Warming Seas Killing Coral Worldwide

More: The most disturbing effect of anthropomorphic climate change on the world's oceans is the loss of oxygen, an absolutely necessary element for life. About half the Earth's oxygen comes from the oceans. But the combined effects of nutrient loading from discharges and climate change are greatly increasing the number and size of so-called dead zones. [map] Areas such as the Gulf of Mexico and Chesapeake Bay, oxygen levels are so low that fish suffocate and die. Of course they have learned to avoid these areas, which reduces their habitat and makes them more vulnerable to predation. Some organizes can survive in these conditions, but overall biodiversity declines. In a word, the oceans are slowing dying. The death spiral can be arrested, if man pays attention to the problem. Discharges of nitrogen from sewage and intense agriculture can be stopped. Vulnerable sea life can be protected from unsustainable exploitation. Increased accurate monitoring of low-oxygen zones to detect increases in area and changes in oxygen content. Chesapeake Bay is good example of what can be done on a global basis. The Bay is recovering with nitrogen levels dropping 24% thanks to better sewage treatment, agricultural practice and legal protections like the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. Once, the central Bay contained zero oxygen. That area has almost completely disappeared.

{09.01.18} PNG is following the story of global ocean warming  and its impacts on coral habitats. {e.g. 30.09.13} Australia's Great Barrier Reef is suffering widespread bleaching, a phenomenon of warm seas causing corals to eject their life-sustaining symbiotic algae. Up to two-thirds of the reef has been bleached white in two consecutive years, the first recorded consecutive event, preventing corals from recovering.  A unique study published in Science found that the time between bleaching events at each tropical reef location around the world diminished five-fold in the past three to four decades, from once every 25-30 years in the early 1980s to an average of just once every six years since 2010.  Mass bleaching such as that now occurring on the Great Barrier did not happen before the 1980's; it has bleached four time since 1998.  Despite this alarming development, the Australia government continues to support fossil fuel use; Australia has large coal deposits and exports large amounts  coal to China, among other destinations.

Research funded by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation has successfully grown corals in the lab from eggs and sperm collected in the wild.  The aim is to repopulate damage reefs around the world.  Now, 100 larvae have been returned to the reef and are growing successfully.  It is a small start, but offers hope to repairing the damaged caused to the marine environment by anthropomorphic climate change.

Ocean warming is also causing more Green turtles to become female. Already endangered, the population imbalance could drive the species to extinction. The sex of green turtles is determined by temperature of the incubating eggs. Warmer sand produces female turtles from eggs buried on the beach. ; But warm sea water also causes green turtles to change their sex. Research performed on a population of 200,000 in the northern Great Barrier Reef found that almost all had transformed into females. Scientists are looking at ways to cool incubating beaches to produce more male turtles, such as erecting tents to shield nursery beaches from the intense tropical sunlight. Once again, Nature teaches us that it takes two genders to survive.

olive ridley sea turtle, courtesy SC Aquarium

Sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico are suffering from a different form of climate induced problem.  Recent record cold weather has caused more than 850 sea turtles to suffer "cold shock" in which they become immobilized and vulnerable to predation.  The event is the second largest on record in the Florida panhandle; in 2010 about 1800 turtles were rehabilitated. The turtles were brought to the Gulf World Marine Institute mostly from St. Joe Bay, Panama City for rehabilitation. About 5-10% will be lost in the ordeal; a few are suffering from secondary illnesses such as pneumonia for which they are being treated. The three species being cared for are the Kemp’s ridley, green and loggerhead turtles. Recovered turtle will be released back into the wild.

COTW: Infrastructure, Not So Much

Trumpy promised his rabid 'base' to make 'Merica Great Again, but he has done precious little in his first year of office except lurch from one personality crisis to another, and pick a nuclear fight with a Cold War leftover. The self-proclaimed "genius" should take a look at this chart:

To be fair most spending on infrastructure is done by local governments, not the federal government.   But there have been no efforts to share tax revenue with municipalities and counties to help these cash-strapped jurisdictions deal with the problems of crumbling infrastructure.  Their indebtedness has risen markedly in recent years due to funding retiring workers generous pension benefits. [chart below]

The federal government provides about 30% of the money used for transportation.  One glaring result of the lack of federal spending on transportation is the Amtrak system.  'Merica does not have a high-speed rail network for this very reason.  The use of rails not designed for high-speed passenger rail transport directly contributed to the fatal derailment of Amtrak's premier west-coast train service on an I-5 overpass in Washington state recently.  The train was traveling at a modest 78mph when it approached the curve posted for 30mph.  France's TGV and Japan's bullet trains travel at speeds nearing 200mph, but the rails they use are specially designed, dedicated, high-grade steel, not hand-me-down freight rails.  The French TGV (Très Grande Vitesse) holds the world's train speed record of 357.2mph! Tell that to stranded airline passengers in the northeast.

