tagged w/ Polar Bears
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Symptoms of a mysterious disease that has killed scores of seals off Alaska and infected walruses are now showing up in polar bears, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said on Friday.
Nine polar bears from the Beaufort Sea region near Barrow were found with patchy hair loss and oozing sores on their skin, similar to conditions found in diseased seals and walruses, the agency said in a statement.
Unlike the sickened seals and walruses, the affected polar bears seem otherwise healthy, said Tony DeGange, chief of the biology office for the USGS's Alaska Science Center. There had been no deaths among polar bears, he said.
The nine affected bears were among the 33 that biologists have captured and sampled while doing routine studies on the Arctic coastline, DeGange said.
Patchy hair loss has been seen before in polar bears, but the high prevalence in those spotted by the researchers and the simultaneous problems in seal and walrus populations elevate the concern, he said.
The USGS is coordinating with agencies studying the other animals to investigate whether there is a link, he said.
"There's a lot we don't know yet, whether we're dealing with something that's different or something that's the same," he said.
The disease outbreak was first noticed last summer. About 60 seals were found dead and another 75 diseased, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Most of the affected seals are ringed seals, but diseased ribbon, bearded and spotted seals were also found.
Several walruses in northwestern Alaska were found with the disease, and some of those died as well, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The diseased seals and walruses, many of them juveniles, had labored breathing and lethargy as well as the bleeding sores, according to the experts. The agencies launched an investigation into the cause of the disease, which has also turned up in bordering areas of Canada and Russia.
Preliminary studies showed that radiation poisoning is not the cause, temporarily ruling out a theory that the animals were sickened by contamination from the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan.
Spread of the disease among seals continues. A sickened and nearly bald ribbon seal pup was found about a month ago near Yakutat on the Gulf of Alaska coastline, according to the agency. The animal was so sick it had to be euthanized.
All of the afflicted species are dependent on Arctic sea ice and considered vulnerable to seasonal ice loss.
By Yereth Rosen
More at the linkSymptoms of a mysterious disease that has killed scores of seals off Alaska and... more
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BBC Earth are passionate about telling stories that make people more inspired about the world around them. The Meet Your Planet social app is an innovative way to explore our incredible archive of world-class natural history content within Facebook. Watch hundreds of clips from award-winning shows such as Planet Earth and Frozen Planet, see behind the scenes interviews with the crew and read insightful commentaries from experts on the natural world.
Visit the BBC Earth facebook app here - http://www.facebook.com/PlanetEarth/app_367219233320099
BBC Earth's teams are dedicated to using the latest technology and innovation to push the boundaries of filmmaking. Through the Meet Your Planet Facebook app BBC Earth is extending this innovation to the social space by making natural history viewing a more connected experience.
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- Watch hundreds of incredible natural history videos from BBC Earth’s archive within Facebook on the Meet Your Planet app
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- A user’s interactions with the Meet Your Planet app will be shared with their friends via the Facebook ticker and they are also encouraged to share the app via the “invite friends” functionality
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- Moving forward the app will also provide insightful articles from experts on the natural world across a wide variety of themesBBC Earth are passionate about telling stories that make people more inspired about... more
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Polar bears are capable of swimming vast distances, with one endurance swimmer travelling 220 miles in a non-stop marathon over 10 days.
The bears were tracked as part of a study, published in the Canadian Journal of Zoology, which tracked 52 female polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea off Alaska.
Between 2004 and 2009, a period of extreme summer-ice retreat, about a third of those bears made swims exceeding 30 miles in distance - and many others swam at least 90 miles or more.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2138444/GPS-trackers-reveal-polar-bears-swim-non-stop-10-days.html#ixzz1tlAztgfu
But I thought that the polar bears were drowning and losing population/ Oh wait, their population has more than doubled in the past 50 years and the can swim for hundreds of miles. These are true facts. The false information, or propaganda, comes from the brainwashed global warming losers, with their scientific fraud and carbon scams.Polar bears are capable of swimming vast distances, with one endurance swimmer... more
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IQALUIT, NUNAVUT—Nunavut says a new survey shows Canada’s polar bear population hasn’t significantly declined in the last seven years as predicted and that the iconic mammal has not been hurt by climate change.
An aerial survey done in August by the Nunavut government, in response to pressure from Inuit, estimated the western Hudson Bay bear population at around 1,000.
