Conservation – Page 36 – Southern Fried Science

Short update on the North Carolina Wildfire and Red Wolves

May 12, 2011 Andrew Thaler 2 Comments

Conservation

The wildfire that ignited in Dare County last week is still burning, as many coastal residents were reminded last night when the wind changed and brought smoke inland. Fortunately, the incident command is reporting that the fire is more than 50% contained, has not reached the town of Stumpy Point, and did not penetrate to … Read More “Short update on the North Carolina Wildfire and Red Wolves” »

The Outer Banks Ablaze

May 9, 2011May 9, 2011 Andrew Thaler 1 Comment

Conservation, Science

Early hours of the wildfire in Dare Country. Image NCFWS

In Beaufort, the first sign that something was amiss occurred on Sunday night. The air became thick with haze and smelled like of burning mulch. At first we thought it was just an overzealous barbecue somewhere down the road, but as we drove over the Morehead City highrise bridge, we discovered that the smoke was everywhere. This wasn’t an isolated grilling accident, trash burn, or house on fire, some thing was burning, something big. It could only be a forest fire, and, judging by the direction of the wind, it was blowing in from somewhere near the Outer Banks.

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Chronicle of a Death Forestalled: the Gulf of Mexico oil spill that didn’t happen

May 2, 2011May 3, 2011 Andrew Thaler 3 Comments

Conservation

February 2005 – A giant in the oil industry sets out to drill what is, at the time, the deepest oil well in the world, a staggering 32,000 feet below the sea bed. The oil field, just 28 miles from the Louisiana coast, is estimated to contain up to a billion barrels of oil. The success of this well could launch a new era of offshore drilling and revolutionize an industry. And then, after 18 months and $180 million dollars, just 2,000 feet from their target, ExxonMobil halts their drill, declares Blackbeard West unsafe, and walks away.

Barely 5 years later, a similar well, deep and deeply unsafe, would suffer a catastrophic blowout, pumping millions of barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico. The resulting investigation revealed a history of unacceptable risk and a blasé attitude towards safety on the part of BP. While the BP blowout at the Macondo well was a disaster on a global scale, Blackbeard West was a disaster deferred. How could these two incidents, both created by nearly the same conditions, have had such dramatically different consequences? What can we learn about the culture of oil exploration and the true cost of a crude economy from Blackbeard West?

Book Review: Saving the Oceans 101

April 28, 2011April 28, 2011 David Shiffman 1 Comment

Conservation, Science

Ted Danson (yes, that Ted Danson) isn’t your typical ocean activist. Though he is best known as the bartender on Cheers, he has been actively involved in marine conservation issues for more than 25 years. While living in California to work on Cheers, he took a walk on the beach with his daughters. When they came across a sign that read “water polluted, no swimming”, he didn’t know how to explain to his disappointed children what was wrong with the ocean. He decided to learn more, began to work with local scientists and conservationists, and eventually co-founded the American Oceans Campaign (one of the founding members of Oceana) Danson’s decades of knowledge of and passion for the oceans are clear in his new book, “Oceana: Our Endangered Oceans And What We Can Do to Save Them”.

Beneath the Waves Film Festival: What’s Up With Our Oceans?

April 25, 2011April 28, 2011 David Shiffman

Conservation

This 2011 Beneath the Waves Film Festival entry comes from University of Southern California student Jennah Caster. It asks a simple but important question, what’s up with our oceans, and attempts to answer it. If you have a question for the filmmaker, please leave it as a comment and I’ll make sure she gets it. … Read More “Beneath the Waves Film Festival: What’s Up With Our Oceans?” »

The end of whaling in Japan…

April 20, 2011April 20, 2011 Andrew Thaler 3 Comments

Conservation

…was a hoax. A report that the Japanese government will scrap all research whaling has been dismissed as a hoax. source So please, stop e-mailing me this: “Effective immediately, Japan will no longer conduct scientific research on whale populations which require capture and dissection,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Makoto Inoue, speaking at a press conference … Read More “The end of whaling in Japan…” »

Book Review: Five Fundamentals for Fisheries

April 18, 2011April 19, 2011 Andrew Thaler 1 Comment

Conservation

Daniel Pauly’s research over the last 20 has provided much of the foundational theory in modern fisheries management. In 5 Easy Pieces, Daniel Pauly presents his five most influential papers, with a concise history of both the intellectual and human motivations that led to each study. The papers that were included in this volume are: Primary Production required to Sustain Global Fisheries, Fishing Down Marine Food Webs, Systematic Distortion in World Fisheries Catch Trends, Towards Sustainability in Global Fisheries, and The Future of Fisheries.

Beneath the Waves Film Festival: Shifting Gears

April 18, 2011April 18, 2011 David Shiffman

Conservation, Science

This 2011 Beneath the Waves Film Festival entry comes from the Pew Charitable Trusts. Shifting Gears tells the story of longlining in the Gulf of Mexico. If you have a question for the filmmakers, please leave it as a comment below and I’ll make sure they get it.

A rig by any other name, could it be an artificial reef?

April 14, 2011 Andrew Thaler 2 Comments

Conservation, Science

There are currently more than 7,500 offshore oil platforms actively probing the earth’s crust for black gold. Their relatively minimal appearance at the surface belies the shear magnitude of human construction beneath the waves. Oil platforms are among the world’s tallest man-made structures. Compliant tower platforms reach up to 900 meters in depth (in contrast, the tallest building is 828 meters). these rigs are not permanent structures. As the wells run dry and sea water corrodes steel jackets, the wells are capped and rigs decommissioned. At least 6500 offshore platforms are slated for decommission by 2025, which begs the question, what do we do with inactive oil platforms?

How not to save the environment: sharks as biofuel

April 12, 2011April 2, 2011 David Shiffman 3 Comments

Conservation

Successfully switching the global economy from oil and coal based energy to clean energy is one of the major goals of the modern environmental movement. No single idea will accomplish this -to succeed, we’re going to need a combination of technologies.

Many proposed solutions involve a trade-off. Reasonable people can disagree over whether the environmental benefits of wind turbines or nuclear power plants outweigh the risks, for example. Every once in a while, however, a completely ridiculous idea comes along.