Download or read book Ocean Acidification written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2010-09-14 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ocean has absorbed a significant portion of all human-made carbon dioxide emissions. This benefits human society by moderating the rate of climate change, but also causes unprecedented changes to ocean chemistry. Carbon dioxide taken up by the ocean decreases the pH of the water and leads to a suite of chemical changes collectively known as ocean acidification. The long term consequences of ocean acidification are not known, but are expected to result in changes to many ecosystems and the services they provide to society. Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean reviews the current state of knowledge, explores gaps in understanding, and identifies several key findings. Like climate change, ocean acidification is a growing global problem that will intensify with continued CO2 emissions and has the potential to change marine ecosystems and affect benefits to society. The federal government has taken positive initial steps by developing a national ocean acidification program, but more information is needed to fully understand and address the threat that ocean acidification may pose to marine ecosystems and the services they provide. In addition, a global observation network of chemical and biological sensors is needed to monitor changes in ocean conditions attributable to acidification.

Download or read book The Empty Ocean written by Richard Ellis and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2013-03-19 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Empty Ocean, acclaimed author and artist Richard Ellis tells the story of our continued plunder of life in the sea and weighs the chances for its recovery. Through fascinating portraits of a wide array of creatures, he introduces us to the many forms of sea life that humans have fished, hunted, and collected over the centuries, from charismatic whales and dolphins to the lowly menhaden, from sea turtles to cod, tuna, and coral. Rich in history, anecdote, and surprising fact, Richard Ellis’s descriptions bring to life the natural history of the various species, the threats they face, and the losses they have suffered. Killing has occurred on a truly stunning scale, with extinction all too often the result, leaving a once-teeming ocean greatly depleted. But the author also finds instances of hope and resilience, of species that have begun to make remarkable comebacks when given the opportunity. Written with passion and grace, and illustrated with Richard Ellis’s own drawings, The Empty Ocean brings to a wide audience a compelling view of the damage we have caused to life in the sea and what we can do about it. "

Download or read book An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century written by United States. Commission on Ocean Policy and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 588 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Accompanying DVD contains 2 segments: the first shows the developmental process into making the report, the second shows a summary of the findings and recommendations of the report.

Download or read book The Social Construction of the Ocean written by Philip E. Steinberg and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2001-10-25 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 2001 book discusses the changing uses, regulations and representation of the sea from 1450 to now.

Download or read book Sea Level Rise for the Coasts of California Oregon and Washington written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tide gauges show that global sea level has risen about 7 inches during the 20th century, and recent satellite data show that the rate of sea-level rise is accelerating. As Earth warms, sea levels are rising mainly because ocean water expands as it warms; and water from melting glaciers and ice sheets is flowing into the ocean. Sea-level rise poses enormous risks to the valuable infrastructure, development, and wetlands that line much of the 1,600 mile shoreline of California, Oregon, and Washington. As those states seek to incorporate projections of sea-level rise into coastal planning, they asked the National Research Council to make independent projections of sea-level rise along their coasts for the years 2030, 2050, and 2100, taking into account regional factors that affect sea level. Sea-Level Rise for the Coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington: Past, Present, and Future explains that sea level along the U.S. west coast is affected by a number of factors. These include: climate patterns such as the El Niño, effects from the melting of modern and ancient ice sheets, and geologic processes, such as plate tectonics. Regional projections for California, Oregon, and Washington show a sharp distinction at Cape Mendocino in northern California. South of that point, sea-level rise is expected to be very close to global projections. However, projections are lower north of Cape Mendocino because the land is being pushed upward as the ocean plate moves under the continental plate along the Cascadia Subduction Zone. However, an earthquake magnitude 8 or larger, which occurs in the region every few hundred to 1,000 years, would cause the land to drop and sea level to suddenly rise.

