Saving Seafood

‘The future in our hands’: Scientists call for urgent action to curb sea level rise in Hawaii

February 17, 2022 –America’s coasts will be dealing with about a foot of sea level rise on average by the year 2050, a new federal study shows.

The biggest impacts are forecast for the East Coast, where sea level rise estimates are between 14 and 18 inches. Hawaii, meanwhile, is projected to see between 6 and 8 inches in three decades.

NOAA, which is one of seven agencies responsible for the report, says that much sea level rise will cause tide and storm surge heights to increase and reach further inland.

By the year 2050, “moderate” flooding ― the kind that causes damage ― is expected to occur on average more than 10 times as often as it does today.

“The impacts will will depend upon what we do to mitigate against those,” said William Sweet, a NOAA oceanographer. “With less heating under less emissions, the risk of higher sea level rise of mountains is much less. The future is in our hands, and that future does not need to be one of doom and gloom.”

Read the full story at Hawaii News Now

 

U.S. coastline to see up to a foot of sea level rise by 2050

February 15, 2022 — The following was released by NOAA:

The United States is expected to experience as much sea level rise by the year 2050 as it witnessed in the previous hundred years. That’s according to a NOAA-led report updating sea level rise decision-support information for the U.S. released today in partnership with half a dozen other federal agencies.

The Sea Level Rise Technical Report provides the most up-to-date sea level rise projections for all U.S. states and territories by decade for the next 100 years and beyond, based on a combination of tide gauge and satellite observations and all the model ensembles from the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report projects sea levels along the coastline will rise an additional 10-12 inches by 2050 with specific amounts varying regionally, mainly due to land height changes. 

The report updates the federal government’s 2017 sea level rise projections, and provides additional information on tide, wind, and storm-driven extreme water levels affecting current and future coastal flood risk. A suite of federal tools are using this data, including the NOAA Sea Level Rise Viewer, which are critical to the Administration’s commitment to tackle the climate crisis by making actionable climate data accessible to those who need it.

“For businesses along the coast, knowing what to expect and how to plan for the future is critical,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo. “These updated projections will help businesses, and the communities they support, understand risks and make smart investments in the years ahead.”

“This new data on sea rise is the latest reconfirmation that our climate crisis – as the President has said – is blinking ‘code red,’” said Gina McCarthy, National Climate Advisor. “We must redouble our efforts to cut the greenhouse gases that cause climate change while, at the same time, help our coastal communities become more resilient in the face of rising seas.”

“This is a global wake-up call and gives Americans the information needed to act now to best position ourselves for the future,” said Rick Spinrad, Ph.D., NOAA Administrator. “As we build a Climate Ready Nation, these updated data can inform coastal communities and others about current and future vulnerabilities in the face of climate change and help them make smart decisions to keep people and property safe over the long run.”
 
The report also finds that the sea level rise expected by 2050 will create a profound increase in the frequency of coastal flooding, even in the absence of storms or heavy rainfall. 

“By 2050, moderate flooding–which is typically disruptive and damaging by today’s weather, sea level and infrastructure standards–is expected to occur more than 10 times as often as it does today,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, NOAA’s National Ocean Service Director. “These numbers mean a change from a single event every 2-5 years to multiple events each year, in some places.” 

“This report supports previous studies and confirms what we have long known: Sea levels are continuing to rise at an alarming rate, endangering communities around the world. Science is indisputable and urgent action is required to mitigate a climate crisis that is well underway,” said Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator. “NASA is steadfast in our commitment to protecting our home planet by expanding our monitoring capabilities and continuing to ensure our climate data is not only accessible but understandable.”

This multi-agency effort is a product of the Interagency Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flood Hazard and Tool Task Force, composed of NOAA, NASA, EPA, USGS, DoD, FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as well as several academic institutes. The report leverages methods and insights from both the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report and supporting research for the U.S. DoD Defense Regional Sea Level database.

Read the Sea Level Rise Technical Report.

NOAA, partners to issue long-term sea level projections

February 11, 2022 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

On February 15, NOAA’s National Ocean Service and interagency partners will release a report updating long-term sea level projections for the United States.

