Coastal Restoration Firms Show Off Living Shoreline Tech

To keep up with how the shoreline stabilization industry is evolving, a team of shoreline restoration specialists during its recent meeting invited a handful of companies to talk about their proprietary techniques to build the alternative for hardened bulkheads and seawalls.

Living shorelines are made of materials such as salt marshes, sand, rock or oysters, and are a natural barrier for estuaries, bays, tributaries and other sheltered shorelines.

The Next Wave of Ocean Conservation

California has the power to lead, but must raise ambition.

As advocates, decision-makers or leaders, we focus on affecting positive change for the future. An important component of future progress, however, is reflecting on what we’ve done and using those lessons to set the path forward. The world’s fifteenth Convention on Biodiversity Conference of the Parties (COP 15) convenes in Montreal, Canada this week to negotiate a global biodiversity framework that could help arrest the biodiversity crisis. Countries will negotiate language for Target 3, which will set global standards for ecosystem conservation.

The Missing Mammal That May Have Shaped California’s Kelp Forests

Researchers claim that the behavior of a massive extinct herbivore, the Steller’s sea cow, might inform conservation efforts of threatened ecosystems today. The Steller’s sea cow, an extinct relative of the manatee, could grow to five tons and 25 feet long and roamed the coastal waters of the northern Pacific Ocean. Although they were named for him, Georg Wilhelm Steller, a German zoologist who observed the animals between Asia and North America in 1741, described them as something like seaweed-and-kelp gluttons.

Fed Up With the Ocean’s Plastic Problems, UC Irvine Post-grads Open Zero-waste Market

Environmental scientists predict that oceans will contain more plastic, pound for pound, than fish by the year 2050.

Jessica Walden and Chris McGuire, doctoral students in UC Irvine’s Department of Earth System Science, have seen this trend firsthand in their oceanographic studies of the Atlantic and Pacific, where the water samples they collect are replete with microplastics.

Amazon’s Plastic Packaging Waste Grew 18% in 2021, Report Says

The retail giant says it generated 214 million pounds of plastic waste last year. An advocacy group says it produced three times as much.

Plastic packaging waste from the online retail giant Amazon ballooned to 709 million pounds globally in 2021 — equivalent to the weight of some 70,000 killer whales — according to a new report published Thursday by the nonprofit Oceana. That’s an 18 percent increase over Oceana’s estimate of Amazon’s plastic packaging for 2020.

To Keep Florida Economically Viable, the State’s Leaders Should Establish an Upper Limit to Sea-level Rise

Florida is in the crosshairs of climate disruption and that gives it a powerful platform to promote efforts to cut carbon emissions. Did you know that Florida has already experienced one foot of sea-level rise since the 1970s, and another foot is expected by mid-century? Floridians see it happening: sunny day flooding, beach erosion, and record-setting storm surge that wipes out communities from more powerful, slower moving hurricanes.

US Pacific Territories and the America the Beautiful Initiative Can Deliver Ocean Climate Solutions

The U.S. Pacific territories are vast—combined, their ocean areas are nearly twice the size of Alaska—and they are home to some of the world's largest marine protected areas. This region will be critical for achieving the Biden administration’s goals to combat climate change, protect 30 percent of lands and waters by 2030, and ensure access to nature for all Americans.

Melting Ice Created the Perfect Storm For a Rapidly Acidifying Arctic Ocean

Melting sea ice may evoke images of polar bears stranded on shrinking floes or dramatically collapsing ice shelves. But according to a study published recently in the journal Science, ice melt is triggering another ecological threat: a drastically acidified Arctic Ocean. This has diminished access to key chemical building blocks for organisms that call the Arctic home, potentially disrupting the entire food web in this region.

Coastal Researchers See Potential in Capturing Ocean Energy

The federal government recently announced new offshore wind energy lease areas off the North Carolina coast, but for Dr. Mike Muglia, assistant director for science and research with the North Carolina Renewable Ocean Program at the Coastal Studies Institute, there is tremendous additional potential for power generation in the ocean’s waters. Much of Muglia’s research focus has been on how ocean currents can be harnessed, and he said the potential is huge, and while the obstacles are big too.

The Arctic Is Becoming Wetter and Stormier, Scientists Warn

In their annual assessment of the region and its climate, researchers highlighted new signs of a huge transformation underway. As humans warm the planet, the once reliably frigid and frozen Arctic is becoming wetter and stormier, with shifts in its climate and seasons that are forcing local communities, wildlife and ecosystems to adapt, scientists said Tuesday in an annual assessment of the region. Even though 2022 was only the Arctic’s sixth warmest year on record, researchers saw plenty of new signs this year of how the region is changing.

NOAA to Launch Major Advancement in Seasonal High Tide Flooding Predictions

In 2023, NOAA plans to unveil a new model to more accurately predict when and where high tide flooding will likely occur up to a year ahead of time. This new information will help coastal communities better prepare and respond to potential flooding days to help lessen possible impacts from climate change. NOAA scientists detail the effort in a peer-reviewed journal article published in Frontiers in Marine Science. NOAA's National Ocean Service plans to implement the model by the end of 2023.

Climate Change: Whales Could Be an Important Carbon Sink, Say Scientists

A study by scientists at the University of Alaska Southeast suggest protecting whales is not only is a win for biodiversity loss but could also help sequester more carbon. New research suggests whales could be an important part of that plan. Whales may be the largest living carbon pool in the ocean, and are part of the marine system that is responsible for storing 22 per cent of Earth’s total carbon, according to a report Thursday in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution.

U.S. Announcements on Ocean-Climate Action at COP27

On the occasion of the “Oceans and Coastal Zones” thematic day at COP27, the United States highlights the following ocean-climate action. Launching the Green Shipping Challenge: Following President Biden’s call to action at the June 2022 Major Economies Forum, the United States and Norway launched the Green Shipping Challenge at COP27, with more than 40 major announcements from countries, ports, and companies on the actions they are taking to help align the shipping sector with the goal to limit global temperature rise to 1.5º C.

UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15)

7-19 December 2022 in Montreal, Canada, governments from around the world will come together to agree on a new set of goals to guide global action through 2030 to halt and reverse nature loss.

Nature is critical to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees. Adoption of a bold global biodiversity framework that addresses the key drivers of nature loss is needed to secure our own health and well-being alongside that of the planet.