Download or read book Ocean literacy for all a toolkit written by Santoro, Francesca and published by UNESCO Publishing. This book was released on 2017-12-18 with total page 133 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century written by U.s. Commission on Ocean Policy and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-01 with total page 672 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America is a nation intrinsically connected to and immensely reliant on the ocean. All citizens—whether they reside in the country's farmlands or mountains, in its cities or along the coast—affect and are affected by the sea. Our grocery stores and restaurants are stocked with seafood and our docks are bustling with seaborne cargo. Millions of visitors annually flock to the nation's shores, creating jobs and contributing substantially to the U.S. economy through one of the country's largest and most rapidly growing economic sectors: tourism and recreation. The offshore ocean area under U.S. jurisdiction is larger than its total land mass, providing a vast expanse for commerce, trade, energy and mineral resources, and a buffer for security. Born of the sea are clouds that bring life-sustaining water to our fields and aquifers, and drifting microscopic plants that generate much of the oxygen we breathe. Energy from beneath the seabed helps fuel our economy and sustain our high quality of life. The oceans host great biological diversity with vast medical potential and are a frontier for exciting exploration and effective education. The importance of our oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes cannot be overstated; they are critical to the very existence and wellbeing of the nation and its people. Yet, as the 21st century dawns, it is clear that these invaluable and life-sustaining assets are vulnerable to the activities of humans. Human ingenuity and ever-improving technologies have enabled us to exploit—and significantly alter—the ocean's bounty to meet society's escalating needs. Pollution runs off the land, degrading coastal waters and harming marine life. Many fish populations are declining and some of our ocean's most majestic creatures have nearly disappeared. Along our coasts, habitats that are essential to fish and wildlife and provide valuable services to humanity continue to suffer significant losses. Non-native species are being introduced, both intentionally and accidentally, into distant areas, often resulting in significant economic costs, risks to human health, and ecological consequences that we are only beginning to comprehend. Yet all is not lost. This is a moment of unprecedented opportunity. Today, as never before, we recognize the links among the land, air, oceans, and human activities. We have access to advanced technology and timely information on a wide variety of scales. We recognize the detrimental impacts wrought by human influences. The time has come for us to alter our course and set sail for a new vision for America, one in which the oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes are healthy and productive, and our use of their resources is both profitable and sustainable. It has been thirty-five years since this nation's management of the oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes was comprehensively reviewed. In that time, significant changes have occurred in how we use marine assets and in our understanding of the consequences of our actions. This report from the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy provides a blueprint for change in the 21st century, with recommendations for creation of an effective national ocean policy that ensures sustainable use and protection of our oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes for today and far into the future.

Download or read book The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate written by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-04-30 with total page 755 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading international body for assessing the science related to climate change. It provides policymakers with regular assessments of the scientific basis of human-induced climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation. This IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate is the most comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the observed and projected changes to the ocean and cryosphere and their associated impacts and risks, with a focus on resilience, risk management response options, and adaptation measures, considering both their potential and limitations. It brings together knowledge on physical and biogeochemical changes, the interplay with ecosystem changes, and the implications for human communities. It serves policymakers, decision makers, stakeholders, and all interested parties with unbiased, up-to-date, policy-relevant information. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Download or read book Environmental Indicators for North America written by United Nations Environment Programme and published by UNEP/Earthprint. This book was released on 2006 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although the environment of North America is not dissected by political borders, Canada and the United States often measure environmental conditions and report on them using different indicators. This report examines the environmental indicators used by both nations, and based on analysis of current research into common methodologies used in national, regional and global environmental reporting, it goes on to draw lessons for the development of bilateral indicators to cover the North American region.

Download or read book Ecosystem Based Management for the Oceans written by Karen McLeod and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2012-09-26 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Conventional management approaches cannot meet the challenges faced by ocean and coastal ecosystems today. Consequently, national and international bodies have called for a shift toward more comprehensive ecosystem-based marine management. Synthesizing a vast amount of current knowledge, Ecosystem-Based Management for the Oceans is a comprehensive guide to utilizing this promising new approach. At its core, ecosystem-based management (EBM) is about acknowledging connections. Instead of focusing on the impacts of single activities on the delivery of individual ecosystem services, EBM focuses on the array of services that we receive from marine systems, the interactive and cumulative effects of multiple human activities on these coupled ecological and social systems, and the importance of working towards common goals across sectors. Ecosystem-Based Management for the Oceans provides a conceptual framework for students and professionals who want to understand and utilize this powerful approach. And it employs case studies that draw on the experiences of EBM practitioners to demonstrate how EBM principles can be applied to real-world problems. The book emphasizes the importance of understanding the factors that contribute to social and ecological resilience —the extent to which a system can maintain its structure, function, and identity in the face of disturbance. Utilizing the resilience framework, professionals can better predict how systems will respond to a variety of disturbances, as well as to a range of management alternatives. Ecosystem-Based Management for the Oceans presents the latest science of resilience, while it provides tools for the design and implementation of responsive EBM solutions.

Download or read book Measuring the Oceans from Space written by Ian S. Robinson and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2004-06-30 with total page 752 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book covers the fundamental principles of measuring oceans from space, and also contains state-of-the-art developments in data analysis and interpretation and in sensors. Completely new will be material covering advances in oceanography that have grown out of remote sensing, including some of the global applications of the data. The variety of applications of remotely sensed data to ocean science has grown significantly and new areas of science are emerging to exploit the gobal datasets being recovered by satellites, particularly in relation to climate and climate change, basin-scale, air-sea interaction processes (e.g. El Nino) and the modelling, forecasting and prediction of the ocean.

