Sub-Topics 2005 2010 Acidification Conveyor Belt Currents Dead Zones Indian Ocean Oil Spills Southern Ocean Trash Also Try Global Warming Global Warming Prevention Efforts Global Warming Tipping Point Oceans Creatures and Fish Oceans in Earth Sciences Oil Spills Polar Ice Caps Sustainable Planet Water Pollution Wave Power Lesson Plans Alternative Energy Sources (BP.com) "We’ve sponsored and developed programs and classroom resources to help students and teachers explore energy, math and science." 07-07 Lists Protecting Our Oceans (Oceana.org) Provides ways you can help protect our oceans. 04-07 Multimedia New Life Forms Living off of Bacteria on Ocean Bottom Found (PBS.org) "If (relatively) complex life can thrive miles below our feet, it's at least plausible that it lives in similar conditions elsewhere in the cosmos — particularly within Mars, where organisms might have retreated when the environment above grew deadly, just as the Halicephalobus percolated down below after first living on the surface. And that means the search for alien life is a lot more wide open than anyone would have imagined just a few years ago." 06-11 Papers "Climate Change Is All About the Oceans" (Time.com) Tony Knap, director of the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), states that "just as carbon levels have been rising in the atmosphere, thanks largely to man-made greenhouse-gas emissions, CO2 levels are on the rise in the ocean as it warms as well. Ocean data matters — the oceans hold far more energy than the atmosphere. 'This will tell us how the ocean is changing over time,' says Knap. 'Climate change is all about the oceans, not the atmosphere.' " Editor's Note: Also try Threatened Oceans. 07-11 -06-10-06 Oceans Are Warming (BBC News) "Scientists say they have "compelling" evidence that ocean warming over the past 40 years can be linked to the industrial release of carbon dioxide." 06-06 -11-02-06 Experts: Seafood Could Collapse by 2050 (MSNBC News) "If current trends of overfishing and pollution continue, by 2050 the populations of just about all seafood face collapse, defined as 90 percent depletion, a team of ecologists and economists warns in a study published in Friday’s issue of the journal Science." 10-06 -EU Nations Make Ocean "Land Grab" (Guardian Unlimited) "A vast tract of the Atlantic seabed more than 200 miles off shore is being claimed by a coalition of four European countries eager to expand their oil and gas prospecting rights." "No country may claim any part of the seabed more than 350 miles from its shore. Once rights are established, states may extract the minerals and natural gas or oil discovered in the annexed seabed." -Editorial: Our Threatened Oceans (Awesome Library) "We have reason for great concern that our oceans are going through a rapid change that may create severe problems for ourselves and disaster for our children and grandchildren. Here are some of the problems...." 01-06 -Report: Oceans Heading for Mass Extinctions (MSNBC News) " Mass extinctions of species in the world's oceans are inevitable if current trends of overfishing, habitat loss, global warming and pollution continue, a panel of renowned marine scientists warned Tuesday." 06-11 Abundant Life in Deep Ocean Hot Spots (National Geographic) "The deep ocean floor is a dark, cold, remote, and seemingly lifeless place that until recently lay largely below the radar of science and exploration. But with advances in technology, scientists are accessing the deep and finding life everywhere they look." 6-04 Are We Destroying the Oceans? (Time.com) "But human-related injury to the oceans is rife. We have fished out an estimated 90% of the major commercial fish species that swim the high seas, including the giant and endangered blue fin tuna. The trawlers carrying out that destruction are raking the ocean floor, turning parts of the once vibrant continental shelf into so much mud. Climate change is warming the oceans, disrupting the fundamental structure of the marine food pyramid and destroying coral reefs. Meanwhile, increased concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere are making the seas acidic, which threatens to kill off species in large numbers. 'The ocean is becoming a desert,' says Jeremy Jackson, the director of the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography." "Pollution that has washed off the land — from sewage that contains chemical toxins to nitrate fertilizer from farmland — has infected the oceans, destroying once vibrant coastal waters. But it's a problem we barely notice, since for many of us the oceans are distant and out of sight." 04-10 Bad News for the Oceans (Time.com) "Essentially we've been digging into our capital stock of fish, and the bill is coming due. Short of significantly reducing our catch of vulnerable fish, we are looking at a future where wild seafood may become a rarity. (We're already on that path—half the fish consumed today in the world is farmed, not caught, though that comes with its own set of environmental problems.)" 12-10 Biosphere Finds Critical Importance of Microbes (PBS) Provides a description of the failure of Biosphere II as a result from too little oxygen, which in turn was caused by growing microbes too fast. (In the oceans, microbes supply oxygen that is released into the atmosphere and also feeds plants and ocean creatures. 