Gulf Oil Spill Threatens Blue Carbon Ecosystems

Gulf Oil Spill Threatens Natural Wildlife Areas

Endangered species, waterfoul, coastal communities and the climate change mitigation potential of coastal wetlands threatened as oils slick moves closer to land

April 29 / Miami FL / Fears are escalating of coastal impacts on the Mississippi Delta and neighboring areas despite the Coast Guard setting the oil spill on fire on Wednesday.  Apparently, early reports grossly underestimated the volume of the spill and the wind is strengthening in the wrong direction, towards land.

The oil spill may first impact the Delta National Wildlife Refuge and Pass-a-Loutre Wildlife Management Area, which together encompass 164,000 acres of pristine coastal marsh habitat located at the mouth of the Mississippi River.  This area is known for lush vegetation and multitude of fish, waterfowl and animals.  Endangered and Threatened Species found there include American alligator, brown pelican, Arctic peregrine falcon and piping plover.

The coastal marshlands also serve as a natural carbon sink, storing and absorbing atmospheric carbon through biomass production and sediment trapping, therefore helping to mitigate climate change.  This ability may be impaired by oil contamination.

The value of coastal ecosystems in mitigating climate change was recognized by nine U.S. Senators, in their sponsorship of marine habitat language included in the Clean Energy Partnerships Act earlier this year.

The cost of oil cleanup in marshlands is expected to be high.  The oil spill also threatens the barrier islands of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge, tourism along beaches in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, as well as commercial oyster and shrimp fisheries.

Oil slick reported within 8 miles of coastline on Wednesday, April 28, 2010.
Image source: http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/environmental-disaster-Gulf-of-Mexico/photo//100429/480/urn_publicid_ap_org98d8d90d9a1c4358b1d35e15450d2e30//s:/ap/20100429/ap_on_bi_ge/us_louisiana_oil_rig_explosion 

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April 30 / This blog was edited to include the Pass-a-Loutre Wildlife Management Area. Thanks for the comment! -Steven

Whale poop is vital to ocean's carbon cycle

Tags: baleen whale feces, ocean carbon cycle, iron fertilization

A Baleen whale feces event in the Southern Ocean (Image: J Brokowski)

- More on the contribution of whales (feeding habits) to the ocean's carbon cycle -

Q: How does this natural process compare to the old ruse of iron fertilization?

Q: How much of this carbon actually makes it depth?

Q: What about methane released in whale flatulence?

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http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18807-whale-poop-is-vital-to-oceans-carbon-cycle.html

6:37 22 April 2010 by Wendy Zukerman

Saving endangered baleen whales could boost the carbon storage capacity of the Southern Ocean, suggests a new study of whale faeces. Whale faeces once provided huge quantities of iron to a now anaemic Southern Ocean, boosting the growth of carbon-sequestering phytoplankton.

So says Stephen Nicol of the Australian Antarctic Division, based in Kingston, Tasmania, who has found "huge amounts of iron in whale poo". He believes that before commercial whaling, baleen whale faeces may have accounted for some 12 per cent of the iron on the surface of the Southern Ocean.

Previous studies have shown that iron is crucial to ocean health because plankton need it to grow. "If you add soluble iron to the ocean, you get instant phytoplankton growth," says Nicol. The amount of iron in whale faeces means that protecting Antarctic whales could swell populations of phytoplankton, which absorb carbon dioxide.

Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) feed on the phytoplankton, concentrating the iron in their tissue. And in turn, baleen whales eat the krill.

Iron rations
 
It had already been suggested that whales recycled iron in the ocean by eating it in krill and making it available to phytoplankton in faeces. But until this study, no one had analysed whale faeces to confirm if it indeed contained significant quantities of iron.

Nicol's team analysed 27 samples of faeces from four species of baleen whales. He found that on average whale faeces had 10 million times as much iron as Antarctic seawater.

The team confirmed the iron came from krill by analysing the iron content in whole krill and sampling genetic material from the whale faeces for krill DNA. "We confirmed the vast majority of the iron in the poo came from krill," says Nicol.

Using estimates of the whale population before commercial whaling in the Southern Ocean began early last century, Nicol predicts that baleen whales – now endangered – once consumed about 190 million tonnes of krill every year and produced 7600 tonnes of iron-rich faeces.

Big eaters

Larger populations of whales would have produced more of this "bio-available" iron, leading to bigger phytoplankton and krill populations in turn, says Nicol.