Download or read book Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 1144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Reckoning with the U S Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by . This book was released on 2022-09 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An estimated 8 million metric tons (MMT) of plastic waste enters the world's ocean each year - the equivalent of dumping a garbage truck of plastic waste into the ocean every minute. Plastic waste is now found in almost every marine habitat, from the ocean surface to deep sea sediments to the ocean's vast mid-water region, as well as the Great Lakes. This report responds to a request in the bipartisan Save Our Seas 2.0 Act for a scientific synthesis of the role of the United States both in contributing to and responding to global ocean plastic waste. The United States is a major producer of plastics and in 2016, generated more plastic waste by weight and per capita than any other nation. Although the U.S. solid waste management system is advanced, it is not sufficient to deter leakage into the environment. Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste calls for a national strategy by the end of 2022 to reduce the nation's contribution to global ocean plastic waste at every step - from production to its entry into the environment - including by substantially reducing U.S. solid waste generation. This report also recommends a nationally-coordinated and expanded monitoring system to track plastic pollution in order to understand the scales and sources of U.S. plastic waste, set reduction and management priorities, and measure progress.

Download or read book Rhode Island written by George H. Kellner and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a book as intriguing as its subject, authors George H. Kellner and J. Stanley Lemons have successfully blended an innovative, forceful text with extraordinary images to produce a lively historical canvas of the state of Rhode Island. Rhode Island began when dissenters like Roger Williams, Ann Hutchinson, William Coddington, and Samuel Gorton established the four original towns on Narragansett Bay in the 1630s and 1640s. As a haven for religious freedom, the colony was harshly criticized by its neighbors and denounced as the "Isle of Errors." And when resentment against Britain turned to war, Rhode Island was the first colony to renounce its allegiance to George III -- but the last of the original 13 states to ratify the Constitution, stubbornly holding out because the new Constitution restricted state's rights. Boldly deserting the limitations of the more traditional history book, the authors have included topical themes selected for their intrinsic interest, such as recreation and the spirit of patriotism, plus a fascinating segment about Newport's "High Society." And they take a penetrating look at Rhode Island's institutions and controversial figures of the last three centuries.

Download or read book World Seas An Environmental Evaluation written by Jean-Francois Hamel and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2018-08-24 with total page 914 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World Seas: An Environmental Evaluation, Second Edition, Volume One: Europe, The Americas and West Africa provides a comprehensive review of the environmental condition of the seas of Europe, the Americas and West Africa. Each chapter is written by experts in the field who provide historical overviews in environmental terms, current environmental status, major problems arising from human use, informed comments on major trends, problems and successes, and recommendations for the future. The book is an invaluable worldwide reference source for students and researchers who are concerned with marine environmental science, fisheries, oceanography and engineering and coastal zone development. - Covers regional issues that help countries find solutions to environmental decline that may have already developed elsewhere - Provides scientific reviews of regional issues, thus empowering managers and policymakers to make progress in under-resourced countries and regions - Includes comprehensive maps and updated statistics in each region covered

Download or read book State Ocean Jurisdiction written by Patrick Henri Ghislain Vrancken and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-06-27 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Proposing a systematic analytical framework which assists in understanding and applying the international law regime governing State ocean jurisdiction with a view to improved ocean governance for sustainable development, this book distinguishes between, and focuses on, the form, the ground, the scope and the purpose of State ocean jurisdiction. Defining jurisdiction as the international-law authority of a State to be involved in a factual matter on the basis of a valid legal ground to perform authoritative acts impacting on that matter, it disaggregates the concept the complexity of which often leads to States failing to make full use of their existing ocean jurisdictions. In the process, it identifies when and to what extent there are gaps and overlaps of jurisdictions. Bringing clarity on an inevitably complex and often misunderstood framework that is aimed at striking a universally accepted balance of competing interests, the book lays the foundation for future research, contextualising the position of State ocean jurisdiction not only in terms of ocean governance, but in the whole of public international law. With an original systematic focus on State ocean jurisdiction, the book will be of interest to academics, students and practitioners working in the areas of international law of the sea, ocean governance, human rights and environmental law.

Download or read book Chukchi Sea Planning Area Oil and Gas Sale 193 and the Seismic Surveying Activities in the Chukchi Sea written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 632 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: