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Ocean Project Updates
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Partner Spotlight!
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Ocean Greetings
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The Ocean Project provides this e-newsletter as a free service to 2,605 contacts at zoos, aquariums, museums, conservation organizations, schools and others involved in our Partner network..
We hope you will find these news updates, resources, events, and opportunities for action useful in your work and life. Please forward widely and encourage colleagues and friends to subscribe!
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44 days until World Ocean Day - New website has plenty of free resources!
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The countdown to World Ocean Day is on; there are just 44 days left until the big celebration on June 8. Have you planned your event yet? If not, it's not too late!
Head to the World Ocean Day website where you'll find plenty of inspiration for planning your event and a global event map with everything from ocean excursions and watershed cleanups to community projects to stitch together a fluffy underwater display. Once you've decided on your event, make sure to list it on the World Ocean Day website so we can help you get the word out.
Also, take advantage of the resources in the media and outreach kit and the freebies we are providing our Partners to help celebrate, including Seas the Day bookmarks, Monterey Bay Aquarium National Seafood Wallet Guides, and 41pounds.org postcards.
Contact us to request any of these resources for celebrating World Ocean Day.
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Global warming could sap Great Lakes
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By Tina Lam
Detroit Free Press - April 11, 2008
Lower lake levels, less ice cover, more algae, more invasive species and more waterborne diseases linked to sewer overflows after severe storms. Those are among the dire forecasts about the impact of global warming on the Great Lakes from scientists who concluded two days of presentations Thursday at Michigan State University (MSU).
Some changes already are dramatic. Consider the speedy warming of Lake Superior, where water temperatures are rising twice as fast as air temperatures. Still, the future effects of climate change are tough to predict at a local level, and most scientists said much more study is needed to understand how the region will change and how to plan for it. The Great Lakes, the source of 18% of the world's fresh surface water, get far less funding for study than oceans do, they said. One consensus of the scientists in attendance: Governments need to start planning for changes, such as lower lakes, storms and floods that could overwhelm existing sewer systems.
Although many climate researchers say they think the Great Lakes region will be wetter and warmer in the future, lake levels still will decline because there will be less ice cover in winter, allowing more water evaporation. The lakes also will see more cyanobacteria, a class of harmful algae that includes toxic forms, said Steve Wilhelm, a microbiologist at the University of Tennessee. Algae blooms can smother fish and harm animals and humans.
The strong storms that climate modelers say Michigan and other Great Lakes states could get with climate change also bring a risk of spreading diseases, said Joan Rose, director of the Center for Water Sciences at MSU. In 2005, 1,500 people got sick on Lake Erie's South Bass Island after heavy rains inundated septic tanks and wells, spreading bacteria into drinking water.
Read the full story.
Photo Credit: SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE
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Warming trends rise in large ocean areas
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By Grant McCool
Reuters - April 9, 2008
Warming trends in a third of the world's large ocean regions are two to four times greater than previously reported averages, increasing the risk to marine life and fisheries, a U.N.-backed environmental study said.
Overfishing, coastal pollution and degradation of water quality were common in all 64 large marine ecosystems studied by scientists who contributed to the U.N. Environmental Program report presented at an international conference on oceans, coasts and islands in Vietnam this week.
Scientists said the 800-page report focuses on the risk to the sustainability of the $12.6 trillion value of goods and services produced each year in the so-called large marine ecosystems. The report recommended that 29 ocean areas adjacent to developing countries should also cap the yield of annual fishery catches as a precaution.
To help poorer nations better manage marine ecosystems, the Washington-based Global Environment Facility is funding projects worth $1.8 billion in 16 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
Monique Barbut, chief executive officer of the GEF, said in an interview that oceans had been taken for granted in the global warming debate, including the Kyoto Protocol talks in Bali, Indonesia last year and the Convention on Biodiversity.
Read the full story.
Photo credit: NASA
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U.S. leads world in wind-power growth
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By John Roach
National Geographic News - April 21, 2008
A new report finds that the United States is on track to breeze past Germany within two years as the world leader in installed capacity to spin the wind into electricity.
Globally, wind-power capacity rose 27% in 2007 to 94,100 megawatts, according to the report from the Washington D.C. based Worldwatch Institute. The U.S. led the charge with a record-breaking 5,244-megawatt increase for a total of 16,818 megawatts - enough to power 4.5 million U.S. homes.
And the potential in the U.S. is far greater, according to Janet Sawin, director of the Worldwatch Institute's energy and climate change program and author of the new report. "Wind resources in just three U.S. states could, theoretically, meet all of our nation's electricity needs," she said in an email. Technologically and economically, researchers believe wind could account for 20 percent of U.S. electricity by 2030.
Europe as a whole accounts for 60 percent of global installed capacity. Energy analysts said the growth is substantial, but wind still makes up only about one percent of the global mix. Other renewable energy sources like solar and geothermal make up even less. "But if such rapid growth rates continue, which is likely, their contribution to the global energy mix will soon be significant," Sawin said.
Read the full story.
Photo credit: Wagner Christian
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Why bother to take personal action on climate change (or anything, for that matter)?
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By Michael Pollan
The New York Times Magazine - April 20, 2008
Why bother? That really is the big question facing us as individuals hoping to do something about climate change, and it's not an easy one to answer.
The drop-in-the-bucket issue is not the only problem lurking behind the "why bother" question. There are so many stories we can tell ourselves to justify doing nothing, but perhaps the most insidious is that, whatever we do manage to do, it will be too little too late.
Whatever we can do as individuals to change the way we live at this suddenly very late date does seem utterly inadequate to the challenge. It's hard to argue with Michael Specter, in a recent New Yorker piece on carbon footprints, when he says: "Personal choices, no matter how virtuous, cannot do enough. It will also take laws and money." So it will. Yet it is no less accurate or hardheaded to say that laws and money cannot do enough, either; that it will also take profound changes in the way we live. Why? Because the climate-change crisis is at its very bottom a crisis of lifestyle - of character, even. The Big Problem is nothing more or less than the sum total of countless little everyday choices, most of them made by us.
If you do bother, you will set an example for other people. If enough other people bother, each one influencing yet another in a chain reaction of behavioral change, markets for all manner of green products and alternative technologies will prosper and expand. Consciousness will be raised, perhaps even changed: new moral imperatives and new taboos might take root in the culture.
The act I want to talk about is growing some - even just a little - of your own food. Measured against the problem we face, planting a garden sounds pretty benign, I know, but in fact it's one of the most powerful things an individual can do - to reduce your carbon footprint, sure, but more important, to reduce your sense of dependence and dividedness: to change the cheap-energy mind.
Read the full story (free subscription to the New York Times magazine required).
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Al Gore: New thinking on the climate crisis
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Al Gore has presented a brand-new slide deck on the climate crisis (premiering on TED.com), in which he gives evidence that the pace of climate change may be even worse than scientists were recently predicting, and challenges us to act with a sense of "generational mission" - the kind of feeling that brought forth the civil rights movement - to set it right. Gore's stirring presentation is followed by a brief Q&A in which he is asked for his verdict on the current political candidates' climate policies and on what role he himself might play in the future.
Watch Al Gore's presentation.
Photo credit: TED.
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Yale's Gus Speth calls for shift from U.S. consumer capitalism to solve environmental woes
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Will shifting from a GDP-driven society help solve the United States' environmental problems?
In his new book, "The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability," James Gustave Speth, dean of the Yale School on environment and forestry, argues that U.S.-style consumer capitalism needs to change in order for any progress on the environment to occur.
Speth, a former chair of the Council on Environmental Quality and founder of both the Natural Resources Defense Council and the World Resources Institute, explains why he is unhappy with the current state of environmentalism. He also gauges the changing level of interest in environmental issues on college campuses throughout the country.
Watch the video.
Read the transcript.
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Connect through film - Pangea Day, May 10
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Pangea Day is a global event bringing the world together through film to build a better future.
In a world where people are often divided by borders, difference, and conflict, it's easy to lose sight of what we all have in common. Pangea Day seeks to overcome that through the power of film.
On May 10, 2008 - Pangea Day - sites in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro will be linked live to produce a program of powerful films, visionary speakers, and uplifting music. The program will be broadcast live to the world through the Internet, television, digital cinemas, and mobile phones.
Of course, movies alone can't change the world. But the people who watch them can. So following May 10, 2008, Pangea Day organizers will facilitate community-building activities around the world by connecting inspired viewers with numerous organizations that are already doing groundbreaking work.
The ocean connects us all. On Pangea Day use the power of film to reach your audience about the ocean. Check out The Ocean Project's website for great ocean films. Plan a World Ocean Day activity to transform all that inspiration into action.
Learn more about Pangea Day.
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3rd annual national Endangered Species Day, May 16
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Endangered Species Day is an opportunity for people young and old to learn about the importance of protecting endangered species and everyday actions that people can take to help protect America's disappearing wildlife and last remaining open spaces.
Endangered Species Day is the third Friday of May. Every year, thousands of people throughout the country celebrate Endangered Species Day. You can participate in festivals, field trips, park tours, community clean-ups, film showings, classroom presentations, and many other fun and educational activities.
For additional information on Endangered Species Day, events in your area, and event ideas visit the Endangered Species Coalition website.
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Effects of climate change on the ocean symposium in Spain, May
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This symposium, taking place in Gijón Spain May 19 - 23, 2008, will focus on the major issues of climate change that affect the ocean: oceanic circulation, cycling of carbon and other elements, acidification, changes in species distributions and migratory routes, sea-level rise, coastal erosion, etc.
The symposium will bring together results from observations, analyses and model simulations, at a global scale, and will include discussion of the climate change scenarios and the possibilities for mitigating and protecting the marine environment and living marine resources.
An assessment of the consequences of climate change on the World's ocean has a high scientific and social relevance and is urgently needed. Although we are beginning to document the local effects and consequences of climate change on the functioning of marine ecosystems, there is no comprehensive vision at the global scale, and only limited ability to forecast the effects of climate change.