"Allowing the great whales to recover will allow the system to slowly reset itself," he says. And this will ultimately increase the amount of CO₂ that the Southern Ocean can sequester.

David Raubenheimer, who researches marine nutritional ecology at Massey University in Auckland, New Zealand, says the findings are convincing and important. They highlight a specific ecological role for whales in the oceans "other than their charisma", he says.

Peter Gill, a whale ecologist at Deakin University in Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia, calls the research "exciting stuff".

"So many whales were moved from the ocean before we could understand the ocean ecology," says Gill. "It's exciting when we can reconstruct the past, and all these bits fall into place."

Journal reference: Fish and Fisheries, DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-2979.2010.00356.x

Blue Climate Solutions Rallies Against Oil Drilling off Florida

Blue Climate Solutions joined Environment Florida, 1Sky, Miami Surfrider and others to protest oil drilling off Florida.

April 18 / Miami FL / Blue Climate Solutions joined Environment Florida, 1Sky, Miami Surfrider, Urban Paradise Guild and others rallying to urge President Obama to protect Florida's beaches and coastal ecosystems from oil drilling on Thursday, April 15th.

An oil spill could potentially foul local beaches, coral reefs, and blue carbon ecosystems, such as mangrove forests, saltwater marshlands and shallow seagrass meadows.

Obama was in Miami to attend a fundraiser at the Adrienne Arsht Center.

We hope that Thursday’s protest will help the Obama Administration scrutinize the wisdom of opening oil drilling close to these valuable and fragile ecosystems.

More images of the event are available at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ynplaycity/sets/72157623871040318/

Blue Carbon …new name, old problem

http://www.mbmp.org/articles/101-blue-carbon.html

Blue Carbon …new name, old problem

Written by Caroline Silsbury

Thursday, 04 March 2010

World Wetlands Day has come and gone, but the event’s sponsor, the United Nations Environment Program, is still working to encourage better care for the world’s seacoasts. Last week, UNEP’s Executive Director and Indonesia’s Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries announced a joint “global scientific assessment on Blue Carbon”.

Blue carbon is the latest addition to UNEP’s climate change rainbow. “Black” and “brown” carbons are the soot and greenhouse gases produced when fossil fuels are burnt or carbon-containing materials (like garbage dumps and manure piles) break down. “Green” carbon refers to the greenhouse gases trapped and stored by the world’s forests and grasslands. “Blue” carbon refers to the portion trapped and stored in marine environments, including open sea, coral reefs, seagrass beds and coastal mangroves, estuaries and salt marshes.

The idea was actually launched with a report issued last October during National Marine Month in South Africa. The name “blue carbon” came from the report’s estimate that about 55% of the carbon dioxide captured and stored by the world’s natural carbon “sinks” went into marine environments. Plants – seagrass, mangroves and marshes – account for only about 1% of the total marine area but do about 70% of the carbon capturing.

We have known for a long time about the value of these areas as water purifiers, coastal defenses and nurseries for birds and marine life. They are vital to food security for nearly half the world’s people, including many of the poorest. In fact, the UNEP report puts an average annual “service value” of about US$90,000 on each hectare of the world’s mangroves, and about US$12,000 per hectare on seagrass beds. (A hectare is about 2.5 acres.)

Their value as intense, hard-working carbon sinks has been less appreciated. The total mass of marine plant life is tiny compared to the mass on land, but the UNEP report estimates that it traps just as much carbon dioxide every year. And marine carbon sinks are almost permanent. Carbon that finds its way to the sea floor will stay there for thousands of years, compared to a few decades for rainforests.

However, these areas are being damaged or destroyed, mostly by bad land use management. According to the report’s editor, “Since the 1940’s, over 30% of the mangroves, close to 25% of salt marshes and over 30% of seagrass meadows have been lost. We are losing these crucial ecosystems much faster than rainforests and at the very time we need them.”

The remedy, it seems, is “Save what’s left. Then plant more.” In fact, there has been a lot of mangrove replanting in Southeast Asia, especially in Vietnam and Indonesia. Salt marshes are being restored in the U.S. and Europe. In the Caribbrean, though, we’re just getting to “Save what’s left”.

UNEP has proposed a Blue Carbon Fund to provide technical and financial support for improved coastal management. This will likely be similar to the program that now pays developing countries to stop deforestation on land, and helps them sell the resulting “green carbon” credits. There may also be a profit opportunity in saving seagrass, mangroves and marshes. One of new fund’s objectives will be to measure and define blue carbon areas, and help the countries that look after them to market carbon credits – doing well by doing good.

Nine U.S. Senators Endorse 'Blue Carbon'

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nine-us-senators-endorse-marine-conservation-solutions-to-climate-change-85920332.html

http://sites.google.com/site/blueclimatesolutions/coalition-thank-you-letters

http://www.sunherald.com/2010/03/01/1992206/nine-us-senators-endorse-marine.html

Nine U.S. Senators Endorse Marine Conservation Solutions to Climate Change

MIAMI, FL. / March 2, 2010 / An international coalition today, thanked the nine U.S. Senators who sponsored the Clean Energy Partnerships Act, for advancing marine conservation as part of the solution to climate change.

The Act is focused on mitigating climate change and making the transition to a clean energy economy, through offsetting greenhouse gas emissions.

The legislation advances marine conservation by including the restoration and conservation of certain coastal and marine ecosystems, which capture and store atmospheric carbon, in the list of eligible mitigation projects. Other mitigation projects include sustainable agriculture and forestry practices.

Recent reports produced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) found that, when healthy, mangrove forests, saltwater marshlands and seagrass meadows are extremely effective at storing atmospheric carbon, thereby mitigating climate change. The reports are titled ‘Blue Carbon’ and ‘The Management of Natural Coastal Carbon Sinks,’ respectfully.

"Restoring seagrass, mangroves and salt-marshes is a win-win strategy, because they contribute to mitigate climate change through their carbon sink potential, that rivals with the Amazonian forest in intensity, but at the same time help recover fisheries and protect shorelines" said Prof Carlos M. Duarte, co-author of the UNEP report and Director of the International Laboratory for Global Change at the Spanish Council for Scientific Research.

"For too long we have focused solely on terrestrial habitats such as forests, peatlands and certain soil types as effective ways to manage natural carbon sinks. I am delighted that this important introduction in the U.S. Senate provides long-awaited recognition to these coastal habitats" Prof Dan Laffoley, editor of the IUCN report and Marine Vice Chair of IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas commented.

"These habitats are shown to lock away significant amounts of carbon and this move demonstrates that the world-wide loss of such features is not just a significant concern for wildlife and coastal communities dependent on them, but also for effective management of our carbon sinks and emissions," he added.

The Secretary of Commerce is given a role administering the rules for marine offset programs in the Act.

The Clean Energy Partnerships Act was introduced by Senator Debbie Ann Stabenow (MI), and co-sponsored by Max Baucus (MT), Mark Begich (AK), Sherrod Brown (OH), Robert Casey (PA), Thomas Harkin (IA), Amy Klobuchar (MN), Bill Nelson (FL), and Jeanne Shaheen (NH).

"Our oceans are critically important to climate and the global carbon cycle. This is the first time healthy coasts and oceans have been introduced into legislation as part of the solution to climate change," said Steven J. Lutz, Executive Director of Blue Climate Solutions, the group that organized the coalition effort. "The Blue Climate Coalition commends the sponsoring Senators for demonstrating strong environmental and climate change leadership."

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Additional information:

Clean Energy Partnerships Act of 2009, S. 2729

Includes coastal and marine offset projects ("projects to restore or prevent the conversion, loss, or degradation of vegetated marine coastal habitats") (see page 20, line 13)

Includes wetland offset projects ("management and restoration of peatland or wetland") (see page 20, line 4)

Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce for coastal, ocean or marine offset projects (see page 13, line 20)

Available at: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-2729

The Senate thank-you letters are available at:
http://sites.google.com/site/blueclimatesolutions/coalition-thank-you-letters

Whaling Worsens Carbon Release

Looks like Blue Carbon now includes whales, what's next?

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8538033.stm

Whaling worsens carbon release, scientists warn

By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC News, Portland

Whales store carbon by the tonne. Image: Science Photo Library

A century of whaling may have released more than 100 million tonnes - or a large forest's worth - of carbon into the atmosphere, scientists say.

Whales store carbon within their huge bodies and when they are killed, much of this carbon can be released.

US scientists revealed their estimate of carbon released by whaling at the Ocean Sciences meeting in Portland, US.

Dr Andrew Pershing from the University of Maine described whales as the "forests of the ocean".

Dr Pershing and his colleagues from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute calculated the annual carbon-storing capacity of whales as they grew.

"Whales, like any animal or plant on the planet, are made out of a lot of carbon," he said.

"And when you kill and remove a whale from the ocean, that's removing carbon from this storage system and possibly sending it into the atmosphere."

He pointed out that, particularly in the early days of whaling, the animals were a source of lamp oil, which was burned, releasing the carbon directly into the air.

"And this marine system is unique because when whales die [naturally], their bodies sink, so they take that carbon down to the bottom of the ocean.

"If they die where it's deep enough, it will be [stored] out of the atmosphere perhaps for hundreds of years."

Ocean trees

In their initial calculations, the team worked out that 100 years of whaling had released an amount of carbon equivalent to burning 130,000 sq km of temperate forests, or to driving 128,000 Humvees continuously for 100 years.

Dr Pershing stressed that this was still a relatively tiny amount when compared to the billions of tonnes produced by human activity every year.

When whales die [naturally], their bodies sink, so they take that carbon down to the bottom of the ocean. Dr Andrew Pershing, University of Maine

But he said that whales played an important role in storing and transporting carbon in the marine ecosystem.

Simply leaving large groups of whales to grow, he said, could "sequester" the greenhouse gas, in amounts that were comparable to some of the reforestation schemes that earn and sell carbon credits.

He suggested that a similar system of carbon credits could be applied to whales in order to protect and rebuild their stocks.

"The idea would be to do a full accounting of how much carbon you could store in a fully populated stock of fish or whales, and allow countries to sell their fish quota as carbon credits," he explained.

"You could use those credits as an incentive to reduce the fishing pressure or to promote the conservation of some of these species."

Other scientists said that he had raised an exciting and interesting problem.

Professor Daniel Costa, a marine animal researcher from the University of California, Santa Cruz, told BBC News: "So many more groups are looking at the importance of these large animals in the carbon cycle.

"And it's one of those things that, when you look at it, you think: ' This is so obvious, why didn't we think of this before?'."

Is bigger better?

Dr Pershing pointed out that whales, with their huge size, were more efficient than smaller animals at storing carbon.

He used the analogy of a small dog compared to a large dog.

"My wife's 6lb (2.7kg) toy poodle eats one cup of food per day and my dog - a 60lb standard poodle - eats five cups of food per day," he said.

"That's only five times as much food but my dog weighs ten times as much."

He said that the marine carbon credit idea could be applied to other very large marine animals, including endangered bluefin tuna and white sharks.

Dr Pershing said: "These are huge and they are top predators, so unless they're fished they would be likely to take their biomass to the bottom of the ocean [when they die]."

UNEP and Government of Indonesia Emphasize Role of Blue Carbon in Combating Climate Change

http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=612&ArticleID=6478&l=en

UNEP and Government of Indonesia Emphasize Role of Blue Carbon in Combating Climate Change

Indonesia's Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner launch the concept of Blue Carbon at the 11th Special Session of UNEP Governing Council in Nusa Dua, Bali

Nusa Dua Bali, Indonesia, February 25, 2010 - In a joint statement issued today at the XIth Special Session of the UNEP Governing Council, Indonesia's Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Dr. Fadel Muhammad and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner have emphasized the important role of marine and coastal ecosystems in the fight against climate change.

The concept of Blue Carbon, which emphasizes the ability of marine and coastal ecosystems to sequester carbon, was introduced by UNEP in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations Education and Science Organization (UNESCO).

Blue Carbon emphasizes the key role of marine and coastal ecosystems, which are dominated by marine vegetation such as mangrove forests, seagrass, brackish marshes and salt marshes. Coastal and marine ecosystems are believed to be able to complement the role of forests (Green Carbon) in taking up carbon emissions through sequestration.

Mr. Steiner said: "We already know that marine and coastal ecosystems are multi-trillion dollar assets linked to sectors such as tourism, shipping and fisheries - now it is emerging that they are natural allies against climate change."

Mr. Steiner and Dr. Fadel jointly emphasized that the basis of their joint statement is the mandate of the Manado Ocean Declaration (MOD) declared last year, as well as efforts to control the adverse effects of climate change.

"We appeal to all countries to preserve these abilities of coastal and marine ecosystems as important variables in global climate change dynamic", said Dr. Fadel and Mr. Steiner.