CLIMATE AND OCEANS. Author: Dr. Judith Weis Sierra Club Marine Team September, 2017

Transcription

1 CLIMATE AND OCEANS Author: Dr. Judith Weis Sierra Club Marine Team September, 2017

2 CLIMATE CHANGE Coral bleaching O2 levels in ocean Migrations and movements Sea Level Rise, Extreme Events Ocean acidification

3 Coral Bleaching

4 FISH MOVING NORTH (EAST COAST EXAMPLES) Lobsters in Long Island Sound and New England disappearing, more up in Gulf of Maine and Canada Cod unlikely to return to New England, mostly in Canada Southern species moving up here e.g. blue crab, sea bass, summer flounder

5 General warming causes a decrease in phytoplankton, which photosynthesize and produce oxygen. In some regions, the drop in ocean productivity often over 30%. When top layer of ocean warms, the temperature difference between it and layers below becomes greater. This makes it harder for turnover and reduces upwelling of nutrients to the surface, starving the phytoplankton. End result less food for fishes, birds, seals etc.

6 SEA TURTLE DEVELOPMENT Temperature determines the sex of turtle embryos. Warmer temperatures, that lead to production of females, could result in some species becoming mostly, or entirely female (and therefore going extinct).

7

8 A rise in sea level causes 5 major physical effects: 1. Erosion of beaches and bluffs; 2. Salt-water intrusion into aquifers and surface waters; 3. Inundation of low-lying areas; 4. Increased flooding and storm damage; and 5. Higher water tables. These physical effects cause major biological, societal, and economic effects.

9 EFFECTS ON HUMAN COMMUNITIES Miami, Norfolk VA and other low lying areas flood regularly. Beaches wash away, have to be renourished every few years. Exacerbated by building sea walls or jetties.

10 HUMAN RESPONSE: BUILD A SEA WALL (WHICH MAKES THINGS WORSE!)

11 COASTAL STORMS SLR & WARMER WATER MAKES THEM MORE SEVERE Most damage is caused by coastal flooding and erosion.

12 INTERTIDAL SALT MARSHES MUST INCREASE ELEVATION, MOVE INLAND, OR BE SUBMERGED. Water pools on marshes and drowns plants like cord grass, which have adapted to being flooded by the tides but not to being submerged over long periods. As plants die off, they leave expanding patches of bare ground.

13 LOSING GROUND: MARSHES IN RI, MA DISINTEGRATING FASTER THAN ANYWHERE ELSE IN US Providence Journal: 3/19/2017 Kenny Raposa of Narragansett Bay NERR, has spent 17 years studying this vanishing landscape. The loss, he says, 'is just stunning. High marsh plants being inundated too much

14 INCREASE ELEVATION Spray sediment onto marsh surface thin layer deposition. Existing grass gets buried. Some plants grow through the sediment eventually. Some will naturally reseed the area, others will be planted. Takes several years for marsh to recover. Not pretty for a few years. How soon before you have to do it again?

15 MARSH MIGRATION INLAND WILL THEY RUN INTO ROADS AND PARKING LOTS? COASTAL SQUEEZE. NEED OPEN SPACE UPLAND IRONICALLY, THE INVASIVE COMMON REED, PHRAGMITES, WHICH IS OFTEN REMOVED, INCREASES MARSH ELEVATION, AND MAY BETTER ALLOW MARSHES TO KEEP UP WITH SEA LEVEL. WHY CARE? MARSHES ARE IMPORTANT HABITAT THAT PROTECT US FROM STORM SURGE & FLOODS

16 OCEAN ACIDIFICATION

17 pteropod Many marine animals including corals and mollusks, have calcium carbonate shells, which weaken when the ocean gets more acidic. Cultured larvae in Oregon oyster farms have problems making shells. OA retards skeleton formation, speeds up erosion. The ocean surface already 30% more acidic than before Industrial Revolution. By the end of the century will have a 100- to 150% increase in acidity. Oyster farmers are dealing with dissolving baby oyster shells by adjusting the ph of incoming water.

18 WHAT CAN YOU DO? ELECT PEOPLE WHO TAKE CLIMATE CHANGE SERIOUSLY AND ARE WILLING TO ACT ON IT WHAT S YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT? IS YOUR CAR A GAS GUZZLER? NEXT TIME GET A HYBRID OR ELECTRIC COULD YOU SET THE THERMOSTAT COOLER IN WINTER AND WARMER IN SUMMER? DO YOU HAVE SOLAR PANELS ON THE ROOF? HOW MUCH MEAT (ESP. BEEF) DO YOU EAT? IF YOU CAN STILL HAVE CHILDREN, HAVE FEWER

19