That’s about the same number of bears found in a more detailed study done in 2004. That study, which physically tagged the bears, predicted the number would decline to about 650 by 2011.
Last year’s survey found fewer cubs — about 50 — than in previous years, but officials say the new figures show the “doom-and-gloom” predictions of environmentalists about the demise of the polar bear have failed to come true.
“People have tried to use the polar bear as a bit of a poster child — it’s a beautiful animal and it grabs the attention of the public — to make people aware of the impact of climate change,” said Drikus Gissing, Nunavut’s director of wildlife management.
“We are not observing these impacts right at this moment in time. And it is not a crisis situation as a lot of people would like the world to believe it is.”
Environmentalists have warned the bears are under serious threat as climate change melts the sea ice, giving the animals less time to bulk up on fatty seal meat. Canada is home to about two-thirds of the world’s polar bears, but environmental experts say climate change could make the Hudson Bay population extinct within a few decades.
Inuit hunters have insisted the population is healthy. They say they are seeing more polar bears and say they aren’t as emaciated or in the poor condition scientist suggest.
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You global warming losers are victims of scientific fraud, lies and deception. The debunked theory is based on Goldman Sachs carbon tax/derivatives trading Ponzi schemes, not environmentalism. If you care about nature, you'd wake up, do real research and address real issue to save the environment b/c it is being destroyed...just not by CO2.IQALUIT, NUNAVUT—Nunavut says a new survey shows Canada’s polar bear... more
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CNN...
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Belugas trapped in icy Arctic waters at risk of death
By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 2:45 PM EST, Wed December 14, 2011
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
More than 100 Belugas are trapped in ice flows off the Bering Sea
Unless the whales are rescued soon, they could die from suffocation or starvation
Local authorities have sought help from Moscow
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Moscow (CNN) -- Prisoners in ice, more than 100 Beluga whales in far eastern Russia risk death unless rescued soon.
The flock of gentle ghost-white whales was trapped in ice floes in the Sinyavinsky Strait off the Bering Sea near the village of Yanrakynnot, said a statement from the Chukotka Autonomous Region.
Fishermen reported that the whales were concentrated in two relatively small ice holes, where, for now, they can breathe freely. But the Belugas' chance of swimming back to water is slim due to the vast fields of ice over the strait.
The whales have little food, and the ice flow is increasing, the statement said. They are at risk of rapid exhaustion and, ultimately, death by starvation or suffocation. Trapped whales are also susceptible to predators like polar bears and killer whales.
The Chukotka Autonomous Region government has sought help from federal authorities and asked for an icebreaker to help rescue the Belugas. A rescue tug, Ruby, was in the area helping a Korean cargo ship that ran aground on the southern coast of Chukotka but it would take one and a half days for it to reach the whales, the statement said.
Trapped belugas are a frequent phenomenon in the Arctic waters but are not often detected by people. In Chukotka, the last relatively successful case was recorded in 1986, when an ice-breaker helped free trapped beluga whales.
.CNN...
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Belugas trapped in icy Arctic waters at risk of death
By the CNN... more
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It's the next step in "Polarbeargate" – one of two scientists whose report on dead polar bears in the Arctic helped make the animal a potent symbol of climate change has been asked to take a lie detector test as part of an investigation by US agents.
The 2006 report from American wildlife researchers Jeffrey Gleason and Charles Monnett told of dead bears floating in the Arctic Ocean in 2004, apparently drowned, and focused attention on the vulnerability of the animals to the melting of the Arctic ice, which they need for hunting. Widespread references were made to the dead bears and they figured in the film An Inconvenient Truth, made by Al Gore to highlight the risks of global warming.
But earlier this year, allegations were made within the US Department of the Interior that acts of scientific misconduct might have been committed in relation to the report, and the Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) began an inquiry.
Mr Monnett, who works for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, a Department of the Interior agency, became the focus of the inquiry and was interviewed several times by OIG agents; in July he was suspended.
The OIG said the suspensions followed concerns about a research contract he had been involved in awarding, and not his polar bear article. But some pressure groups alleged the episode represented political interference with science and was a witch-hunt, or at least an attempt to intimidate researchers whose studies might affect the politics of climate change. The issue became known in some quarters as "Polarbeargate".
more at link...
Problem is, the polar bears didn't die, they're great swimmers and fishers and their population has more than doubled over the past few decades. Just more evidence that proves these "scientists" are paid-off quacks, who don't follow the scientific method and have fraudulently manipulated data to fear-monger the population to believing their banker bosses' carbon scam.It's the next step in "Polarbeargate" – one of two scientists... more
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A US government department that has spent six months investigating potential fraud in polar bear studies has failed to collect tens of billions of dollars in royalties from oil companies, it has emerged….
The controversy over [polar bear expert Charles] Monnett has become an embarrassment for the agency, which was renamed after last year’s BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Texas exposed the overly close relationship between government regulators and the industry that they were meant to be regulating.
A US watchdog has designated the interior department at ‘high risk’ of fraud, waste and abuse.
I have previously written about the Kafkaesque investigation into polar bear researcher Charles Monnett (see “Breaking Exclusive: Polar Bears Still Screwed by Global Warming“).
As the UK Guardian reports, what’s even more amazing about the whole thing is that while the Inspector General has been sending numerous innumerate investigators to question Monnett about science whose validity has never been questioned, they have ignored the real incompetence at the Interior Department, which is costing American taxpayers of billions of dollars. Here’s the rest of that story:
Investigators from the Department of Interior called in a government wildlife biologist, Charles Monnett, for questioning on his design of an ongoing polar bear study, which was conducted on a budget of $1.2m over seven years.
Monnett was suspended on 18 July for unspecified “integrity issues” related to the study, and an alleged oversight of about $50m in research contracts.
But while the interior department has been focusing on polar bears, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has faulted the department for failing to collect billions in royalties from oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic.
The GAO designated the department at “high risk” of fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement in a report to Congress in February 2011.
“Interior does not have reasonable assurance that it is collecting its share of billions of dollars of revenue from oil and gas produced on federal lands, and it continues to experience problems in hiring, training, and retaining sufficient staff to provide oversight and management of oil and gas operations on federal lands and waters,” the GAO wrote.
The report went on to say that the interior department had consistently failed to monitor oil and gas production – which made it impossible for the government to collect a full share of the royalties it was owed from oil companies.
It is unclear how many billions the government failed to collect, it added. However, it noted a 2008 report from the GAO, which estimated potential losses on royalties from deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico between 1996 and 2000 to be as high as $53bn.
More at the linkA US government department that has spent six months investigating potential fraud in... more
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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Just five years ago, Charles Monnett was one of the scientists whose observation that several polar bears had drowned in the Arctic Ocean helped galvanize the global warming movement.
Now, the wildlife biologist is on administrative leave and facing accusations of scientific misconduct.
The federal agency where he works told him he was on leave pending the results of an investigation into "integrity issues." A watchdog group believes it has to do with the 2006 journal article about the bear, but a source familiar with the investigation said late Thursday that placing Monnett on leave had nothing to with scientific integrity or the article.
more at link...
The fact is that the polar bear population has more than doubled in size since the second half of last century. They're great long distance swimmers and often do so to kill and then swim back to the land they came from.JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Just five years ago, Charles Monnett was one of the... more
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Los Angeles Times...
Judge rules polar bears still 'threatened'
June 30, 2011 | 3:51 pm
Polar A U.S. District Court on Thursday upheld a Bush-era decision that polar bears are a threatened species, despite challenges by the state of Alaska and others seeking to strip the bear of its protection.
Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to protect the bear because of the melting of the Arctic sea ice was well supported and that opponents failed to demonstrate that the listing was irrational.
“Plaintiffs’ challenges amount to nothing more than competing views about policy and science,” Judge Emmet Sullivan wrote.
The polar bear was the first species added to the Endangered Species List solely because of the threat from global warming.
The status of polar bears became an issue in 2005 after the Center for Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace filed a petition arguing that shrinking ice impaired the bears' ability to catch prey and could lead to their extinction. In December 2006, then-Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne declared the bears "threatened," rather than endangered and in imminent danger of extinction. Endangered and threatened species receive the same protections, such as protection of critical habitats, population recovery assistance and prohibition of harm to the species or its habitat. For threatened species, however, the government can reduce protections or allow exemptions.
If the bears were listed as endangered, new power plants could be blocked, as well as other sources of carbon dioxide and other gases that contribute to global warming. It also could make petroleum exploration more difficult.
As a result, Kempthorne created a "special rule" stating that the Act would not be used to set climate policy or limit greenhouse gas emissions, pesticides, mercury and other pollutants outside of the Arctic that harm the bear. The Obama administration upheld this policy.
The state of Alaska and hunting groups argued that the listing was unnecessary because the bear is protected by other laws.
“With the population of the species in decline, the needless hunting of them for sport must not be an option,” said Jeffrey Flocken, D.C. Office Director, International Fund for Animal Welfare. “As pro-trophy hunting organizations continue the fight to skirt existing laws and import polar bear trophies, today’s decision serves to reinforce the fact that the species is in jeopardy. The short-term special interests of hunting groups must never take precedence over long-term conservation efforts for the protection of polar bears.”
Currently, conservation groups are challenging Kempthorne's special rule in court.
“This decision is an important affirmation that the science demonstrating that global warming is pushing the polar bear toward extinction simply cannot be denied,” said Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “While we are disappointed that the polar bear will not receive the more protective endangered status it deserves, maintaining Endangered Species Act listing for the polar bear is a critical part of giving this species back its future.”
Studies show that rising temperatures are quickly melting the Arctic sea ice, forcing polar bears inland. In September 2007, scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey released a comprehensive nine-volume analysis of the science and reached a dire forecast: Two-thirds of the bear's habitat would disappear by 2050.
Polar bears are experts at hunting ringed seals and other prey on sea ice. But they are so unsuccessful on land that they spend their summers fasting, losing more than 2 pounds a day. Overall, scientists believe the global population of 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears remains robust. But virtually all polar bear experts predict rapid population declines in the Arctic, which is warming faster than anyplace else in the world, changing too rapidly for the bears to adapt and find another source of food.
.Los Angeles Times...
Judge rules polar bears still 'threatened'
June... more
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Funny Animals-Polar Bear Flirts with Mate – Polar Bear Spy on the Ice – BBC OneFunny Animals-Polar Bear Flirts with Mate – Polar Bear Spy on the Ice –... more
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The video of Knut the polar bear spinning himself dizzy before dropping dead into the water at the Berlin zoo earlier this week made people all over the world wonder what on earth had happened to the young bear. German vets now say that the four-year-old polar bear died prematurely due to brain problems. Initial findings from a postmortem performed by an institute in the German capital showed "significant changes to the brain, which can be viewed as a reason for the polar bear's sudden death", the zoo said in a statement.Pathologists found no changes to any other organs, the zoo said, adding that it would take several days to produce a final result. Further planned tests include bacteriological and histological, or tissue, examinations.Knut died on Saturday in front of visitors at the zoo, turning around several times and then falling into the water in his enclosure. Polar bears usually live 15 to 20 years in the wild and longer in captivity.Knut, who was born in December 2006 at the zoo, rose to celebrity status as a cub. He was rejected by his mother at birth, along with his twin brother, who only survived a couple of days.He attracted attention when his main keeper, Thomas Doerflein, camped out at the zoo to give Knut his bottle every two hours. Doerflein died in 2008 of a heart attack.Knut went on to appear on magazine covers, in a film and on mountains of merchandise.
Source: The Guardian
The video of Knut the polar bear spinning himself dizzy before dropping dead... more
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A polar bear swam continuously for over nine days, covering 687km (426 miles), a new study has revealed.
Scientists studying bears around the Beaufort sea, north of Alaska, claim this endurance feat could be a result of climate change.
Polar bears are known to swim between land and sea ice floes to hunt seals.
But the researchers say that increased sea ice melts push polar bears to swim greater distances, risking their own health and future generations.
