2014 ndi 6ws fitzmier, Lundberg, Abelkop deep ocean neg privatization cp
Download 0.84 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- Bioremediation kills ecosystems – eutrophication, kills biodiversity, and upsets ecological balance
- Exploration is dangerous without regulation – lack of knowledge means we devastate the environment without knowing it
- Alt cause to pollution – lack of regulatory enforcement ensures it continues at a faster pace than they can clean it up
- Development of marine research products takes 5-7 years minimum – they can’t solve the ocean in time
Ecosystems Advantagebioremediation badBioremediation is extremely dangerous – microbes self-mutate and become malignant – and the process takes too long to be usefulEcofriend 11 (Ecofriend, “The good, the bad and the ugly: Bioremediation”, 12/1/11, http://www.ecofriend.com/good-bad-ugly-bioremediation.html) We have already stated in the starting lines that microbes are highly adaptive. They can very naturally manipulate their DNA sequences and thus require close DNA monitoring to make sure that they are not getting mutated, considering that mutated versions might be harmful more than being useful. Further, the experimental reliability and industrial applicability have a wide difference. At industry levels, productivity can very often get reduced depending on the condition under which the process is being carried on. Moreover, those who are freaks about time being precious, would certainly not take the idea of bioremediation. It is slow compared to the other synthetic reductive processes. Why are we so critical? Only an extreme saint or a vigil criminal would ask for an explanation. We are so critical because we possibly have no way out. We have brewed out enough chemicals already and using more chemicals for the treatment of the surplus chemical pollutants would not be a wise idea. It would be better if we pass on the authority gain to Nature. Human health, life and lifestyle have already suffered a lot in the run to improve all the same. We can afford no further risks. Bioremediation kills ecosystems – eutrophication, kills biodiversity, and upsets ecological balanceOTA 91 (U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Bioremediation for Marine Oil Spills— Background Paper, OTA-BP-O-70, May 1991, http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/ota/Ota_2/DATA/1991/9109.PDF) Concerns have been raised about several potential adverse environmental effects. Among these are the possibility that the addition of fertilizers could cause eutrophication, leading to algal blooms and oxygen depletion; that components of some fertilizers could be toxic to sensitive marine species or harmful to human health; that the introduction of nonnative microorganisms could be pathogenic to some indigenous species; that the use of bioremediation technologies could upset ecological balances; and that some intermediate products of bioremediation could be harmful Bioremediation produces even more toxic compounds post-metabolism – turns the advantage Bamforth and Singleton 05 (Selina M. and Ian, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences and School of Biology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne respectively, “Bioremediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: current knowledge and future directions”, Journal of Chemical and Biotechnology 80, 2005, Wiley Online) The principle of bioremediation is to remove or detoxify a contaminant from a given environment using microorganisms. Most commercial bioremediation trials tend to monitor the success of the treatment by the degree of removal of the parent contaminant and do not consider the possibility of the biological production of more toxic breakdown metabolites. However, it is important to ensure that the contaminated material is suitably detoxified at the end of the treatment.l2'76 A recent study using a bioreactor to treat PAH-contaminated gasworks soil monitored both the removal of PAHs and the accumulation of oxy-PAHs, such as PAH-ketones, quinones and coumarins.l2 These compounds are formed during the microbial metabolism of PAHs (see earlier "˜Microbial metabolism of PAHs'), and can also be formed from chemical oxidation and phototransformation of PAHs.77 Such transformation products can be equally toxic, if not more toxic, to human health when compared with the parent PAH, with many of the oxy-PAHs formed during the treatment of PAHcontaminated soils more persistent than the parent compounds. In this study, Lundstedt and colleagues showed that although there were no new oxy-PAHs formed during the bioremediation of an aged gasworks soil, the concentrations of 1-acenaphthenone and 4oxapyrene-5-one increased in the soil by 30% and 60% respectively over 30 days of bioslurry treatment. In addition, they showed that some oxy-PAHs actually increased in concentration during treatment, and were subsequently more persistent to microbial degradation than their corresponding parent PAH compound. As oxy-PAHs are more toxic than the parent PAHs, this study highlights the importance of monitoring the metabolites of bioremediation, specifically for toxic dead-end products, and assessing the toxicity of the material both before and after treatment. no i/l to bioremediationNo bioremediation – infeasible, requires too much planning, and no one wants to adopt it – research won’t change thatOTA 91 (U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Bioremediation for Marine Oil Spills— Background Paper, OTA-BP-O-70, May 1991, http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/ota/Ota_2/DATA/1991/9109.PDF) Second, the bioremediation approach must be specifically tailored to each polluted site. Biorernediation technologies are not, and are unlikely soon to become, off-lthe-shelf technologies that can be used with equal effectiveness in every locale. Although other oil spill response technologies are subject to this same constraint, the advance knowledge needed for bioremediation technologies is greater. Advance knowledge oil for example, the efficiency of the bacteria indigenous to an area in degrading oil, the availability of tate-limiting nutrients, and the susceptibility of the particular spilled cn.