The Sea Level Rise Technical Report delivers projections by decade for the next 100 years and beyond. The report updates the federal government’s 2017 sea level rise projections, with additional information on tide, wind, and storm-driven extreme water levels to support decision-making for a Climate Ready Nation.

The report is a product of the Interagency Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flood Hazard and Tool Task Force, composed of NOAA, NASA, EPA, USGS, DoD, FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as well as several academic institutes.

When

Tuesday, February 15, at 1:00p.m. Eastern

What

Virtual media briefing on the interagency Sea Level Rise report

Who

Rick Spinrad, Ph.D., NOAA Administrator

Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator

Nicole LeBoeuf, Director, NOAA National Ocean Service

William Sweet, Ph.D., Oceanographer, NOAA’s National Ocean Service

Ben Hamlington, Ph.D., Sea Level Change Team Lead, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

How

GoToWebinar: The briefing will be followed by a Q&A session. An accompanying news release will be issued at the start of the webinar. 

NOTE: For credentialed reporters only. 

Interested reporters must register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/579382575564147468

To participate in the Q&A portion of the media briefing, please be sure to register using your full name and media affiliation. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Please do not share your invite link with anyone, it is unique to you.

 

Fishermen not feeling the effects of ‘marked decrease’ in Atlantic cod population

February 11, 2022 — What started as a research presentation on rising ocean temperatures and decreasing cod supply by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration quickly turned into a revealing conversation about how scientists and their data often do not reflect fishermen’s experiences.

NOAA held a virtual meeting Wednesday focused on the status of Atlantic cod, attended by over 70 fishermen and researchers based in the Gulf of Maine and George’s Bank, which extends from Newfoundland to southern New England.

Findings by a working group of researchers indicated that the lifecycle of the species is being influenced by the environment, specifically rising ocean temperatures, which have changed the fish’s spawning behavior and their predator-prey relationships.

“We are at the point where we are seeing the impact of the temperature increase over the years,” said Lisa Kerr, a researcher at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Deep-water temperatures in the Northeast have increased two degrees since the 1980s. The biomass of Atlantic cod is trending downwards year-over-year, meaning the population is on the decline.

Fishermen in the audience did not dispute these findings. What they did question is whether these facts are having the same implications that the researchers believe.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Fishing, pollution and rising temperatures: how marine science can help us save the oceans

February 9, 2022 –A healthy sea determines the planet’s balance and, in turn, the health and well-being of its people. That is why ocean science has never played a more vital role, helping us to grasp today’s deterioration of the world’s biggest ecosystem – and find solutions.

As scientists, public and private stakeholders and heads of state prepare to share diagnoses and cures for improving the “patient’s” condition at the One Ocean Summit in Brest, France, from 9 to 11 February 2022, Ifremer, the French oceanographic institute invited to the talks, looks at some of the more promising avenues for research.

Mare incognitum

Our home is called Earth, but the name does not fully reflect the reality of a planet where liquid predominates: dry land takes up just under 30% of the globe’s surface, while the sea covers the remaining 70%.

The ocean is the world’s biggest ecosystem, yet it remains a huge mystery, a mare incognitum. The abyssal zone alone is thought to house up to a million species scientists have yet to document, showing how much we need science to lift the veil on a world that remains an enigma but whose crucial role in determining the health of our planet and its life forms is, in contrast, no longer a mystery.

Read the full story at The Conversation

 

Earth is likely just a decade a way from hitting 1.5°C of global warming — and scientists say it will be “catastrophic” for coral reefs

February 4, 2022 — The United Nations has warned the continued use of fossil fuels is hurtling the planet to 1.5°C of global warming, relative to 1850-1900 levels, a threshold that will result in “unprecedented” extreme weather events. According to new research, climate change will also result in coral bleaching that will be “catastrophic” for reefs, and potentially, the marine life that live around them.

Bleaching can occur from a change in ocean temperature, pollution, overexposure to sunlight and low tides. Any of these influences can stress coral and causes it to release the algae that live in its tissues. The loss of algae, corals’ primary food source, causes the coral to turn white and makes it more susceptible to disease.

Reefs are “among the most biologically diverse and valuable ecosystems on Earth,” serving as a vital resource for an estimated 25% of all marine life, which depend on reefs for their life cycles, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Roughly half a billion people also depend on reefs for food, coastal protection, tourism and fisheries’ income.

