Breaking Waves: Ocean News

It is now more than 7 months since the largest marine oil spill in history began in the Gulf of Mexico. Many questions remain regarding the causes, magnitude and consequences of the Deepwater Horizon blow out.   Larger questions remain regarding off-shore drilling and the use of energy and society. The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) and its partners, Boston University and Louisiana State University, have created a resource that will allow you to explore these questions and others, as well as to contribute your own expertise. The Online Clearinghouse for Education & Networking: Oil Interdisciplinary Learning (OCEAN-OIL) is an open-access, peer-reviewed electronic education resource about the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation. OCEAN-OIL already contains: •       1,000+ hyper-linked encyclopedia style articles related to the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, including offshore oil and gas, the ecological effects of oil spills, details of the event, oil spill response, and lessons from the disaster, and related topics •       400+ glossary of important terms related to oil spill causes, impacts, clean-up, and prevention •       75+ acronyms (LPG,  PPM,  ROV,  VOC) to help decode the language of oil spill science •       80+ external resource links to federal government sites, image galleries, news sources, industry, environmental groups, education, and journal articles •        Deepwater Horizon photo gallery: Images by renowned photojournalist Gary Braasch •        Deepwater Horizon by the Numbers: Publication quality graphs •        Reports of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill The OCEAN-OIL website is seamlessly integrated into the Encyclopedia of Earth (www.eoearth.org), which is a free, peer-reviewed, searchable collection of content about the Earth, its natural environments, and their interaction with society, written by expert scholars and educators. NCSE coordinates the Encyclopedia. The Encyclopedia's Editor-in-Chief Cutler Cleveland of Boston University, who is an expert in energy and society, leads the development of the new online resource.

The University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography (URI/GSO) has launched one of the most comprehensive Internet resources on hurricanes. The Hurricanes: Science and Society (HSS) website and its associated educational resources provide information on the science of hurricanes, methods of observing hurricanes, modeling and forecasting of hurricanes, how hurricanes impact society, and how people and communities can prepare for and mitigate the impacts of hurricanes.   In addition to in-depth science content, the website includes educational resources, case studies, and a historical storm interactive. Information is tailored for specific audiences, including middle school through undergraduate educators and students, the general public, and the media.  All content has undergone rigorous peer review by an esteemed panel of hurricane experts.   “I am very impressed by the scope of scientific content in the Hurricane Science and Society website,” said Bill Read, Director of the National Hurricane Center.  “I believe it will become a nationwide classroom tool for anyone interested in teaching or learning hurricane science.”  The development of the HSS website was led by GSO’s Gail Scowcroft and Isaac Ginis and designed in coordination with Raytheon Web Solutions. The website has been made possible by a grant from the Informal Science Education Program of the National Science Foundation.

26 October 2010: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have released a report titled "Climate, Carbon and Coral Reefs," outlining the threat to coral reefs caused by climate change and subsequent coral bleaching, as well as by ocean acidification. The report outlines the role of meteorological services in addressing climate change and coral reef issues. It highlights the importance of identifying periods of coral bleaching risks, sea temperature trends, ocean salinity trends, ocean circulation trends and sea level rise. It also describes the destructive powers of tropical cyclone impacts, reduced growth of coral due to ocean acidification, and direct human impacts to reefs. THE REPORT calls for: increased communication; cumulative water pollution dispersion maps; global annual briefings on the threat climate change poses to reefs; action at local and global scales; and increased research in coupled ocean-atmosphere modeling, coastal and hydrological modeling and weather prediction. The report was released on the sidelines of the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10)  to the CBD, taking place in Nagoya, Japan.

Obama Administration officials today released the Final Recommendations of the Ocean Policy Task Force, which would establish a National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, Coasts, and Great Lakes (National Policy) and create a National Ocean Council (NOC) to strengthen ocean governance and coordination.  The Final Recommendations prioritize actions for the NOC to pursue, and call for a flexible framework for coastal and marine spatial planning to address conservation, economic activity, user conflict, and sustainable use of the ocean, our coasts and the Great Lakes. Read more.