|de oil or refined product to microbial attack is required, so prespill planning will be important. Finally, the public is still unfamiliar with bioremediation technologies. Although public attitudes toward "natural" solutions to environmental problems are gener-ally Eavorable, the lack of knowledge about microorganisms and their natural role in the environment could affect the acceptability of their use." Before bioremediation technologies are likely to be widely used, their efficacy and safety will have to be convincingly demonstrated and communicated to the public. bioremediation not solveBioremediation can’t solve heavy metals and other dangerous compounds – and takes too long to adapt to other pollutantsBoopathy 2K (Ramaraj, Distinguished Service Professor of Biological Sciences at Nicholls State University, “Factors limiting bioremediation technologies”, Bioresource Technology 74, 2000, ScienceDirect) For bioremediation to be successful, the bioremediation methods depend on having the right microbes in the right place with the right environmental factors for degradation to occur. The right microbes are bacteria or fungi, which have the physiological and metabolic capabilities to degrade the pollutants. Bioremediation offers several advantages over conventional techniques such as land filling or incineration. Bioremediation can be done on site, is often less expensive and site disruption is minimal. It eliminates waste permanently, eliminates long-term liability, and has greater public acceptance, with regulatory encouragement, and it can be coupled with other physical or chemical treatment methods. Bioremediation has also its limitations. Some chemicals are not amenable to biodegradation, for instance, heavy metals, radionuclides and some chlorinated compounds. In some cases, microbial metabolism of contaminants may produce toxic metabolites. Bioremediation is a scientifically intensive procedure which must be tailored to the site-specific conditions, which means one has to do treatability studies on a smallscale before the actual clean-up of the sites. Some of the questions one has to answer before using bioremediation techniques are: is the contaminant biodegradable? Is biodegradation occurring in the site naturally? are environmental conditions appropriate for biodegradation? If the waste does not completely biodegrade, where will it go? These questions can be answered by doing site characterization and also by treatability studies. environment turnExploration is dangerous without regulation – lack of knowledge means we devastate the environment without knowing itChilds 14 (Laura, “DEEP SEA MYSTERY”, I Science, 7/14/14, http://www.isciencemag.co.uk/features/deep-sea-mystery/) Given the range and novelty of species found in the deep sea, it’s not surprising that the search for valuable new commodities, which are in short supply on land, is now moving underwater. As antibiotic resistance increases, researchers are going to further extremes than ever before in their efforts to discover new ones. The PharmaSea project, launched last year, is a collaboration between European scientists hoping to find new bioactive compounds from marine organisms. Due to the remote nature of these hostile environments, life in each deep sea trench has evolved in very different ways, encouraging hopes of discovering a wide variety of novel microorganisms. By collecting mud and sediment samples from deep sea trenches, and culturing them back in the lab, researchers believe that the resulting deep sea bacteria could have valuable properties including possible new antibiotic agents. And it’s not just drugs on offer either. Vast reserves of minerals, including rare-earth metals, are known to exist in the seabed. These are key components of our much-loved smart phones and burgeoning hybrid car industry and are currently in short supply. The deep sea is therefore predicted to be the next big target for mining, and 19 leases have already been issued for prospecting in international waters, covering a combined area the size of Mexico. But because we know so little about the deep ocean, it’s hard to know what the effects of such invasive exploration could be. In February, scientists warned that we need to stop and think before moving ahead with this relatively new type of resource extraction. Given the harmful effects that have arisen from the large-scale destruction of the rainforests, there’s a pressing need for research to be carried out, and possible regulation put in place, before the world’s oceans are exploited. As technological advancements make exploration of the deep sea easier, one of the last great unexplored regions on Earth is about to become a little more familiar. Let’s treat it with the respect it deserves. pollution alt causeAlt cause to pollution – lack of regulatory enforcement ensures it continues at a faster pace than they can clean it upCanary Club No Date (“Most Dangerous Pollution”, Canary Club, http://www.canaryclub.org/component/content/article/31-toxins-health-category/278-article-most-dangerous-pollution.html) Currently, polluters don't have to report any releases of toxic chemicals if they don't manufacture 25,000 pounds of them or use 10,000 pounds of them annually. Since most of these exempted chemicals are low level by-products of industrial processes, releases almost never are reported to the public. Overall, less than 9% of these toxic chemicals released into our air and water by industrial pollution were reported. This means the industry has very little incentive to reduce their pollution of these potentally lethal chemicals. NET believs that the all releases of highly dangerous toxins must be reported to the public. We can no longer treat these highly toxic, persistent, and body-accumulating chemicals like other industrial chemicals. The Environmental Protection Agency is considering asking polluters to report their emissions if they produce or use as little as 10 pounds of these substances. That sounds like a significant step forward, but consider: MERCURY A coal-fired industrial boiler or power plant would have to consume 90,000 tons of coal to emit 10 pounds of mercury. Approximately half of the industrial boilers and a good many power plants (the nation's largest source of mercury) would still be exempt from reporting and could legally hide their pollution from the public. Hundreds of oil refineries, paper mills, chemical plants, incinerators, and other industrial facilities in communities across the country will enjoy similar exemptions. They will also be able to continue to hide their pollution from the public. Industrial