Climate change and our insatiable appetite for seafood could lead to mass extinctions of marine life and some pretty crazy new oceanscapes.

That’s the finding of a recent analysis that looked at data from hundreds of different sources on marine life and changes to the world’s oceans.

“We may be sitting on a precipice of a major extinction event,” Douglas J. McCauley, ecologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an author of the new research, told the New York Times.

The research, published in the recent issue of the journal Science, says the oceans could rebound from current conditions, probably better than the mass extinctions happening on land. But it’s significantly more difficult to track the health of sea animals than those on land.

“There are clear signs already that humans are harming the oceans to a remarkable degree,” the Times notes. “Some ocean species are certainly overharvested, but even greater damage results from large-scale habitat loss, which is likely to accelerate as technology advances the human footprint.”

One such example is the loss of coral reefs, which have declined by 40 percent, due mostly to climate change.

Fish are facing a number of challenges as well. “Some fish are migrating to cooler waters already. Black sea bass, once most common off the coast of Virginia, have moved up to New Jersey,” reports the Times. “Less fortunate species may not be able to find new ranges. At the same time, carbon emissions are altering the chemistry of seawater, making it more acidic.”

Mangroves are being replaced with fish farms, which already account for a significant percentage of fish in the food supply, and experts estimate they’ll provide most of the fish consumed by humans in the next 20 years. Fish farms bring their own set of consequences to oceans much in the same way factory farms pollute land – and there are other issues. Again, the Times:

“Bottom trawlers scraping large nets across the sea floor have already affected 20 million square miles of ocean, turning parts of the continental shelf to rubble. Whales may no longer be widely hunted, the analysis noted, but they are now colliding more often as the number of container ships rises.

“Mining operations, too, are poised to transform the ocean. Contracts for seabed mining now cover 460,000 square miles underwater, the researchers found, up from zero in 2000. Seabed mining has the potential to tear up unique ecosystems and introduce pollution into the deep sea.”

There are also issues being caused by all the plastic debris in the oceans—much of it winding up in the digestive systems of fish and birds.

But the analysis also found there is much we can do to reverse the damage.

“We’re lucky in many ways,” Malin L. Pinsky, a marine biologist at Rutgers University and another author of the report told the Times. “The impacts are accelerating, but they’re not so bad we can’t reverse them.”

The scientists say reducing our carbon emissions is going to make a huge difference in the health of the oceans.

“If by the end of the century we’re not off the business-as-usual curve we are now, I honestly feel there’s not much hope for normal ecosystems in the ocean,” Stephen R. Palumbi of Stanford University, an author of the study told the Times. “But in the meantime, we do have a chance to do what we can. We have a couple decades more than we thought we had, so let’s please not waste it.”

Find Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

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Ocean image via Shutterstock

The post Marine Life Disappearing Fast Thanks to Overfishing and Climate Change [Study] appeared first on EcoSalon.

25 breathtaking places threatened by us.

Some may try to deny it, but by now there’s next to no doubt that global warming is having real, profound effects on the world we live in. Perhaps one of the most alarming changes is occurring in the world’s oceans and endangering islands with diverse ecosystems, rich cultures, and breathtaking, beautiful landscapes. Pacific island nations like Kiribati and the Marshall Islands have already come to terms with the irreversible nature of the crisis and are formulating long-term relocation strategies for their residents.

The islands pictured below have been identified as being highly at risk for the devastating consequences of climate change. Their beauty is a reminder that global action is needed now.

(above) Palau

Tuvalu

Antigua

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Kiribati

Fernandina Island, Galapagos

St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

Nevis

Bartholomew Island, Galapagos

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Solomon Islands

Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia

Papua New Guinea

Maldives

Guam

Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia

Fiji

Nauru

Majuro, Marshall Islands

Tonga

Rabaul, Papua New Guinea

Lord Howe Island, Australia

Kauai, Hawaii

Norman Island, British Virgin Islands

Aitutaki, Cook Islands

SEE ALSO:

40 Gorgeous Photos of Europe

40 Gorgeous Photos of North America

40 Gorgeous Photos of Latin America

40 Gorgeous Photos of Asia

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Karenjess jewelry is pulled from the sea and cast in reclaimed metals.

Karenjess says that when considering starting her own line, her ultimate dream was to cast shells from around the world in sterling silver and create simple, one-of-a-kind pieces that would carry a story of where they were found.

“Each shell is a reminder of that special place it came from and how precious our beaches are. I want to continue to explore the world and be inspired by Mother Nature and all her elements,” she says.

Based in Vancouver B.C., she is an active business member of the Surfrider Foundation’s Vancouver Chapter, and is dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s oceans, waves, beaches and mountains for all people, through conservation, activism, research and education.

We just love what she does with pretty shells.

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com

The post Lustables: Karenjess Jewelry Pulled from the Sea appeared first on EcoSalon.

“Water is the best of all things.” – Pindar

It’s one of the world’s worst sea-related ecological disasters, laying waste to thousands of miles of shoreline and ruining habitats and livelihoods on a truly terrifying scale – but suddenly, there’s new hope for recovery. No, nothing to do with this. Think bigger.

