating to Hawaii and other states say they've come for better jobs and health care. But there's also a less recognized but unmistakable contributor, Deeley explained: climate change.

"We can no longer find enough fish to feed our families. We're no longer able to secure enough fresh water like we were before."

As Pacific Islands Flood, A Climate-Driven Exodus Grows 

Related Post

• Oceana report: Less ocean-based protein for "costal & small island developing nations"

Rev. Sally Bingham on faith and the science of climate change

I couldn’t stand in a pulpit and talk to a community or congregation and tell them that humans are changing the climate if I didn’t have people like Katharine Hayhoe behind me to show the science, where I can fall back on the scientific evidence. It wouldn’t make sense for me to say, “The climate is changing, it’s coming from human-induced activity,” if I couldn’t back that up with science. I always say that scientists are today’s prophets. They are the people giving us the news that we need to pay attention to, and we need to listen to them.

Read the interview at Climate Progress

Movie Preview: Chasing Ice

Acclaimed photographer James Balog was once a skeptic about climate change. But through his Extreme Ice Survey, he discovers undeniable evidence of our changing planet. In Chasing Ice, Balog deploys revolutionary time-lapse cameras to capture a multi-year record of the world'schanging glaciers. His hauntingly beautiful videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate.

Google

Trees on the edge

Seventy percent of the 226 tree species in forests around the world routinely function near the point where a serious drought would stop water transport from their roots to their leaves, says plant physiologist Brendan Choat of the University of Western Sydney in Richmond, Australia. Trees even in moist, lush places operate with only a slim safety margin between them and a thirsty death.

Trees worldwide a sip away from dehydration
ScienceNews 

3 Takes on the changing climate

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Last month’s “weather event” should have taught us that. Whether in 50 or 100 or 200 years, there’s a good chance that New York City will sink beneath the sea. But if there are no patterns, it means that nothing is inevitable either. History offers less dire scenarios: the city could move to another island, the way Torcello was moved to Venice, stone by stone, after the lagoon turned into a swamp and its citizens succumbed to a plague of malaria. The city managed to survive, if not where it had begun. Perhaps the day will come when skyscrapers rise out of downtown Scarsdale.

Is This the End?
The New York Times 

Oceana report: Less ocean-based protein for "costal & small island developing nations"

Image: Oceana

"Coastal and small island developing nations are vulnerability hotspots to food security risks from climate change, ocean acidification and both combined. Many of the high-ranking nations based on climate change indicators are located in the tropics and low latitudes."

"Wild caught seafood is often one of the healthiest and most accessible options for protein in coastal and small island nations. Losing this resource may mean more dependence on less healthy processed foods that are imported from abroad. Communities that have recently made a shift from eating traditional seafood items to importing cheap, processed foods have suffered widespread health problems. For example, in Pacific Island nations about 40 percent of the population has been diagnosed with diabetes, cardiovascular diseases or hypertension. Losing seafood accessibility due to changing ocean conditions may further expand these nationwide health crises."

Ocean-Based Food Security Threatened in a High CO2 World

Arctic Sea Ice: Who is right about the Northwest Passage?

You’ve probably seen the recent headlines announcing that Arctic sea ice reached a record low this September and the fabled Northwest Passage has been opened to shipping the past five summers. According to Climate Progress:

And, for the fifth consecutive year–and fifth time in recorded history — ice-free navigation was possible in the Arctic along the coast of Canada (the Northwest Passage), and along the coast of Russia (the Northeast Passage or Northern Sea Route.)

So, when was the last time the Northwest Passage was open? On this there are divergent views. Meteorologist Jeff Masters, co-founder the Weather Underground, writes in Climate Progress:

We can be confident that the Arctic did not see the kind of melting observed in 2012 going back over a century, as we have detailed ice edge records from ships (Walsh and Chapman, 2001). It is very unlikely the Northwest Passage was open between 1497 and 1900, since this spanned a cold period in the northern latitudes known as “The Little Ice Age”. Ships periodically attempted the Passage and were foiled during this period. Research by Kinnard et al. (2011) shows that the Arctic ice melt in the past few decades is unprecedented for at least the past 1,450 years. (emphasis added)

It is interesting the timeframe is cut off at 1900. According to Larry Bell, founder and director of the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture and author of Climate of Corruption, just 3 years later, historical records suggest the Passage may have been open. Writing about Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen:

In diary entries he wrote in 1903, sailor Ronald Amundsen reported his experience on board a ship in those waters: “The Northwest Passage was done [had opened]. My boyhood dream – at the moment it was accomplished. A strange feeling welled up in my throat; I was somewhat over-strained and worn – it was a weakness in me – but I felt tears in my eyes. Vessel in sight . . . Vessel in sight.”

Then, around mid-century:

During the early 1940’s a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) schooner assigned to Arctic patrol made regular trips through the Northwest Passage. And in 2000, that is to say, 7 years before the first-ever satellite records), another RCMP patrol vessel was renamed the St. Roch II and recreated the voyage, making the crossing in only three weeks. The crew reported seeing very little ice except for the occasional icebergs they passed. 

In view of the recent dramatic reduction in Arctic ice this summer, Mark Serreze, Director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center, is likely correct: “We are now in uncharted territory.” However, leaving out references to the times in when the Northwest Passage may have been, or was open, you avoid the appearance of presenting only information that supports one point of view.

There is also a discrepancy regarding the year satellite records of Arctic sea ice became available. Here Bell seems to be significantly off on his dates.

If you have additional information or thoughts on issues above and the recent reduction in Arctic sea ice, please submit your comments. 

CitiesAlive conference, October 17-20, Chicago, Illinois

Join Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) and the City of Chicago as we celebrate a decade of living architecture at the 10th Anniversary of CitiesAlive from October 17 to October 20, 2012. A living example of legacy urban planning, Chicago was the site of the first CitiesAlive conference in 2003 and has been North America’s green roof leader for the past decade.

CitiesAlive

Americans waste $165 billion of food each year

Americans are throwing away 40 percent of food in the U.S., the equivalent of $165 billion in uneaten food each year, according to a new analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council. In a time of drought and skyrocketing food NRDprices, NRDC outlines opportunities to reduce wasted food and money on the farm, in the grocery store and at home.

Learn more at NRDC