processes such as coal combustion, chlorine processing, waste incineration, and metal processing are releasing mercury into the environment in dangerous quantities. Emissions of mercury into the atmosphere contaminate not just the air but also water bodies that the pollution settles upon. Because of this pollution of lakes and rivers, mercury is responsible for most of the fish advisories in the United States: Thirteen states have issued advisories declaring fish in every lake in their state unsafe to eat. 40% of Americans are eating fish contaminated with unsafe levels of mercury. A single can of tuna fish contains mercury exceeding EPA's recommended safe level for adults. A fraction of a teaspoon of mercury can contaminate a 25 acre lake to the extent that the fish are too toxic to eat. Children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable to mercury-contaminated fish because even very small amounts of mercury can cause severe neurological damage to the child. Humans are generally exposed to mercury through eating contaminated fish although mercury can also be breathed through the air. Mercury poisoning causes a variety of health problems including nervous system damage, kidney damage, and developmental effects. Children born to women with high levels of mercury have exhibited mental retardation, blindness, and cerebral palsy. Under the current right-to-know law, only 8% of mercury emissions are reported to the federal Toxics Release Inventory. LEAD Lead is used in a variety of consumer products including plumbing and electrical and electronic components. Most lead emissions are released into the environment through lead smelting, waste incineration, and fuel burning. Although lead emissions have dropped since its removal from gasoline, the EPA estimates that 3,943 tons were released into the air in 1995. Lead in air attaches to dust and can be carried for long distances. It is usually found in the upper level of soils, and heavy rains can wash it into river and lakes. Breathing lead dust, and exposure to contaminated soil and water are the most common sources of human lead poisoning. Since children spend a lot of time playing near the ground and engage in a lot of hand-to-mouth activity, they are usually exposed to higher levels of lead than adults. Even at low levels, childhood lead exposure can cause learning disabilities, delays in normal physical and mental development, and deficits in hearing. Prolonged exposure to lead has been linked to human cerebrovascular, kidney, reproductive, and neurological disease. Exposure to lead by pregnant women can cause premature birth, low birth weight, or miscarriages. Certain compounds of lead can also cause cancer. Only 35% of industrial lead air emissions are reported every year to the federal Toxics Release Inventory. DIOXINS, PCBs, AND SIMILAR COMPOUNDS Dioxins and their effects on public health became infamous in the late 1970s when the community of Love Canal, New York, was evacuated after dioxins leaked through storage barrels and contaminated the entire community. Dioxins accumulate in the body and cause cancer, reproductive problems, and immune system damage. They are also considered to be endocrine disruptors, compounds that mimic human hormones affecting the development of fetuses and small children. Fetal exposure can damage the reproductive and immune systems as well as disrupt learning and behavior. Dioxin-like compounds–mainly PCBs and furans–are similar in chemical make-up, toxicity, and their effects on human health. The main source of dioxin-like emissions are combustion sources such as waste incinerators, paper mills, and chemical manufacturing facilities. Dioxin-like compounds have been found throughout the world in air, soil, water, sediment, fish, wildlife, meat, and dairy products. The main pathway of dioxin and PCB exposure is through the food we eat. These compounds bind to fat and virtually all animals, including humans, have them in their bodies. Just one gram of dioxins, the weight of a single M&M candy, could expose up to a million people to a toxic dose. U.S. industry emits about 50 grams of dioxins into the environment every year. Scientists have found PCBs in arctic polar bears and seals, and high levels of dioxins have been discovered in the bodies of arctic natives who haved lived their entire lives thousands of miles away from any source of dioxin pollution. HEXACHLOROBENZENE Although there are currently no direct commercial uses of HCB in the United States, it is still commonly produced as a byproduct of chemical production and as a contaminant in many pesticides. Common releases of HCB are from coal combustion, discharges from chemical manufacturing processes, and applications of pesticides that include HCB as a contaminant. HCB builds up in the food chain, including plants such as wheat and vegetables. Humans are exposed mostly through eating low levels of HCB in contaminated foods. HCB causes liver, kidney, neurological, and immune system damage, as well as cancer. HCB is thought to be an endocrine disruptor, compounds that mimic human hormones affecting the development of fetuses and small children. It is also associated with reduced growth and arthritic changes in limbs of children who are exposed to HCB, either directly or through breast milk. Only 5% of industrial HCB air emissions are reported every year to the federal Toxics Release Inventory. PAHs PAHs are byproducts of incomplete burning, found as contaminants (such as coal tar and wood-treating residues), or are used in certain products (such as dyes, plastics, and pesticides). PAHs, unlike most dangerous toxics, have large natural sources including wildfires and volcanos. Man-made activities, however, are greatly increasing PAH releases. PAHs are found far from their sources and are thought to be capable of traveling long distances through the air. The level of PAHs in urban air is 10 times higher than the air levels in rural areas. PAHs also bind to soil and levels in normal urban environments may be well above the level determined to be potentially dangerous to human health. Humans are exposed to PAHs through contaminated air and water and smoking tobacco. High levels of PAHs can cause red blood cell damage and suppress the immune system. Smaller, more frequent doses can cause developmental and reproductive effects. Animal testing has shown that PAHs can be carcinogens and can reduce the fertility of the exposed individual as well as their offspring. Only 3% of industrial PAH emissions are reported every year to the federal Toxics Release Inventory. no impact to plastic pollutionNo impact to plastic pollution – their ev is all circumstantialHohn 08 (Donovan, senior editor of Harper’s, “Sea of Trash”, The New York Times, 6/22/08, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/magazine/22Plastics-t.html?pagewanted=all) Beth Flint’s nuanced testimony was typical. Flint is a wildlife biologist with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. One seabird she studies is the Laysan albatross, which, thanks to a recent Greenpeace ad campaign, has become plastic pollution’s most famous victim — its poster bird, if you will. The ad shows a photograph in which a slimy casserole of bottle caps, cigarette lighters and unidentifiable plastic shards spills from the downy belly of a necropsied Laysan albatross chick. “How to starve to death on a full stomach,” the caption reads. The image is not merely powerful, or shocking; it’s persuasively accusatory. Look, dear consumer, it seems to say; look at what you’ve done, look where what you throw away ends up. There’s only one problem, Flint says. No one knows for certain whether plastic killed the albatross. Do plastic shards perforate the intestines of chicks? Sometimes. Does plastic obstruct the digestive tract or make a bird “starve to death with a full stomach”? Probably, in some cases. Then again albatrosses eat squid, and chitonous squid beaks are also indigestible. Are the toxins in and on plastics poisoning the birds, as Moore has proposed? It wouldn’t be surprising. According to Flint, long-lived seabirds like albatrosses do indeed have alarmingly high contaminant burdens. But research into the pathology of plastic poisoning is ongoing, and in the meantime, “it’s still all sort of circumstantial.” no impact- resilientAll elements of the marine ecosystem are resilient and recovering now – new regulations solve Lotze et al. 11 Dr. Heike Lotz – Canada Research Chair in Marine Renewable Energy, associate professor for Marine Ecology at Dalhousie University, recipient of the prestigious Peter Benchley Award for Excellence in Science, author of numerous celebrated journal articles in relevant publications; Dr. Marta Coll – postdoctoral fellow at the institute of Marine Science, researcher at the Marine Exploited Ecosystems mixed research unit, writer of various papers published in reputable journals; Dr. Laura Airoldi – associate professor in evolutionary biology at the University of Bologna in Italy, member of the American Institute of Biological Sciences, member of the Society for Conservation Biology, Ph. D. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Genova in Italy etc. (“Recovery of marine animal populations and ecosystems”, November 2011, http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0169534711002060/1-s2.0-S0169534711002060-main.pdf?_tid=00c20ae8-079e-11e4-a468-00000aacb35e&acdnat=1404933772_8f7f837a2f1f6f95f8b7639da0389303)//EO The response variables can be analyzed over time to esti-mate the magnitude, rate and time span of change from a disturbed state or low point (Figure lb). To place recovery into context, it can be useful to relate these measures to the magnitude, rate and time span of former depletion or degradation, or to scale them to an expected rate of re-sponse, such as population growth rate, generation time or succession rate (Box 1). In addition, they should be viewed in the context of natural population fluctuations that can enhance or dampen recovery. Clearly stating which mea-sure is used will enable further comparisons and syntheses across species and ecosystems. Examples of population and ecosystem recovery Over the past decades, an increasing number of studies have reported recoveries of depleted marine populations and degraded ecosystems. We first provide a selection of examples and then synthesize the general patterns. Marine mammals After the League of Nations banned the commercial whal-ing of strongly decimated right, bowhead and gray whales during the 1930s, some populations started to recover [e.g. Southern right whales Eubalaena australis, Western Arc-tic bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus (Figure 2a) and Northeast Pacific gray whales Eschrkhtius robustusJ, whereas others remained at low population levels [25,33,34]. In 1986, the International Whaling Commission expanded the commercial whaling moratorium to all great whales, leading to increases in other species, such as sperm Physeter macrocephalus [35] and blue whales Balaenoptera musculus 1361. Similarly, several populations of pinnipeds and other marine mammals started to increase after the hunting for fur, skin, blubber, ivory or bounty was either prohibited or reduced [3] (Anna M. Magera, MSc thesis, Dalhousie University, 2011). Some populations showed remarkable population increases after being almost extir-pated, such as Northern elephant seals Mirounga angu-stkostris 1371 and sea otters Enhydra lutris (Box 2)138,391. Birds Conservation efforts for birds began during the early 20th century, after a long history of exploitation for their meat, eggs, feathers and oil left many species at very low abun-dance 131. The near extinction of the great blue heron Ardea herodias was prevented in the USA by the Federal Lacey Act in 1900, which prohibited the trade of highly valued feathers [40]. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act between the USA and Great Britain in 1918 protected a range of migratory birds from hunting, egg collection and nest destruction [40]. Over time, many countries implemented similar conventions to protect birds and their habitats, enabling many decimated populations to increase (Figure 2b) [41-43], albeit rarely to historical levels [3]. Some species naturally recolonized abandoned breeding colonies or habitats from which they had been extirpated 142,43], whereas others needed assisted re-introduction 142] or formed new colonies at suitable sites [41]. In some cases, eradication of rats, foxes, raccoons or other human-introduced predators was necessary to restore seabird colonies [42,44]. Another important factor in the recovery of many birds was the ban of DDT during the 1970s [40]. Reptiles Over the past 25 years, six major green turtle Chelonia mydas nesting populations in Japan, Australia, Hawaii, Florida and Costa Rica have been increasing by 3.8-13.9% per year following protection from human exploitation of eggs and turtles (Figure 2c) [45). Other sea turtle species have also shown some increases, although most are far from historical abundance levels and are listed as threat-ened or endangered 140,45,46). By contrast, more offshore-venturing loggerhead Caretta caretta and leatherback Der-mochelys coriacea turtles have experienced strong popula-tion declines owing to being bycatch in fisheries 147). Other marine reptiles have also shown recovery, such as the American alligator Alligator mississippiensis in the south-east USA, owing to legal protection under the US Endan-gered Species Act and bans on hunting and trade [e.g. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) [40)). Fishes Over the past decade, stricter management and improved governance have enabled the rebuilding of some fish popu-lations, whereas others remain at low population numbers (8,9). After severe declines of groundfish stocks, a large-scale fishing closure on Georges Bank in 1992 resulted in a strong increase of haddock Melanogrammus aeglefinus (81, whereas a fishing moratorium for cod Gadus morhua in Atlantic Canada after its collapse during the early 1990s has not yet resulted in significant recovery (201. In the Southern California Bight, a ban of gill nets in 1994 resulted in the slow recovery of strongly depleted white sea bass Atractoscion nobilis and other predatory fishes (Figure 2d) (48). Similarly, the ban of beach seine nets in combination with closed areas resulted in marked increases in fish abundance in Kenya [49). In the North-west Atlantic, profitability cessation of foreign fishing enabled the porbeagle shark Lamna nasus to recover after its stock collapsed during the 1960s, but renewed Canadi-an fisheries during the 1990s again depleted the popula-tion, until recent management measures halted its decline (50). For diadromous fishes, recovery efforts often need to address multiple threats. Reduction of river pollution and creation of fish ladders on dams to access spawning habitat enabled strong returns of gaspereau Alosa spp. and Atlan-tic salmon Salmo solar in the St. Croix River, Canada during the 1980s before some dams were closed again in 1995 (42). The recent removal of dams on the Kennebec River in Maine also resulted in strong returns of several diadromous fish species (51). Habitats Around the world, increasing efforts are directed towards the protection and restoration of coastal habitats, such as wetlands, mangroves, seagrass beds, kelp forests, and oyster and coral reefs. Some have achieved at least partial recovery, whereas others have not. For example, the re-duction of nutrient pollution resulted in the recovery of 27 km2 of seagrass beds in Tampa Bay, Florida [52), 25 ha in Mumford Cove, Connecticut (Figure 3a) (53), and a more than threefold increase of seagrass beds up to 100 km2 in the Northfrisian Wadden Sea, Germany from 1994-2006 1541. In Mondego Bay, Portugal, seagrass recovered from 0.02 to 1.61=2 from 1997 to 2002 following management actions to restore water quality and estuarine circulation and to reduce disturbance from fishing practices 1551. Recovery can be more difficult when the former vegeta-tion has been lost. In the Delmarva Coastal Bays, USA, eelgrass Zodera marina showed natural recovery after the 1930s wasting disease and hurricane destruction in the four northern bays, probably from small remnant stands 1561. By contrast, no recovery occurred in the southern bays, owing to seed limitation, before active restoration efforts. This is one of a few examples where restoration of lost seartiess beds has been successful 161. On many tem-perate coasts, kelp forests have recovered from deforesta-tion by sea urchins after sea urchin populations were reduced by natural predators (e.g. sea otters, Box 2), fishing or disease 1571. By contrast, where kelp forests have been replaced by algal turfs, sediments or mussel beds, recovery potential seems limited even when the proximate drivers of loss are removed 158,591, but assisted restoration can help 1161. For non-vegetated habitats, such as oyster and coral reefs, recovery has also been difficult 160,611. However, the potential for recovery of native oyster reefs is emerging from restoration efforts at several key localities within Chesapeake Bay, Pamlico Sound. Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland and the Limftord. Denmark 171. Marine reserves can also help. Recovery of coral cover and size distribution after bleaching and hurricane disturbance was significantly enhanced inside a marine reserve in the Bahamas compared to outside, owing to higher abun-dance of herbivorous fishes and resulting lower macroalgal cover 1621. However, recovery might depend on the type. strength and timescale of the disturbance. Whereas some coral reefs might be able to recover from short-term bleach-ing and hurricane events within decades 1631, recovery from long-term reef degradation might take centuries or longer 12.641. Wafer Quality Unregulated discharges of wastes and waste waters into rivers and estuaries have caused strong pollution pro-blems, resulting in the decline or disappearance of many species, some of which have been successfully reversed 140,42,65,661. For example, the implementation of pollu-tion controls in the Thames estuary, UK during the 1960s enhanced water quality, especially oxygen levels, en-abling the return of estuarine fishes (Figure Sb) 1131. A 10x reduction of nitrogen loads in Tampa Bay, Florida during the late 1970s led to decreasing cyanobacterial blooms, increasing water clarity and, 10 years later, the return of seagrasses 113,521. Reduced nutrient loads also contributed to seagrass recovery in several other areas (Figure 3a) 1531. Water quality has also been restored with pollution controls in Galveston Bay and with the unintentional help of invasive clams in San Francisco Bay 1401. Long-terra studies, however, show that suble-thal effects and shifts in community structure can persist long after the recovery of target species abundance or ecosystem processes 1651. Species diversity Although there are increasing numbers of examples of individual population recoveries, attempts and studies of recovery at a community or ecosystem level are scarce. However, some examples demonstrate the possibility of multi-species recoveries. Restoration of