But as climate change continues to negatively impact the planet, it will “overwhelm” those reefs, researchers said, and almost none of them will be able to escape a grave scenario.

Read the full story at CBS News

Scientists turn underwater gardeners to save precious marine plant

February 3, 2022 — Whoever said there’s nothing more boring than watching grass grow wasn’t thinking about seagrass. Often confused with seaweeds and rarely receiving the attention they deserve, there’s nothing boring about seagrasses. In fact, they are one of the most productive ecosystems in the world.

Next time you are swimming and enjoying the sea’s cool embrace look down and try to spot the slender blades of seagrass, a remarkable marine plant that plays a vital role in the coastal environment but is now under threat.

Forming dense underwater meadows, seagrasses are vital to maintain fisheries, absorb carbon and protect coastlines from erosion—but their future is threatened by , pollution and other impacts of human activities, scientists say.

The plants grow in shallow coastal waters in all regions except the Antarctic. They act as nurseries or feeding grounds for hundreds of species of seafood, including sea bream, octopus, cuttlefish and Alaska pollock—one of the most fished species in the world.

Read the full story at Phys.org

Gulf of Maine waters spiked to record warm temperatures in fall 2021

February 3, 2022 — Anyone who enjoyed the ocean last fall may have noticed the water felt unseasonably warm. That’s because it was.

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute reported last month that between September and November 2021, the sea surface temperatures of water off the coast of Maine were the warmest ever recorded.

How much warmer are we talking about? Close to six degrees Fahrenheit warmer on any given day than the average, according to David Reidmiller, Climate Change Director at GMRI. The sea surface temperatures hovered around 60 degrees almost through the month of October.

Warming ocean waters are a global trend, but in 2010 scientists really started to notice an increase in the warming trend in the Gulf of Maine, which lies from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia and extends several miles into the open ocean.

Read the full story at News Center Maine

 

Warming oceans could set off cross-border fish fights

January 31, 2022 — Tensions between countries are likely to rise with the global temperature as valuable fish stocks fleeing warmer waters cross into different national boundaries, a new study suggests.

The climate crisis will push 45 per cent of the world’s shared fish stocks away from historic habitat ranges and migration routes by 2100, posing a challenge for international co-operation, said senior author William Cheung.

“Fish don’t recognize political boundaries,” said Cheung, associate professor with the University of British Columbia’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries.

Fishing allocations, who gets what and how much, are political constructs based on an existing range of conventions and treaties, but these agreements are going to have to adapt to new realities if global emission rates continue, Cheung said.

Overall, climate change is pushing transboundary stocks to fishing grounds closer to the Poles and in many cases, the shift is already happening, he said, adding shifts on the Pacific coast of Central America and West Africa will occur primarily along the equator.

Read the full story at the Toronto Star

Past Fishing and Development Makes California Salmon More Vulnerable To Climate Change

Janaury 27, 2022 — California’s native salmon have been harmed by more than a century of mining, dam building, floodplain reclamation, fishing pressure, hatchery practices, and introduced predators. These stressors have undermined the resilience of California’s native salmon to the accelerating effects of climate change, new research shows.

Researchers from NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest and Southwest Fisheries Science Centers chronicled the loss of habitat and genetic diversity that once helped salmon withstand a changing climate.

“The eggs are in fewer baskets,” said Stuart Munsch, an ecosystem scientist at NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Fisheries Science Center and lead author of the new study published today in Global Change Biology. “The same landscape diversity in California that lets you go skiing and surfing in the same day used to support diverse salmon populations and a fishery well buffered against climate”.

“Now, that salmon diversity is mostly lost, and dams confine salmon to the hottest part of the watershed, where nonnative predators and a lack of rearing habitat reduce their survival. The result of all these stressors is that today’s salmon track climate more tightly than they used to in a warming landscape that routinely experiences drought.”

They said restoring degraded habitat and access to habitat above dams could help revive that diversity. By reopening and improving different areas, restoration can reclaim lost niches and adaptations that help spread the risk. In addition, other recovery actions such as increasing streamflow can make the restoration more effective.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries