Kudos to the LA Times for this animated graphic on how a storm surge forms.

Gulf Coast residents are hunkering down and hoping Hurricane Isaac will move on sooner rather than later. Post-Hurricane Katrina, lots of folks fought with their insurance companies as to whether their damages were caused by flooding caused by storm surge (not covered from the insurer’s point of view) or wind from the hurricane (covered).  See NPR’s report of unhappy policyholders here.  As you can imagine, homeowners didn’t see the distinction.

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How Healthy Are Our Oceans?

by Robin Yeager on 08/20/2012

in Environment, Ocean

The ocean realm is abuzz with an innovative Ocean Health Index (OHI) created by “… more than 65 scientists/ocean experts and partnerships between organizations including the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Sea Around Us, Conservation International, National Geographic, and the New England Aquarium“.  The OHI covers the world’s exclusive economic zones (EEZ), which extend 200 nautical miles from shore.

© 2011

© 2011

With an OHI of 63, the USA ties with eight others for a global rank of 26, providing a baseline from which we can identify targets for improvement and hopefully implement practices that result in healthier seas. The highest ranking location is uninhabited Jarvis Island (86) with the USA’s Pacific uninhabited territories coming in 2nd (80), highlighting the far-reaching effects of human impacts elsewhere. War-ravaged Sierra Leone’s EEZ is in the worst shape on the planet (36).

The OHI quantifies and averages 10 “human goals” to derive a number between 1 and 100 representing the state of a given country’s coast and the ocean overall.  The categories are:

  • Artisanal Fishering Opportunities
  • Biodiversity
  • Carbon Storage
  • Clean Waters
  • Coastal Livelihoods and Economies
  • Coastal Protection
  • Food Provision
  • Natural Products
  • Sense of Place
  • Tourism & Recreation.

Among the benefits of this approach is the developers’ recognition that the marine environment is inextricably entertwined with human use of our oceans.

To see a report about the study, check out this free article in Nature. The abstract for the scientific paper, by Benjamin Halpern et al, also was published in Nature. Credit is also due to the folks and entities who fund this project. You can find them here.

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It’s been six years since Ocean Power Technologies applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a preliminary permit to study the feasibility of a renewable energy project off the Oregon Coast. To its credit, oregoncoast_RLY0352OPT embarked upon a lengthy collaboration with federal and state regulators and coastal stakeholders to establish conditions for its permanent license. The process was not always smooth and it took sustained effort and commitment by all participants as documented in a previous post.

The good news is that all that hard work paid off. The license permits OPT to deploy wave energy converters for a 1.5 megawatt (MW) ocean energy project. The wave-activated PowerBuoys will be located in Oregon State territorial waters, about 2.5 nautical miles off the beautiful coast of Reedsport in Douglas County, Oregon. Onshore, the project will utilize ~5 acres of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area in the Siuslaw National Forest.

Now, if they can just get a buoy in the water.

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Tim Ray: A Year Ago Today

5.16.12

A year ago today, the sun was shining, the sky was a rich spring blue. It was a perfect southern California day.
Except that my dear friend and classmate Tim Ray passed away. This is what I wrote to my classmates at Scripps Institute of Oceanography where Tim was a PhD student and I was a [...]

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Saving the Oceans, One Film At A Time

12.1.11

I told our esteemed director, filmmaker/scientist Levi Lewis, that I was willing to take on any role in his film except that of actor.  You can see how well I, and my fellow students, Dominique Cano-Stucco, Daniel Paredes-Gonzales and the late Tim Ray succeeded in this 60-second short, A Coral-Bacteria Love Story.

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If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu and other lessons from the Reedsport wave energy project

11.29.11

The inter-disciplinary master’s program at UCSD/Scripps culminates in a Capstone project. One of the benefits of the program is that our Capstone allows us to be creative. We could write a formal research paper, or we could select a topic and communicate about it in a non-traditional (at least for academia) manner.
I know how to [...]

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For once, governments lead despite public reticence – local communities prepare for climate change

11.4.11

As beautiful and biologically diverse as San Diego County is, it’s hardly a bastion of liberalism. Yet local communities are on the leading edge with respect to planning for the long-term effects of a changing climate.
San Diego is not alone here. Many local governments, various regulatory agencies and the international community — just [...]

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Greenpowerlaw blog back in business

11.1.11

This post marks my return to my blog after a long absence.
In early 2010, after several years of exploring what I might do next, a dear friend and mentor suggested that I get a PhD. While there are people my age and older who have embarked on that path, I did not want to [...]

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‘Globs of Death’ – Up close and personal underwater views of the BP disaster

6.10.10

‘Globs of Death’ – Up close and personal underwater views of the BP disaster

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World Oceans Day – A Tribute

6.8.10

World Oceans Day – A Tribute, Freedivers at Dean’s Blue Hole

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Alt Build Expo In Santa Monica

5.4.10

Alt Build Expo In Santa Monica 2010

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Despite support of beach cities and Legislature, Schwarzenegger vetoes smoking ban on state beaches

5.4.10

Despite support of beach cities and California Legislature, Schwarzenegger vetoes SB 4, which would have banned smoking on state beaches and in state parks

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