The American Society of Engineers gives 'Merica's infrastructure a grade of D+, and said that the cost of upgrading the nation's facilities would cost a whopping $4.6 trillion.  Of course that figure is much higher than the government's estimates, since the association's members stand to benefit from a construction boom.  Trump asked for $1 trillion in additional spending in his bugdet proposals to Congress, but he has already signed a massive tax gift to corporations and the wealthy, and a record-breaking Pentagon budget.  Infrastructure? Not so much.

"I'm a stable Genius!", declares Trumpy
BC Idonwanna sez:  Only 30% agree, kimosabe!

'Toontime: Big Buttons

credit: John Darkow

Wackydoodle sez: Y'all should see his ego!

It is simply astounding that the president of the largest nuclear power on Earth should engage in what the vernacular terms a "pissing contest" with the absolute leader of a tiny, backward nation still struggling to overcome the mass destruction of the Korean War. The U.S. dropped a total of 635,000 tons of bombs, including 32,557 tons of napalm, on Korea, more than during the whole Pacific campaign of World War II. According to USAF damage assessments, "eighteen of twenty-two major cities in North Korea had been at least half obliterated."* Yet the Donald's insecurity about North Korea is only exceeded by his fragile ego. To attempt to justify his outrageous performance in office as "standing up for his fellow Americans" is simply risible nonsense. The fact is he is endangering the country with his infantile taunting of a Stalinesque dictator now armed with working nuclear ICBMs; as Joe Biden said in classic Washington understatement, the guy is not presidential. A 100 kiloton hydrogen bomb (the estimated size of North Korea's largest test to date) is capable of wiping out the central business district of a city the size of Sydney. 

If Trump wants to prove what a man he is, he ought to show up in Panmunjon and challenge Kim to do the same.  After all Ronald went to Reykjavik and shocked the world--in a good way!

credit: Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune

BC Idonwanna sez, Cold shrink size! 

*The US Air Force horrific bombing campaign in the Korean War, under the aegis of the United Nations Command, constituted genocide, says commentator Joseph Essertier at Counterpunch. Neither the United Nation’s Genocide Convention approved in 1948 and going into effect in 1951, nor the Red Cross Convention on the Protection of Civilians in Wartime of 1948 had the “slightest impact on this air war” concludes American historian Bruce Cumings, who has covered the history thoroughly, including the abundant lies in North Korean government propaganda.  There is a way out of this fifty-plus year mess, and our colleague, President Putin has provided it.  Possibly because of that, it has been largely ignored by the jingoist domestic press.  The Moon-Putin Plan unveiled in September in Vladivostok outlines nine “bridges” of cooperation linking South Korea to Russia via North Korea—“gas, railroads, ports, electricity, a northern sea route, shipbuilding, jobs, agriculture, and fisheries", says Moon. Siberian oil and gas pipelines would be extended to Korea, both North and South, as well as to Japan. Both Koreas would be linked up with the vast rail networks of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, including high-speed rail, and the Eurasian Economic Union, which includes the Trans-Siberian Railway. Once the North is integrated into the modern world economy via Russia, the two Koreans can begin discussing in earnest the logical conclusion--peaceful reunification and disarmament that would see the American imperial occupation of the South terminated.  The money saved can be used for pressing social welfare needs at home, and our national security actually improved, not threatened.  The only interests disadvantaged thereby would be those capitalists who supply the materiel and weapons for continuing the deadly stalemate.

Trump Opens Offshore to Oil Biz

The Trump Department of Interior has announced that it will offer oil leases for
exploiting almost all of the US outer continental shelf including the Arctic and the Atlantic.  Up until now, drilling has been curtailed out of environmental concerns.  The Department  says about 94% of the US continental shelf is closed to oil exploration and development. The expected action will inevitably endanger sea life, and is contrary to public opinion on the subject.  Communities along the Atlantic seaboard and in California have passed resolutions against offshore drilling which is inherently dangerous and dirty.  Most of the Arctic coast has been protected until now. The draft plan proposes 19 lease sales in the Alaska Region (3 in the Chukchi Sea, 3 in the Beaufort Sea, 2 in Cook Inlet, and 1 sale each in 11 other program areas in Alaska.   The DOI announcement says the most leases in history will be put up for bid beginning in 2019 in an effort Secretary Zinke calls achieving "American energy dominance". 

The process for opening up 90% of the outer continental shelf will begin with the drafting of a programmatic environmental impact statement during which time the public will have the opportunity to submit comments.  Public hearings are scheduled to begin this month. https://www.boem.gov/National-Program/.  Remember the Deepwater Horizon!

COTW: America, the Homeless

Back in 2011 the National Alliance to End Homelessness predicted that the rate of homelessness in 'Merica was set to increase rapidly.  That prediction has come true as the homeless rate is at the highest levels since the Great Recession of 2008. [see chart below]  Just one archetypal example of the problem is Silicon Valley, CA.  It is the home of vast tech fortunes and lucrative employment opportunities, but once the cost of housing is factored into statistics, it has the highest poverty rate in the nation at 20.6%.  Formerly middle class families are living in parked RVs outside of their former high-rise apartment homes where rents can run as high as $3000 a month for a one-bedroom.  What is the Repugnant answer for all of this social dislocation: cut public spending for needed social programs.  A prime example of this extravagant disregard for the disadvantaged is the failure to fully fund the Childhood Health Insurance Program. (CHIP) As retiring Senator Orrin Hatch put it, he has a tough time spending money to help people who will not help themselves.  It is the same tired blame game they have played since the days of the Great Society.  Mr. Hatch has no problems spending hundreds of billions lining the pockets of warmongering plutocrats, however.  If being pro-people is  anti-capitalist, then you betcha, buddy.

North Korea Opens Hot Line to South

The crisis telephone link between North and South Korea was disconnected two years ago by orders of Kim Jong Un, increasing the chances of a dangerous miscalculation in the tense border standoff that has lasted more than fifty years.  Communications over the hot line was reestablished today when North Korean officials contacted their neighbors about "technical issues" for twenty minutes.  The link is located in Panmunjong, the shared village on the 'demilitarized' border. Western observers hail the contact as a diplomatic breakthrough coming on the heels of a somewhat conciliatory speech by the North Korean dictator in which he pointedly told Donald Big Mouth that "the nuclear button was on his desk."  North Korea is considering sending an Olympic team to Peyongchang for the Winter Olympics that begin next month.  South Korea's president welcomed the move, saying reopening the channel was "very significant" for what is sometimes known as the 'hermit kingdom'.  Whether actual progress in talks is made remains to be seen as the two nations divided by war have failed to advance beyond stalemate and recrimination in the past.

The US President is not helping the situation.  Typical of the infantile bombast for which Donald has become world-renowned, he boasted in a twit that his button was "much bigger, more powerful" than Un's.  This sort of prattle belongs in a school-yard, not on the world diplomatic stage.  One female Twitter respondent desperately asked, "Is this real life?"  Unfortunately for the rest of us, a nuclear-armed government by sociopathic personality* is.

*according to the Mayo Clinic, a sociopathic personality may exhibit some or all of these symptoms:

• Persistent lying or deceit to exploit others
• Being callous, cynical and disrespectful of others
• Using charm or wit to manipulate others for personal gain or personal pleasure
• Arrogance, a sense of superiority and being extremely opinionated
• Recurring problems with the law, including criminal behavior
• Repeatedly violating the rights of others through intimidation and dishonesty
• Impulsiveness or failure to plan ahead
• Hostility, significant irritability, agitation, aggression or violence
• Lack of empathy for others and lack of remorse about harming others
• Unnecessary risk-taking or dangerous behavior with no regard for the safety of self or others
• Poor or abusive relationships
• Failure to consider the negative consequences of behavior or learn from them
• Being consistently irresponsible and repeatedly failing to fulfill work or financial obligations

Chinese Love Donkey Gelatin

Another story of the Chinese penchant for bizarre foodstuffs: African donkeys are being stolen and butchered for their hides to meet the increasing demand for "ejiao", which is essentially gelatin boiled  from hide [photo credit: AP]. Fifteen years ago, ejiao sold for $9 per pound in China; now, it fetches around $400 per pound.  China's own donkey population has plummeted in recent years from around 11 million, the world's largest, to six million or just three million by some estimates. So Chinese companies have resorted to importing donkey hides from developing nations.

The product has been around for centuries, but renewed popularity began in 2010.  According to a report by a UK non-profit about 1.8 donkeys are slaughtered world wide to meet the growing demand.  Africa has become the favored region of Chinese resource exploitation, probably due to the continent's abundance and relatively lax law enforcement.  Donkeys may become the next pangolin {27.03.13} since the Chinese are willing to pay a high price for donkey hide.  Prices are fifty times higher than in 2014.

African donkeys are disappearing from under their owners' eyes, as procurers roam the country side looking for hide to buy.  The New York Times published a story about a poor Nairobi porter who lost five donkeys in a short span of time to skinners.  Thieves entered his small property, slit the animals' throats, and skinned them from the neck down on the bloody spot.  They left the meat for the vultures and hyenas.  All Mr. Njeru has left of his livelihood is a hoof he keeps as a memento.  In neighboring Tanzania, residents of the village of Esilalei lost nearly 475 donkeys in a single year.  About 175 were recovered by police who tracked the thieves into the bush, but the rest were lost to slaughterhouses.  Tanzania joined fourteen other African countries to ban the trade in donkey hides.  Kenya's trade is still legal and shows no sign of slowing.  The country has three abattoirs, all of them owned by Chinese concerns; rumor has it that a fourth will soon be opening for business.  The largest, Goldox Donkey, claims to process 450 animals a day. [photo: American burros living in Custer State Park, SD]

Donkeys bear many of man's burdens without complaint, but the trade in their hides is unsustainable, thus the resort to theft to meet the demand. Donkeys are not cattle; they do not adapt well to intensive breeding programs.   Unhealthy waste disposal has become an issue for residents who live near abattoirs.  Cruelty complaints have also been filed against the slaughterhouses--animals often arrive in unmentionable condition, and are treated unmercifully--but the government is loath to act because the industry is lucrative, provides employment, and pays taxes.