As recently as the 1960s, the Aral Sea of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan was one of the world’s greatest lakes, covering a whopping 26,000 square miles. Then along came a Soviet government keen to industrialize by any means necessary. The water was diverted for cotton farm irrigation, salinity soared, pollution festered (pesticides, weapons testing, you name it), and the sea gave way to a desert, eerily dotted with stranded boats and fishing stations that hint at the terrible human impact on the region’s population. It’s environmental change so profound it’s even upset the local climate.

How do you recover from that? Answer: with a government looking to erase the damage done by Soviet rule, supported by the coffers of the World Bank. The North Aral (above at top, one of the three main remnants of the once mighty whole) was dammed in 2005, and now life is returning – most importantly, the fish. They’re critical to boost the economy and bring the money that’s badly needed for further redevelopment. How much damage can be undone, only time will tell – and while the North Aral is gradually (painfully) expanding outwards again, the southern sea remnants are just years away from dying up completely. Recovery? Maybe, but not in our lifetime.

Images: martijn.munneke and NASA Goddard Photo & Video

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There are few sounds in the natural world that are as soothing as the restless sea – so it’s a shame we’re drowning it out.

In yet another assault on the biophony, human beings are flooding the depths of the oceans with noise pollution, turning the formerly Silent World into a busy-sounding place. All humanity’s sea-going machinery send out vibrations – some of them very substantial indeed – and for marine creatures that have evolved to pick up the faintest of noises and communicate with natural sonar, this is indeed a problem. Shockingly, a report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) argues that the range of blue whale communication has reduced down to just a tenth of what it was before humans starting plying the waves with powered-propeller vessels.

When it comes to airborne noise pollution, there are at least regulations – because this noise directly affects people. There are currently no such restrictions on noise pollution at sea. It’s true that we’re talking about the uppermost layers of a truly vast volume of seawater – the oceans cover 71% of our planet, around 1.3 billion cubic kilometres – but those upper layers are where most marine life thrives. It’s an even more urgent issue to consider when worldwide deep-sea drilling is set to intensify as our fossil fuels start running out, forcing us further and further away from the shoreline.

First the air, then the ground, then space, and now the oceans. We’ve been highly inventive in our methods of polluting every corner of the natural environment, so let’s hope we can be just as creative in cleaning them up – before our neglect reaches new depths.

Further reading:  Ifaw: “Ocean Noise: Turn It Down” (PDF).

Image: Kalandrakas

The post Bad Vibrations: How We're Deafening the Deep appeared first on EcoSalon.

My island dream house is clean and white, sprinkled with sea glass and hurricane lamps, and images like the frond, coral and urchin found in these new Wabisabi Eco-Art Coastal Pillows. They’re clean and modern to perfection yet the images are derived from an appreciation of imperfection found in nature, another angle to the symmetry that balances so much of Japanese design.

Wabi (cycles of erosion) Sabi (recurrence) is a very green concept, celebrating life cycles. The handprinted throw pillows, $68 at Cottage and Bungalow, are made from bamboo, organic cotton, silky kapot fiber harvested from the rain forest and eco-fiber born of recycled plastic bottles. Yes, it would be counter-intuitive to marry the sea turtle and koi with factory-made polyester.

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On the high seas around Antarctica, things are getting ugly.

For the crew of the “Steve Irwin”, belonging to the anti-whaling activists Sea Shepherd, this is old news. They’re there to prevent the slaughter of hundreds of minke whales by Japanese sailors on three vessels including the factory ship Nisshin Maru – technically a research vessel, but also involved in whalemeat processing that ends up on Japanese dinner tables. The whales are being hunted legally thanks to a loophole in in the International Whaling Commission’s 1986 moratorium, allowing a percentage of whales to be collected for “research” purposes – and in 2007 this represented 900 minke that international law turned a blind eye to. While most of the world condemns the use of whalemeat for food, in Japan, whalemeat is on sale to the public (some of it supplied by other countries, but some from the animals allegedly killed for scientific reasons).

Sea Shepherd see this as monstrous. Every year its staff take to the seas to harry the whaling fleet, hoping to disrupt their activities enough to prevent the killing. It’s a fraught but essentially peaceful protest – until now. The protesters are reporting that this year they’ve been met with a water cannon, airborne balls of solid lead or brass, and most insidiously…

“The factory ship the Nisshin Maru and the two harpoon vessels in the fleet are equipped with long-range acoustical devices. This is a military grade weapon system that sends out mid to high frequency sound waves designed to disorient and possibly incapacitate personnel.”

– Sea Shepherd

The response from the Institute of Cetacean Research (a private organisation backed by the Japanese government) replied thus:

“We can neither confirm nor deny the strategies employed by the Japanese research vessels to protect themselves from the criminal actions committed by the Dutch vessel. We can say, however, that all legal means available will be used to ensure these pirates do not board Japanese ships or threaten the lives of the crews or the safety of the vessels.”

The question is what actions constitute “legal means”. Is the use of non-lethal sonic weaponry legal, even if it isn’t ethical or the slightest bit safe? And might such devices affect the whales themselves? (If they’re driven away by the sound, this may turn out to be an unexpected bonus for Sea Shepherd). Without a clear legal challenge – either the changing of international law or the infringement of it – Japanese whalehunting seems sure to continue.

For now, the duel on the high seas continues in front of the world media – but just how ugly is it going to get?

Image: René Ehrhardt

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