(more at link)A polar bear swam continuously for over nine days, covering 687km (426 miles), a new... more
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Polar bear’s epic nine day swim in search of sea ice | BBC
A polar bear swam continuously for over nine days, covering 687km (426 miles), a new study has revealed.Polar bear’s epic nine day swim in search of sea ice | BBC
A polar bear swam... more
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White bears and seals are back on the ice packs and will only have to fear the Orcinus orca, as fantasy fur is a must at CHANEL for next season.White bears and seals are back on the ice packs and will only have to fear the Orcinus... more
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After a two-day train ride from Winnipeg, Robert Reid of Lonely Planet (http://lonelyplanet.com) and Kim Mance (http://galavanting.tv), arrive in the subarctic 'polar bear capital of the world', Churchill Manitoba which sits on the Hudson Bay. The two travel writers take off on adventure tours to see wild polar bears and beluga whales in their natural habitat. They also get unexpected bonuses like a rocket launcher, souvenir shopping, a visit to Polar Bear jail, and a chat with Parks Canada Bear Patrol.
hosted by: Kim Mance from http://galavanting.tv & Robert Reid from http://lonelyplanet.com
edited by: Kim Mance
music by: Robert Reid
motion graphics by: Courtney Hannibal
travel & accommodations provided by: Tourism Manitoba http://travelmanitoba.comAfter a two-day train ride from Winnipeg, Robert Reid of Lonely Planet... more
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The Obama administration is setting aside 187,000 square miles in Alaska as a "critical habitat" for polar bears,
Greenspace (Los Angeles Times)
Obama administration moves to protect polar bear
November 24, 2010 | 9:02 pm
The Obama administration is setting aside 187,000 square miles in Alaska as a "critical habitat" for polar bears, an action that could restrict future offshore drilling for oil and gas. The total, which includes large areas of sea ice off the Alaska coast, is about 13,000 square miles, or 8.3 million acres, less than in a preliminary plan released last year.
Tom Strickland, assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks at the Interior Department, said the designation would help polar bears stave off extinction, recognizing that the greatest threat is the melting of Arctic sea ice caused by climate change.
"This critical habitat designation enables us to work with federal partners to ensure their actions within its boundaries do not harm polar bear populations," Strickland said. "We will continue to work toward comprehensive strategies for the long-term survival of this iconic species."
Designation of crucial habitat does not in itself block economic activity or other development, but requires federal officials to consider whether a proposed action would adversely affect the polar bear's habitat and interfere with its recovery.
Nearly 95% of the designated habitat is sea ice in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas off Alaska's northern coast. Polar bears spend most of their lives on frozen ocean where they hunt seals, breed and travel.
Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell and the state's oil and gas industry had complained that the preliminary plan released last year was too large and dramatically underestimated the potential economic impact. The designation could result in hundreds of millions of dollars in lost economic activity and tax revenue, they said.
Parnell said that the state is pleased that existing man-made structures will be exempted from critical habitat considerations. But, he said in a statement, the state is disappointed it was not consulted on other recommendations. "This additional layer of regulatory burden will not only slow job creation and economic growth here and for our nation, but will also slow oil and gas exploration efforts," Parnell said.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said reductions included in the final rule were mostly due to corrections that more accurately reflect the U.S. border in the Arctic Ocean. Five U.S. Air Force radar sites were exempted from the final rule, as were Native Alaskan communities in Barrow and Kaktovik, Alaska.
The Interior Department has declared polar bears "threatened," or likely to become endangered, citing a dramatic loss of sea ice. Officials face a Dec. 23 deadline to explain why the bears were listed as threatened instead of the more protective "endangered."
Kassie Siegel, a lawyer for the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group that has filed a lawsuit to increase protections for the polar bear, hailed the decision. "Now we need the Obama administration to actually make it mean something so we can write the bear's recovery plan — not its obituary," she said. Siegel called for a moratorium on oil and gas drilling in bear habitat areas. "An oil spill there would be a catastrophe," she said. "That seems like an understatement."
The Arctic Slope Regional Corp., which advocates for Alaska native business interests, said in a statement that the decision disproportionately affects Alaska natives and called the designation the "wrong tool" for conserving the polar bear because it does nothing to address climate change.
"The burden of the impacts will be felt by the people of the Arctic Slope," said Tara Sweeney, vice president of external affairs for ASRC, which is based in Barrow, Alaska. "This is a quality-of-life issue for our people."
Kara Moriarty, deputy director of the Alaska Oil and Gas Assn., said the action would hurt oil and gas exploration in Alaska by creating more delays and added costs to projects in what already is a high-cost environment.