To learn more about the agenda and to register visit the symposium's website.
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5th Science Centre World Congress in Canada, June
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The Ontario Science Centre is hosting the fifth World Congress of Science Centers in Toronto Canada June 15-20, 2008 - the first time the World Congress will be held in North America.
The Congress theme "Science Centres as Agents of Change - Locally, Nationally, and Internationally" addresses the role science centres play to inspire and actively engage people in new ways of seeing, understanding, and thinking about themselves in a world increasingly defined by rapid globalization and technological change.
Science centres already bring science to the public, and influence the level of science dialogue in society. By going further, by involving visitors directly in the process of science - tackling real world issues, gathering scientific data, interacting with leading scientists and researchers, engaging in trial-and-error experimentation, and much more - science centres can spark curiosity, nurture interest in the wonders of science, and in the process, grow the next generation of science-confident citizens. In effect, science centres can become agents of change by helping to develop a population capable of making informed decisions regarding their personal well-being and that of the planet.
To learn more about the agenda and to register visit the Congress's website.
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Using media to communicate stories of the ocean, summer program
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Blue Horizons, the University of California Santa Barbara's (UCSB) Summer Program for Environmental Media, will run for the 9 week period June 23 - August 22, 2008.
This program brings together students interested in digital media production and environmental studies to learn about important issues of the global ocean from a local, California perspective. A coordinated series of interdisciplinary courses and related activities introduces students to scriptwriting; media portrayals of the environment; the biological, socio-economic, and political aspects of marine conservation; and the latest innovations in environmental filmmaking.
Students will gain the skills necessary to communicate effectively with their peers, scientists, policymakers, and the general public by producing short, compelling videos.
To learn more and to register visit the UCSB summer program website.
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SPIN communication training Academy in California, August
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Planning has begun for this year's SPIN Academy being held August 13 - 17 in Petaluma, California. To celebrate its 10 year anniversary, the Academy will provide some of the best communications trainings that SPIN has developed over the years.
The SPIN Academy is an opportunity to expand your organization's communications capacity as well as network, share, learn and have some fun. Applications will be available online in mid-May.
To learn more visit the SPIN Project's website or contact SPIN at academy@spinproject.org.
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International Pacific Marine Educators Network Conference in Australia, October
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Marine educators worldwide, formal and informal, are invited to gather in Townsville to share resources and to continue ongoing efforts to change public attitudes towards the ocean and to actively protect the Pacific.
The conference theme of "Sustaining the Pacific: Learning from Elders, Listening to Youth" not only reflects the overall goal of working towards a sustainable ocean but also reflects an emphasis on two important but often underrepresented voices. As well as the usual scientists and educators, we aim to hear from elders with traditional knowledge of ocean systems and the young people to whom we entrust the future of ocean systems.
The conference dates are October 16 to 21, 2008 and web conferencing will allow virtual participation for educators who are unable to travel to Australia.
To learn more about the agenda, register, and submit a paper, visit the conference's website.
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International Youth Coastal Conference in Australia, October
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Using the Kids Teaching Kids model, the 2008 International Youth Coastal Conference (being held October 19-22 in Townsville Australia) will provide students with skills in marine and coastal education, but more importantly it will build students who are optimistic, have a sense of future, are capable public speakers and can communicate ideas in many different forms.
Student delegates prepare 40 minute workshops to present to their peers at the conference on a marine or coastal topic, relevant to their local area. The presentations are based on student work done alongside an expert mentor many months prior to the conference.
All primary and secondary schools across the world are invited to attend this conference.
To learn more about the agenda and to register visit the conference's website or contact Cathy Oke at cathy@fire-starter.com.au or +61 3 9329 3736.
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1st International Marine Conservation Congress in Washington D.C.
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The marine section of the Society for Conservation Biology is hosting the first International Marine Conservation Congress (IMCC) under the theme "Making Marine Science Matter," from 20-24 May 2009 at George Mason University near Washington D.C.
IMCC is aimed at advancing marine conservation by facilitating discussion among scientists, managers and policy makers and developing science-based products that inform policy change and implementation.
Major themes include: Global Climate Change; Land-Sea Interface; Poverty and Globalization; and Ecosystem-based Management.
First call for symposia and workshops closes June 1.
To learn more about the agenda and to submit a proposal visit IMCC's website.
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gloucester oneseas – raising a generation with a “blue” attitude
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gloucester oneseas is a brand new children’s clothing line started by Jill Josephson as a way to do more on a philanthropic level, combining her love of the ocean, children, graphic design and wordsmithing to bring a product to market that had some meaning.
The clothing is made in a sweatshop free, vertically integrated environment, silkscreened using water-based environmentally friendly ink, and using recycled packaging. Each garment sports a "Seas the Day" hang tag/bookmark listing the "Seven C's" to remind us what we can do everyday to help protect our ocean's future!
Check out gloucester oneseas’ brand new website.
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