water quality resulted in the return of >110 fish species to the Thames estuary (Figure Sb) 1131 and the recovery of intertidal macroalgal communities from 1984 to 2006 after imple-menting sewage treatment in Bilbao, Spain 1661. Cessation of exploitation in marine protected areas (MPAs) around the world resulted in significant increases in species rich-ness of fishes and invertebrates 115,221 and habitat resto-ration of oyster reefs has enhanced associated species diversity 1671. Ecosystem structure, functions end services In addition to species diversity, some studies have further demonstrated the recovery of structural or functional eco-system components following protection measures. A large-scale fishing closure on Georges Bank during the 1990a enabled the recovery of the entire benthic commu-nity 191 and strongly reduced exploitation rates have led to the rebuilding of the fish community biomass in the Cali-fornia Current since 2000 191. Restoration of kelp along Korean coasts resulted in the complete recovery of macro-algal community structure and trophic food webs 1161. Studies in MPAs illustrate successional recovery of differ-ent community components (Figure 3c) as well as re-es-tablishment of lost predatory interactions and food-web structure 114.15.68,691. Moreover, significant increases occurred in secondary productivity, ecosystem stability and economic revenue from recreational diving in 48 MPAs and fisheries closures worldwide 1221. In Kenya, fishers' catches and income strongly increased after the establish-ment of dosed areas combined with beach seine bans 19,491. In some cases, marine recoveries can even benefit terrestrial ecosystems, as in the recovery of seabird colo-nies that enhance biodiversity and functions of island ecosystems by supplying essential marine-derived nitro-gen (Figure 3d11171. Only a few marine ecosystems, such as Monterey Bay, California 1701, have so far shown strong recovery in their structure, function and services over a large area General patterns of recovery. alt causeOcean acidification means near term collapse is inevitable Rogers 2/17 [Alex Rogers, Scientific Director of IPSO and Professor of Conservation Biology at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, 2014, “The Ocean’s Death March,” http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/02/17/the-oceans-death-march/] This problem is unquestionably serious, and here’s why: The rate of change of ocean pH (measure of acidity) is 10 times faster than 55 million years ago. That period of geologic history was directly linked to a mass extinction event as levels of CO2 mysteriously went off the charts. Ten times larger is big, very big, when a measurement of 0.1 in change of pH is consistent with significant change! According to C.L.Dybas, On a Collision Course: Oceans Plankton and Climate Change, BioScience, 2006: “This acidification is occurring at a rate [10-to-100] times faster [depending upon the area] than ever recorded.” In other words, as far as science is concerned, the rate of change of pH in the ocean is “off the charts.” Therefore, and as a result, nobody knows how this will play out because there is no known example in geologic history of such a rapid change in pH. This begs the biggest question of modern times, which is: Will ocean acidification cause an extinction event this century, within current lifetimes? The Extinction Event Already Appears to be Underway According to the State of the Ocean Report, d/d October 3, 2013,International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO): “This [acidification] of the ocean is unprecedented in the Earth’s known history. We are entering an unknown territory of marine ecosystem change… The next mass extinction may have already begun.” According to Jane Lubchenco, PhD, who is the former director (2009-13) of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the effects of acidification are already present in some oyster fisheries, like the West Coast of the U.S. According to Lubchenco: “You can actually see this happening… It’s not something a long way into the future. It is a very big problem,” Fiona Harvey, Ocean Acidification due to Carbon Emissions is at Highest for 300M Years, The Guardian October 2, 2013. And, according to Richard Feely, PhD, (Dep. Of Oceanography, University of Washington) and Christopher Sabine, PhD, (Senior Fellow, University of Washington, Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean): “If the current carbon dioxide emission trends continue… the ocean will continue to undergo acidification, to an extent and at rates that have not occurred for tens of millions of years… nearly all marine life forms that build calcium carbonate shells and skeletons studied by scientists thus far have shown deterioration due to increasing carbon dioxide levels in seawater,” Dr. Richard Feely and Dr. Christopher Sabine, Oceanographers, Carbon Dioxide and Our Ocean Legacy, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, April 2006. And, according to Alex Rogers, PhD, Scientific Director of the International Programme on the State of the Ocean, OneWorld (UK) Video, Aug. 2011: “I think if we continue on the current trajectory, we are looking at a mass extinction of marine species even if only coral reef systems go down, which it looks like they will certainly by the end of the century.” “Today’s human-induced acidification is a unique event in the geological history of our planet due to its rapid rate of change. An analysis of ocean acidification over the last 300 million years highlights the unprecedented rate of change of the current acidification. The most comparable event 55 million years ago was linked to mass extinctions… At that time, though the rate of change of ocean pH was rapid, it may have been 10 times slower than current change,” IGBP, IOC, SCOR [2013], Ocean Acidification Summary for Policymakers – Third Symposium on the Ocean in a High- CO2 World, International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, Stockholm, Sweden, 2013. Fifty-five million years ago, during a dark period of time known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), huge quantities of CO2 were somehow released into the atmosphere, nobody knows from where or how, but temperatures around the world soared by 10 degrees F, and the ocean depths became so corrosive that sea shells simply dissolved rather than pile up on the ocean floor. “Most, if not all, of the five global mass extinctions in Earth’s history carry the fingerprints of the main symptoms of… global warming, ocean acidification and anoxia or lack of oxygen. It is these three factors — the ‘deadly trio’ — which are present in the ocean today. In fact, (the situation) is unprecedented in the Earth’s history because of the high rate and speed of change,” Rogers, A.D., Laffoley, D. d’A. 2011. International Earth System Expert Workshop on Ocean Stresses and Impacts, Summary Report, IPSO Oxford, 2011. Zooming in on the Future, circa 2050 – Location: Castello Aragonese Scientists have discovered a real life Petri dish of seawater conditions similar to what will occur by the year 2050, assuming humans continue to emit CO2 at current rates. This real life Petri dish is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea at Castello Aragonese, which is a tiny island that rises straight up out of the sea like a tower. The island is located 17 miles west of Naples. Tourists like to visit Aragonese Castle (est. 474 BC) on the island to see the display of medieval torture devices. But, the real action is offshore, under the water, where Castello Aragonese holds a very special secret, which is an underwater display that gives scientists a window 50 years into the future. Here’s the scoop: A quirk of geology is at work whereby volcanic vents on the seafloor surrounding the island are emitting (bubbling) large quantities of CO2. In turn, this replicates the level of CO2 scientists expect the ocean to absorb over the course of the next 50 years. “When you get to the extremely high CO2 almost nothing can tolerate that,” according to Jason-Hall Spencer, PhD, professor of marine biology, School of Marine Science and Engineering, Plymouth University (UK), who studies the seawater around Castello Aragonese (Elizabeth Kolbert, The Acid Sea, National Geographic, April, 2011.) The adverse effects of excessive CO2 are found everywhere in the immediate surroundings of the tiny island. For example, barnacles, which are one of the toughest of all sea life, are missing around the base of the island where seawater measurements show the heaviest concentration of CO2. And, within the water, limpets, which wander into the area seeking food, show severe shell dissolution. As a result, their shells are almost completely transparent. Also, the underwater sea grass is a vivid green, which is abnormal because tiny organisms usually coat the blades of sea grass and dull the color, but no such organisms exists. Additionally, sea urchins, which are commonplace further away from the vents, are nowhere to be seen around the island. The only life forms found around Castello Aragonese are jellyfish, sea grass, and algae; whereas, an abundance of underwater sea life is found in the more distant surrounding waters. Thus, the Castello Aragonese Petri dish is essentially a dead sea except for weeds. This explains why Jane Lubchenco, former head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, refers to ocean acidification as global warming’s “equally evil twin,” Ibid. To that end, a slow motion death march is consuming life in the ocean in real time, and we humans are witnesses to this extinction event. Whaling COLLINS 14 (Katie, writer for Wired Science, Whales are the engineers of our ocean ecosystems, http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-07/03/whales-ecosystem-engineers, 7/3/14) Thanks to marine biologists around the world we now know that the gentle giants of our oceans have a powerful and positive impact on our underwater ecosystems. It has long been presumed that whales are so rare that their effect on our oceans is negligible. Not so, according to new research published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, which has taken into account several decades of whale-related data and found that their influence can be seen in the global carbon storage and the health of commercial fisheries. In the past fishermen have often taken taken the view that whales, which after all have massive metabolic demands, are their competition. It turns out, however, that a prevalence of whales actually encourages the development of more robust fisheries. It's estimated that the dramatic decline in whale numbers, primarily due to industrial whaling, has seen their numbers decline between 66 and 90 percent, but there are signs of recovery, which could well have a dramatically positive impact on the health of ocean ecosystems overall. "Future changes in the structure and function of the world's oceans can be expected with the restoration of great whale population," write the researchers in the study's abstract. Declining fish size Rietta 14 (commentator at Pucci Foods ocean blog citing a recent study, conducted by fisheries scientists with the University of Aberdeen, Rising Ocean Temperatures: Smaller Fish Will Impact Fisheries and Ecosystems Unless Humans Learn to Adapt, http://puccifoods.com/pucciseafood-new/blog/ocean-temperatures-rise-smaller-fish-will-impact-fisheries-ecosystems-unless-humans-learn-adapt/, 3/3/14) There may be serious negative effects on entire ecosystems that come with decreasing fish size. Everything in the ocean food web is connected – if fish on a lower trophic level become smaller, they will naturally yield fewer nutrients for organisms higher up on the energy chain. These animals could be predatory fish or sharks that are already suffering from the same depleted oxygen levels, or marine mammals that need to sustain massive amounts of energy to survive. They will be compelled to eat more of the smaller fish – lending to a decline in population – or switch their food source to something else. Ripple effects could be seen far and wide in many different ocean ecosystems. Organisms have an amazing ability to adapt and evolve to survive. But much more time is needed to keep things in balance. These fish are being forced to adapt too quickly to changing conditions – entire ecosystems need at least thousands of years to properly evolve. Right now human activity is forcing monumental changes over a span of decades. Increased ocean temperatures Rietta 14 (commentator at Pucci Foods ocean blog citing a recent study, conducted by fisheries scientists with the University of Aberdeen, Rising Ocean Temperatures: Smaller Fish Will Impact Fisheries and Ecosystems Unless Humans Learn to Adapt, http://puccifoods.com/pucciseafood-new/blog/ocean-temperatures-rise-smaller-fish-will-impact-fisheries-ecosystems-unless-humans-learn-adapt/, 3/3/14) This study took place on fish data from the North Sea, but what about other areas? Although scientists predict that different regions will show quite a bit of variation, we have seen a global increase in sea surface temperatures. We must wonder how other animals are likely to be affected. If all our oceans are warming, then we must believe that they will all begin losing the capacity to hold oxygen. Organisms rely on this oxygen – it would be akin to our atmospheric being sucked away, so that humans were forced to survive on less oxygen. Imagine a world where it is hard for our lungs to gather enough oxygen to fuel the movement of our bodies. Just walking down the street would become a tremendously difficult task. Fish and invertebrates would surely lose the energy needed to find food, shelter and mates. Coral reefs are especially sensitive to environmental conditions, with higher temperatures causing coral bleaching and eventual death. Coral reefs are home to 25% of life in the oceans with biodiversity levels on par with terrestrial rainforests. Coral reefs provide millions of people with food and jobs in fishing and ecotourism. Their disappearance would have grave implications for the future. Caribbean Reefs will disappear in 20 years- increased pressures and lack of grazers Seattle Times 7/7/14 (“Study: Caribbean coral reefs will be lost within 20 years” Seattle times 7/7/14 http://seattletimes.com/html/outdoors/2024012938_caribbeanreefs disappearingxml.html)//BLOV Most Caribbean coral reefs will disappear within the next 20 years unless action is taken to protect them, primarily due to the decline of grazers such as sea urchins and parrotfish, a new report has warned. A comprehensive analysis by 90 experts of more than 35,000 surveys conducted at nearly 100 Caribbean locations since 1970 shows that the region’s corals have declined by more than 50 percent. But restoring key fish populations and improving protection from overfishing and pollution could help the reefs recover and make them more resilient to the impacts of climate change, according to the study from the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the U.N.’s Environment Program. While climate change and the resulting ocean acidification and coral bleaching does pose a major threat to the region, the report — Status and Trends of Caribbean Coral Reefs: 1970-2012 — found that local pressures such as tourism, overfishing and pollution posed the biggest problems. And these factors have made the loss of the two main grazer species, the parrotfish and sea urchin, the key driver of coral decline in the Caribbean. Grazers are important fish in the marine ecosystem as they eat the algae that can smother corals. An unidentified disease led to a mass mortality of the sea urchin in 1983 and overfishing throughout the 20th century has brought the parrotfish population to the brink of extinction in some regions, according to the report. Reefs where parrotfish are not protected have suffered significant declines, including Jamaica, the entire Florida reef tract from Miami to Key West, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. At the same time, the report showed that some of the healthiest Caribbean coral reefs are those that are home to big populations of grazing parrotfish. These include the U.S. Flower Garden Banks national marine sanctuary in the northern Gulf of Mexico, Bermuda and Bonaire — all of which have restricted or banned fishing practices that harm parrotfish. at: 5-yr tfDevelopment of marine research products takes 5-7 years minimum – they can’t solve the ocean in timeNRC 02 (National Research Council, “MARINE BIOTECHNOLOGY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY”, Committee on Marine Biotechnology: Biomedical Applications of Marine Natural Products Ocean Studies Board Board on Life Sciences Division on Earth and Life Studies National Research Council, 2002, http://worldtracker.org/media/library/Science/Biotechnology/Marine%20Biotechnology%20in%20the%2021st%20Century%20-%20Nrc.pdf) Federal regulations control the development and marketing of bioproducts with human health and safety implications. Preclinicaland clinical-product development related to the regulatory process can take an average of 5 to 7 years and can cost from $15 million to more than $200 million (Cato, 1988; Trenter, 1999), with some reports of costs as high as $800 million (DiMasi, 2001). This cost can be one of the most important hurdles to surmount in the development of a marine-derived bioproduct. Mechanisms to streamline the process and lower the expense must be explored if marine bioproduct development for medical applications is to succeed. A look at the marine bioproducts available today through the advances of marine biotechnology suggests that numerous products of marine origin have already been successful. Products have been brought to market (Tables l and 2), and ideas have been licensed for commercial development (Table 3). Despite these successes, there are concerns that the potential of many marine bioproducts is being compromised because the transition from labor atory discovery to early commercial development has not been efficient or successful, and regulatory hurdles have not been surmounted. To overcome these bottlenecks it is necessary to educate marine scientists more aggressively about intellectual property rights and regulatory processes. That education should result in increased invention disclosure rates that will preserve nascent patent rights and ensure that more products are available for commercialization. Efforts should also be made to encourage transitional research, thus enhancing the movement of an idea to marketable product. Directory: wp-content -> uploads -> 2014 2014 -> For want of a nail 2014 -> Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act of 2014 2014 -> Ihbb asian Championships 2014 middle school bowl Round 4 First Quarter 2014 -> Ihbb european Championships 2014 Bowl Round 4 First Quarter 2014 -> International History Bee and Bowl 2013-14 Asian Division Question Set Bowl Round Six 2014 -> United states patent and trademark office 2014 -> Coffs harbour eisteddfod vocal syllabus 2014 -> Listen News Programs Schedule pledge now 2014 -> Slow club announce third album complete surrender Download 0.84 Mb. Share with your friends:
|