1-01 Bush Pushes to Deregulate Before Leaving Office (CBS News) "The White House is working to enact a wide array of federal regulations, many of which would weaken government rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment, before President Bush leaves office in January." "The new rules would be among the most controversial deregulatory steps of the Bush era and could be difficult for his successor to undo. Some would ease or lift constraints on private industry, including power plants, mines and farms." "Those and other regulations would help clear obstacles to some commercial ocean-fishing activities, ease controls on emissions of pollutants that contribute to global warming, relax drinking-water standards and lift a key restriction on mountaintop coal mining." 10-08 Conserving Our Threatened Oceans (Packard Foundation) "The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is committed to ocean conservation and is pleased to support Strange Days on Planet Earth." 04-08 Deepest Ever Dive (CBS News) "Director James Cameron has gone were no man has gone before: to the deepest depths of the ocean. Late Sunday, partnering organization National Geographic announced his ocean submersible had reached a depth 35,756 feet; 'a figure unattainable anywhere else in the ocean.' " "The scale of the trench is hard to grasp — it's 120 times larger than the Grand Canyon and more than a mile deeper than Mount Everest is tall." 03-12 EU Nations Make Ocean "Land Grab" (Guardian Unlimited) "A vast tract of the Atlantic seabed more than 200 miles off shore is being claimed by a coalition of four European countries eager to expand their oil and gas prospecting rights." "No country may claim any part of the seabed more than 350 miles from its shore. Once rights are established, states may extract the minerals and natural gas or oil discovered in the annexed seabed." 06-06 Experts Warn: Oceans Becoming Too Acidic (MSNBC News) "The world's oceans are becoming more acidic, which poses a threat to sea life and Earth's fragile food chain, German researchers told delegates at a U.N. conference on climate change." 11-06 Giant, Mucus-Like Blobs Form in the Oceans (NationalGeographic.com) "As sea temperatures have risen in recent decades, enormous sheets of a mucus-like material have begun forming more often, oozing into new regions, and lasting longer, a new Mediterranean Sea study says...." 10-09 Global Warming May Trigger a Very, Very Long Warming (International Herald Tribune) "The Arctic, particularly, is filled with what amount to flippable climate switches, including natural repositories of carbon, like boggy tundra, that could emit vast amounts of greenhouse gases should the current warming trend pass certain points, said Jonathan Overpeck, the director of the Institute for the Study of Planet Earth at the University of Arizona." "This could amplify warming and take the climate into a realm beyond anything experienced through human evolution." 12-05 Huge Iceberg Breaks Off (CBS News) "The new iceberg is 48 miles long and about 24 miles wide and holds roughly the equivalent of a fifth of the world's annual total water usage, Young told The Associated Press." "Experts are concerned about the effect of the massive displacement of ice on the ice-free water next to the glacier, which is important for ocean currents." "This area of water had been kept clear because of the glacier, said Steve Rintoul, a leading climate expert. With part of the glacier gone, the area could fill with sea ice, which would disrupt the ability for the dense and cold water to sink." "This sinking water is what spills into ocean basins and feeds the global ocean currents with oxygen, Rintoul explained." 02-10 Map of Oceans Unveiled (CNN) Describes a new map of the oceans of the world, designed to monitor the health of the oceans, global warming effects, and effects of overfishing. Mentions a new U.S. government report that "forecast that U.S. total greenhouse gas emissions would increase 43 percent between 2000 and 2020." 6-02 Map of Oceans Unveiled (CNN) Describes a new map of the oceans of the world, designed to monitor the health of the oceans, global warming effects, and effects of overfishing. Mentions a new U.S. government report that "forecast that U.S. total greenhouse gas emissions would increase 43 percent between 2000 and 2020." 6-02 Mercury Now Polluting Our Food Chain - Pollution Is Reversable (ABC News) "Mercury contamination is making its way into nearly every habitat in the United States, not just oceans, according to a report that the National Wildlife Federation will release Tuesday." "[Felicia] Stadler[of the National Wildlife Federation] said she believes the key is for this country — and the whole world for that matter — to realize just how big a threat mercury pollution is to our ecosystems." " 'We need to be as drastic at cutting mercury as we have been in cutting lead,' she said." 09-06 New Ocean Forming in Africa (CBS News) "Ethiopian, American and European researchers have observed a fissure in a desert in the remote northeast that could be the 'birth of a new ocean basin,' scientists said." 01-06 Ocean Blob (Time.com) "A group of hunters aboard a small boat out of the tiny Alaska village of Wainwright were the first to spot what would eventually be called "the blob." It was a dark, floating mass stretching for miles through the Chukchi Sea, a frigid and relatively shallow expanse of Arctic Ocean water between Alaska's northwest coast and the Russian Far East. The goo was fibrous, hairy. When it touched floating ice, it looked almost black." "Test results released Thursday showed the blob wasn't oil, but a plant — a massive bloom of algae. While that may seem less dangerous, a lot of people are still uneasy." 07-09 Ocean Heroes - Preventing Mercury Pollution (Oceana.org) "Oceana honored Attorney General Bill Lockyer and Wild Oats Markets with the Ted Danson Ocean Hero Award for their leadership in preventing mercury exposure." 01-06 Ocean Is Too Noisy (ABC News) "But there's no question that the ocean has changed through pollution, over-fishing, and now, we know, noise." "It wasn't a pristine environment in the 1960s," when the Navy monitored the area, Hildebrand says. "So there's probably another 10 decibels or so to get back to the primordial state. So it's 20 decibels above the conditions that these animals evolved in, and that's a big number." 08-06 Ocean Thermal Energy (ACRE) Describes and provides diagrams of types of ocean thermal energy generation. 12-00 Plastics Endanger Life in the Oceans (MSNBC News) "In a new report, Greenpeace said at least 267 species -- including seabirds, turtles, seals, sea lions, whales and fish -- are known to have suffered from entanglement or ingestion of marine debris." 11-06 Protecting the Oceans (Oceana.org) Provides information on problems and solutions for protecting the oceans. 01-06 Protecting the Oceans: Oceana (Oceana.org) "Oceana is the largest international organization working solely to protect the world’s oceans. Oceana wins policy victories for the oceans using science-based campaigns. Since 2001, we have protected over 1.2 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea turtles, sharks, dolphins and other sea creatures. More than 500,000 supporters have already joined Oceana. Global in scope, Oceana has offices in North, South and Central America and Europe." Editor's Note: Also try Threatened Oceans. 12-11 Protecting the Oceans: The Problem (Oceana.org) "The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says that at least 75 percent of seafood species are overexploited, fully exploited or recovering from depletion and need more effective and precautionary management." "Destructive fishing practices that include driftnets, longlines and bottom trawls are ruining ocean ecosystems by indiscriminately killing fish and other wildlife, including seabirds and marine mammals. Each year, more than 16 billion pounds of bycatch are thrown overboard thanks to wasteful fishing techniques." "Bottom trawls drag heavily weighted nets along the ocean floor in search of fish or crustaceans in a practice akin to clearcutting a forest in order to catch a rabbit. Centuries-old habitats such as coral gardens are destroyed in an instant by bottom trawls, pulverized into barren plains. Endangered sea turtles drown on longline hooks while sharks have their fins sliced from their bodies, which are then tossed overboard." Editor's Note: Also try Threatened Oceans. 12-11 Report: Fish Farms "Devastate" Wild Fish (BBC News) "Fish farms might seem a sensible alternative to over-fishing the world's oceans but a new report says they have a disastrous impact on both the environment and on stocks of wild fish." "To make fish farming more sustainable worldwide, the authors recommend that farmed fish should be fed vegetable protein instead of fishmeal." 05-06 Seaweed-Eating Gene (USA Today) "What the Japanese have that Americans don't: a special gut bacteria with a gene that allows them to digest a specific kind of carbohydrate found only in seaweed." 04-10 Tipping Point for Fish (MSNBC News) Ted Dansen talks about the need for sustainability in fishing the oceans. 04-11 Water on the Earth (UMAC - OCP) Describes availability of water on the Earth, including Water Planet, Physical Symptoms of Water Stress, Hydrologic Cycle, and World's Water Supply. "Of all the water on Earth, more than 97% is salt water held in the oceans. The remaining 3% constitutes the fresh water supply on the planet. The majority of fresh water is held in ice (glaciers and polar ice caps) and a large proportion also lies too far underground to be exploitable. The amount of fresh water directly available is less than 1% of the total water in the Earth System." 4-02 World Oceans Day (MSNBC News) "The United Nations recognizes June 8 as World Oceans Day. The “holiday” was officially celebrated for the first time last year, though the concept of a day to pay homage to the world’s oceans was first proposed in 1992 by Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro." 06-10 Projects Acid Rain and Ecosystems (Scholastic.com - Dirtmeister) "How does 'acid rain' affect ecosystems?" 07-06 Oceans - Ways to Fight Pollution (Clean Ocean Action) Provides ways for children, teens, and adults to fight pollution of our oceans. 11-00 Worksheets Save Ocean Creatures (Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation) Provides action projects. 09-09

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