This is another one of these photo diaries meant to provide a brief respite from Tea Party insanity and Meta Madness and as a reminder that we share this planet with a wide variety of amazing critters. These photos with a couple of exceptions were taken this past weekend. I hope you enjoy your visit here.
He'eia
Windward Oahu.
In August, US officials claimed that 75% of the oil had vanished. Today, the Oil Spill Commission was told that "over 50 percent of the total discharge" remains in the Gulf, still embedded in the ecosystem and on the ocean floor.
His assessment implied some 2.5 million barrels of oil -- or 105 million gallons -- was still embedded in the fragile ecosystem, out of the estimated 4.9 million barrels that gushed into the Gulf during the 87 days before the well was capped.
"Much of it is now buried in marine and coastal sediments," MacDonald warned, adding there was "scant evidence for bacterial degradation of this material prior to burial."
While the oil might not be clearly visible now, MacDonald warned that "any storm event tends to resuspend them."
How do you drill a well in waters where the US Government has told you that you can't because it's dangerous off shore drilling ... and you're the very Oil Corp that has proven it can't be trusted?
Easy! Move Off Shore ... to On Shore!
This is the next in a series of diaries on the state of Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted) in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.
Arctic sea ice reached its minimum extent (the area covered 15% or more sea ice) last week on 18 September 2010, according to the International Arctic Research Center (IARC) at University of Alaska Fairbanks. Since the minimum, sea ice extent in the Arctic Basin has increased by almost 300,000 km2 to about 5.1 million km2 as of 24 September.
Here's a the Barrow AK Arctic Sea Ice webcam at 14:36 Alaska Time on 25 September. There's a trace of snow on the ground, but no sea ice as yet. Conditions at photo time are annotated.
More below.
Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.
Sorghum is Africa’s contribution to the world’s major food crops, with only rice, wheat, maize, and potatoes playing a larger role. Collectively, these five crops provide over 85 percent of all human energy. Sorghum was eaten in Egypt 4,000 years ago, and today is Africa’s second most important cereal. Ethiopia is the center of the crop’s diversity and sorghum is still an important staple food for most of the Horn of Africa. It has long been a staple food in South Asia,brought by traders as many as 20 centuries ago.
There simply are not enough thanks to go around for the amazing support the Daily Kos community has shown for the ongoing Gulf Watchers liveblog effort. It turned out to be needed longer than anyone had hoped.
However, this will be the last Gulf Watchers Mothership. This format will be discontinued. Instead, there will be a Gulf Watchers Morning Edition diary posted at the same time, 5:00 a.m. CDT for a few days as we sort out how to go forward. Recs and discussions will be welcome just like they would be for a normal Daily Kos diary.
A Gulf Watchers Evening Edition will be posted if needed. After a few days Gulf Watchers will review the situation and decide whether to retain that type of organization or try something different. Ursoklevar has an excellent diary summarizing Gulf Watchers's discussion about future plans. Please add to the discussion here or the current ROV if you have ideas or preferences going forward.
The current ROV DIARY: Daily Kos Gulf Watchers ROV #395 - Condition: transition - BP's Gulf Castastrophe - David PA
The Rogue River dams in Oregon are down.
The Savage Rapids dam on the Rogue was dismantled in October 2009. And a bit ahead of schedule, in September of 2010, the temporary dam in place to allow for removal of the Savage Rapids dam parts, was also removed.
The Rogue River flows free once again.
The Elwha dams (both of them) in Washington State are scheduled for demolition before next summer.
Who says life isn't getting better in the U.S. of A.?
I have been thinking about sustainability for a long, long time. Unfortunately, in my scientific analysis, it not possible if we continue on the route that we have chosen. This is an extremely complex topic, and might even deserve its own, new, date. I am thinking that Wednesdays might be a good time for it. This is more speculation than science, so it does not properly belong on Pique the Geek for the long term.
This will be the most controversial topic that I have ever tackled. I may be dead wrong in some of my speculations, but a lot of thought has gone into them. I offer no easy remedies but do ask the hard, horrible questions and illustrate them with facts. I will ask that you, my readers, tell me whether this deserves a new series, uncoupled from Pique the Geek. Please read further.
It sounds a little silly, but it's not. Scientists found that the BP oil gusher triggered an explosion of sea snot or "sticky clumps of phytoplankton" that permeated an underwater patch of the Gulf of Mexico last May. Researchers believe that clumps of sea snot might have formed a marine snow blizzard that "plummeted to the bottom of the ocean." One concern is that "they may have temporarily wiped out the base of the food chain in the spill region by scouring all small life from the water column."
For more on sea snot and its potential to grow into marine mucus blob, as well as other climate change news, please join me below.
Two weekends ago I was privileged to attend, as a guest (rather than a participant) a conference devoted to developing a coordinated research program to measure the impact of the BP oil disaster on Gulf of Mexico coastal ecosystems. I'm going to attempt to give you an overview of the main points and show you some pictures to go along with them.
Beach in Panama City, Florida in fall 2008. This was the easternmost point (that I know of) where oil came ashore during June 2010.
Note: There will not be an 'A More Ancient World' diary next weekend.