"The companies and the industry will be required to go through more permitting and create mitigation measures without a direct benefit to the polar bear or oil and gas development," Moriarty said. "The Fish and Wildlife Service has found over and over again our activities pose no threat to the polar bear."The Obama administration is setting aside 187,000 square miles in Alaska as a... more
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Ted Danson urges more science before exploration
Published on November 12th, 2010 5:12 pm
By MARGARET BAUMAN (The Seward Phoenix LOG)
Alaska Native groups and environmentalists opposed to offshore drilling in the Arctic found support this week in testimony offered at a federal hearing by actor Ted Danson, while state, union and industry officials asked for the project to proceed.
Danson, who is in Anchorage filming "Everyone Loves Whales" with Drew Barrymore, told the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement that its revised environmental impact statement still needs work.
"It would be a mistake for the train to leave the station ... to lease and then do the science," he said. "If you're going to drill in environmentally sensitive areas, make sure you've got it right. And we haven't gotten it right yet," said Danson, a board member of the ocean advocacy group Oceana.
"Our suggestion is to stop this draft, do the real science, the base science, and it would take maybe four or five years to do that, $20 million per year, would be well worth that effort," he said.
Danson was among 78 people signed up to testify in the standing-room-only crowd Nov. 9 before BOEMRE, formerly the federal Minerals Management Service, in a midtown Anchorage office building.
BOEMRE officials listened for some three hours to a steady stream of people arguing for and against allowing offshore drilling to proceed in the traditional sea mammal hunting grounds of the North Slope's Inupiat Eskimo hunters.
The hearing was the last of four hearings held in Alaska on the supplemental environmental impact statement for oil and gas lease sale 193 in the Chukchi Sea, which would be conducted by Shell Oil. Others were scheduled earlier at Kotzebue, Point Hope, Point Lay, Wainwright and Barrow. Shell contends that there is little chance that a blowout would occur in this relatively shallow area of the outer continental shelf, but that if it did, that the spill could be contained and cleaned up.
Danson, who was among the first signed up to testify, had visited just days earlier in Barrow, with North Slope borough Mayor Edward Itta.
"The people he represents have been lifted up economically from oil money into a place where they can live in a much more sustainable way," Danson said. "And at the same time, their spiritual and cultural life depends on whaling, bowhead whale, and they feel that may or may not be in jeopardy from this drilling."
"This is a high risk gamble," said marine scientist Rick Steiner, who followed Danson in giving testimony. Steiner, who has served as an advisor on oil spill disasters worldwide, said the oil industry is not ready to handle a spill in arctic waters. "Oil spill response never ever worked anywhere," he said. "If an oil spill occurred right before freeze up (in the arctic) there would be no chance of clean-up."
Supporters of proceeding with offshore drilling said that if the leases are rescinded it would mean a loss of one of the greatest opportunities in the nation to create jobs, contribute to the reduction of the huge federal deficit, and wean America off of the grip of foreign oil.
"To be able to produce oil estimated at 29 billion barrels, and another possible 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, the Chukchi may hold the key to helping us solve a significant part of our country's energy woes," said Vince Beltrami, president of the Alaska AFL-CIO, which he said represents some 60,000 working families in Alaska.
"To rescind these leases would be to remove the potential of 35,000 year-round jobs and a payroll of more than $72 billion."
Beltrami said concerns about the safety of the environment are paramount. "Shell should be held to the highest safety accountability standards possible, as everyone knows we can ill afford a Gulf Coast style catastrophe in our Arctic waters," he said. "But this company has an excellent track record. Shell has a robust safety plan and has been safely drilling in Alaska for 50 years."
Kevin Banks, director of the state Division of Oil and Gas, complimented BOEMRE for the work they put into the supplemental environmental impact statement. "We believe that it provides more than sufficient support for the decision to affirm the Feb. 6, 2008 Sale 193 and that it is well past time to proceed to the next phase of exploration."
Banks that what is often lost in the debate about OCS development is "the simple fact that when we fail to develop our own domestic resources, we export our nation's wealth through deeper trade imbalances and the costs to maintain our international energy security. Failure to develop our domestic resources 0065acerbates the impacts on the environment in other parts of the world where values about environmental protection and the laws that minimize the impact of industrial activity are non-existent," he said.
Rebecca Noblin, Alaska director of the Center for Biological Diversity, also testified, speaking of an Arctic in trouble, warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world, with Arctic summer sea ice disappearing more rapidly than climate models predicted.
Noblin said Chukchi species, including polar bears and Pacific walrus, are already showing signs of stress due to loss of sea ice habitat, but that the loaming industrial oil drilling also threatens these species.
