Ocean Leadership ~
Like many of you, I watched the events that unfolded at our Capitol and around our city last Wednesday in horror, frustration, and sadness to the point of tears. I feared for the safety of my friends and colleagues and everyone else who had gone to the Capitol complex that day, like every day, to do their job and honorably serve our nation. I feared for what this assault on our nation’s capital meant for democracy itself, which suddenly seems so much more fragile than it ever has in my lifetime. I feared for the visible abuse being done to both our Capitol — a building that not only represents our democracy but that is full of antiques and memorabilia representing our nation’s history — and our flag — a flag that I have believed represents the best of humanity and the principles of liberty, justice, and prosperity for an exemplary, democratic nation that, while never perfect, is always improving and growing in a positive direction.
That flag has been a consistent inspiration for me. During the more than half my life I served in the Navy, I have saluted that flag and helped drape it over the coffins of military veterans and heroes who willingly dedicated and even sacrificed their lives for our nation and for a brighter future for all. I continue to hope it will one day represent the same freedoms and equalities for all Americans, united in our virtuous pursuit of the blessings of our shared liberty.
The actions of violent insurrection we saw Wednesday are certainly not part of the future those heroes envisioned. That flag, and all it represents, is certainly much less bright and has flown a lot lower for me since last Wednesday. But as I look at our nation, I feel my fellow citizens who share the noble ideals that define the real United States of America far outnumber those who don’t. That gives me hope that our flag will again fly higher and brighter for all in the days, weeks, and years ahead as we learn and grow from this horror, as we have done time after time throughout the course of our history, as we seek to find that brighter future. Our nation, humanity, and the amazing world we inhabit may well be at stake if it does not.
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The post Jon White – From The President’s Office: A Sea Of Emotions (01-011-2021) appeared on Consortium for Ocean Leadership.
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
01/13/2021 - 16:42
01/13/2021 - 11:30
More of the insects have emerged this year in NSW, Victoria and South Australia. One reason is rainfall
The buzz call of the cicada is a familiar sound of the Australian summer and this season is what David Emery calls a “super year for our summer chorusing friends”.
A veterinary immunologist at the University of Sydney and cicada expert, Emery has been monitoring the insects for decades and, along with many residents of coastal New South Wales and beyond, has registered that the volume is more ear-splitting than usual.
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01/13/2021 - 11:02
Illustration of activist is part of a series highlighting government’s environmental quality goals
The environmental activist Greta Thunberg has been featured on a new Swedish postage stamp, in recognition of her work to “preserve Sweden’s unique nature for future generations”.
Thunberg, who turned 18 on 3 January, is pictured standing on a rocky cliff top wearing a yellow raincoat, with swifts flying around her, as part of a set by the artist and illustrator Henning Trollbäck titled Valuable Nature.
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01/13/2021 - 09:27
Project using large beasts to help restore woodland offers unprecedented job opportunity
Can you handle a beast as heavy as a small car, that can hurdle high fences from a standing start, and is a peaceful bulldozer for biodiversity?
If you’re not intimidated by the weightiest wild land mammal in Europe, you could become Britain’s first ever bison ranger.
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01/13/2021 - 07:31
Water at critically low levels across Turkey after lack of rainfall leads to most severe drought in a decade
Major cities across Turkey face running out of water in the next few months, with warnings Istanbul has less than 45 days of water left.
Poor rainfall has led to the country’s most severe drought in a decade and put the megacity of 17 million people close to running out of water, according to Turkey’s chamber of chemical engineers. The Ankara mayor, Mansur Yavaş, said earlier this month the capital had another 110 days’ worth in dams and reservoirs.
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01/13/2021 - 05:30
More than 600 environmental, rights and religious groups to present draft order amid widespread shutoffs despite pandemic
A broad coalition of organizations is urging Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to mandate a national moratorium on water and other utility shutoffs on day one in the White House, in order to curtail the spread of Covid-19 and ease the financial burden on struggling Americans.
More than 600 environmental, rights and religious groups will on Wednesday present the incoming Democratic administration with a draft executive order that would impose an immediate nationwide ban on disconnecting essential utilities like water, gas and electricity until at least 12 months after the coronavirus pandemic ends.
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01/13/2021 - 04:00
Scientists say temperatures likely to be increasing faster than at any time in past 2,000 years
Analysis: why are ocean warming records being broken year after year?
The world’s oceans reached their hottest level in recorded history in 2020, supercharging the extreme weather impacts of the climate emergency, scientists have reported.
More than 90% of the heat trapped by carbon emissions is absorbed by the oceans, making their warmth an undeniable signal of the accelerating crisis. The researchers found the five hottest years in the oceans had occurred since 2015, and that the rate of heating since 1986 was eight times higher than that from 1960-85.
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01/13/2021 - 01:00
One of these compact little waders has been hanging around my patch for a year, but it’s not easy to spot
Some rare birds stay put for just a few hours; others stick around for months, or even years. But that doesn’t always make them easy to see.
Since a Kentish plover was first found in Somerset on Boxing Day 2019, it has been seen occasionally on Stert Island, opposite my coastal patch. It disappeared for the summer, then returned in October to spend the winter with a flock of ringed plovers. But at a distance, it can be very hard to pick out.
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01/13/2021 - 00:01
Sobering new report says world is failing to grasp the extent of threats posed by biodiversity loss and the climate crisis
The planet is facing a “ghastly future of mass extinction, declining health and climate-disruption upheavals” that threaten human survival because of ignorance and inaction, according to an international group of scientists, who warn people still haven’t grasped the urgency of the biodiversity and climate crises.
The 17 experts, including Prof Paul Ehrlich from Stanford University, author of The Population Bomb, and scientists from Mexico, Australia and the US, say the planet is in a much worse state than most people – even scientists – understood.
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01/13/2021 - 00:00
Loophole means asset manager can hold shares in firms earning less than a quarter of revenues from coal
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, holds investments worth $85bn in coal companies, a year after it promised to sell most of its shares in producers of the fossil fuel.
A loophole in the asset manager’s policy means it is still allowed to hold shares in companies that earn less than a quarter of their revenues from coal, meaning it has held on to shares or bonds from some of the world’s biggest coalminers and polluters. Those companies included the Indian conglomerate Adani, the UK-listed commodities companies BHP and Glencore, and the German energy company RWE, according to research by Reclaim Finance and Urgewald, two campaign groups.
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WORLD OCEAN EXPLORER 2021
With a game capable of reaching a global audience, WORLD OCEAN EXPLORER can expand interest in ocean issues and habitats, and excite students about the infinite possibilities associated with ocean exploration. LEARN MORE.
OUTLAW OCEAN MUSIC PROJECT:
A CROSSOVER BETWEEN MUSIC & JOURNALISM
Take your pick: listen to ambient tracks, classical, electronic or hiphop. All music in this project is based on THE OUTLAW OCEAN, a New York Times best-selling book by Ian Urbina that chronicles lawlessness at sea around the world. The reporting touches on a diversity of abuses ranging from illegal and overfishing, arms trafficking at sea, human slavery, gun-running, intentional dumping, murder of stowaways, thievery of ships, and other topics. The music is an act of solidarity across geography and language, and an attempt at storytelling from written word to music. It is a captivating collection of inspired songs ranging from classical to hip hop.