"No one, no one has the technology to clean up oil in broken ice conditions," Noblin said. "There is no way to mobilize even a fraction of the response required for the Gulf disaster in the remote Arctic. And the truth is that a large oil spill could mean the difference between survival and extinction for struggling Arctic species."
Noblin told BOEMRE that in order to comply with the law the agency must analyze the substantial gaps in scientific information in the current EIS. "And most importantly, you must not allow drilling to go forward unless you have the scientific knowledge to say, truthfully, that drilling in the Arctic is safe," she said.
BOEMRE will continue to accept testimony through Nov. 30.
http://thesewardphoenixlog.com/thumb_srv.php?gallery=news_1011&img=all_11-18_lease_sale_193.jpg&capWid=750&capHt=350¢er=1&sharpen=1
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTmeySEP08HG_2CA1WuVZgzlQjJJeqSGTwyljFM4-qkxBT-_IG44wTed Danson urges more science before exploration
Published on November 12th, 2010... more
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Arctic species under threat, report warns
By Matthew Knight for CNN
September 14, 2010 2:41 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* New report highlights extinction threat to Arctic wildlife
* Whales, walruses, Arctic foxes, even plankton are all at risk of dying out
* Rapid melting of Arctic ice sheet in recent years means habitats are disrupted or destroyed
* Lead author says reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a must to prevent further losses
London, England (CNN) -- Polar bears clinging to melting ice sheets have become one of the most frequently used images to portray the perils of climate change.
But a new report by the U.S. Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and UK-based Care for the Wild International (CWI) is bringing attention to the predicament of other equally endangered Arctic species.
Seventeen Arctic animals are highlighted in "Extinction: It's Not Just for Polar Bears."
Shaye Wolf, lead author and climate science director of the CBD told CNN: "The plight of the polar bear due to global warming is very well known and familiar. But many other Arctic species are suffering a similar fate -- from plankton all the way to the great whales."
The impacts of climate change are "unfolding far more rapidly in the Arctic than any other area on the planet" threatening its ecosystem, the report said.
A 2009 study by Donald K. Perovich and Jacqueline A Richter-Menge -- "Loss of Sea Ice in the Arctic" -- reported that the sea ice extent in 2007 was one million square miles below the average figure recorded between 1979 and 2000.
This, and other data suggests, say scientists, that summer sea ice could completely disappear in the Arctic by 2030.
The ice retreat is already spelling trouble for marine mammals like the Pacific walrus and the harp seal.
Pacific walruses, like many of the mammals in the report, are sea ice dependent says Wolf, with many having already suffering population declines.
"As we speak, there are 10 to 20,000 walruses holed up on Alaskan Arctic coastline. And that is attributable to sea ice loss," Wolf says.
"Walruses need sea ice for resting because they can't swim continuously. When they lose that sea ice, especially moms and calves, they are forced to come to shore -- where calves are very vulnerable to be trampled in stampedes."
Last year, Wolf says the stampede claimed 131 young walruses.
The number was even higher off the Russian coast in 2007 where several thousand calves died when around 40,000 walruses were pushed ashore.
Ocean acidification -- caused by increased uptake of carbon dioxide -- is happening more quickly in the Arctic than in warmer waters, says Wolf.
Shell-building marine creatures like the sea butterfly (Clione limacina) are particularly vulnerable to acidification.
Their loss would be potentially devastating for other species.
On land, the Arctic fox -- found on the southern edges of the Arctic tundra -- is facing "myriad threats from climate change," including shrinking sea ice and tundra, declines in lemming prey and increased competition from the larger, more dominant red fox -- which is edging north as temperatures rise.
All the animals in the report are at risk of extinction due to climate change says Wolf.
"What is going on in the Arctic isn't something that we can consider completely remote from ourselves. Actually, it's a fantastic barometer of what is going to happen in the rest of the world," CWI's Rebecca Taylor told CNN.
"The Arctic is ground zero for climate change and we're already pushing many species towards extinction. The key to preventing their loss is reducing our greenhouse gas emissions -- specifically carbon dioxide -- to a level of 350ppm or below. That is a level many leading scientists have called for to restore Arctic sea ice," Wolf said.Arctic species under threat, report warns
By Matthew Knight for CNN
September 14,... more
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