Lemon corals and cauldron sponges at Papahānaumokuākea

Marine researchers have recently discovered stunning new coral and sponge beds in mile-deep water within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

(Photo: The lemon yellow bamboo coral at right was first spotted within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument from a Hawai'i Undersea Research Laboratory submersible during a recent cruise. Photo courtesy Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.)

They used the Hawai'i Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL) deep submersible Pisces V to survey a volcanic ridge near Twin Banks and a seamount near French Frigate Shoals. The water was 3,000 to 6,000 feet deep.

Chris Kelley, the principal investigator for the work, said these will be the first of many new discoveries in the vast preserve. New discoveries from shallow and deep reefs seem are being announced from almost every scientific voyage into the region.

In part, that's because most of the monument is below SCUBA diving depths and has not been completely surveyed. The monument includes the 10 islands, atolls and reef complexes of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, which extend from beyond Kaua'i to Kure Atoll, more than 1,000 miles away.

“It's important to find ways to explore these deepwater ecosystems where the inhabitants are virtually unknown,” said zoologist Randy Kosaki, monument research coordinator with NOAA.

Among the recent finds are a lemon yellow bamboo coral that grows like a tree, and a giant sponge with a hole in it that researchers are calling “the cauldron sponge.”

“HURL has operated in Hawaiian waters for over 20 years and never before came across these species until last month,” the monument said in a press release.

The recent research trip, a 22-day voyage aboard the University of Hawai'i research vessel Ka'imikai-o-Kanaloa, was led by Frank Parrish of NOAA's Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center and Rob Dunbar of Stanford University. Their work included a range of research objectives, including locating and mapping new coral beds, determining age and growth rates of precious corals, and studying current speed and direction around deep coral beds.

These beds of corals, sponges and other life don't blanket the ocean floor. They occur in patches, and these patches can be alive with life, providing habitat for crabs, anemones, oysters, urchins, barnacles, lobsters and fishes. They can attract foraging monk seals.

Two key research goals for the deep waters around the Hawaiian archipelago, according to a national deep coral report released this year, are to identify what's down there and to map its extent, and then to figure out how it fits into the web of life.

That requires “determining the important physiological and ecological components of deep coral ecosystems,” said the report, The State of Deep Coral Ecosystems of the United States: 2007.

It says that minimal bottom trawling, which has never been a big industry off the Hawaiian Islands and which has been banned for some time, means the coral beds of the deep waters around the archipelago should be in pretty good shape. They may be at some risk from lost longline and bottom-fishing gear and from the use of traps for species like marine shrimp.

The primary value of the beds of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument may be to provide a better understanding of the role these beds play in the marine world.

“Being remote from the anthropogenic influences of the main Hawaiian Islands make them important biological reference sites for future research,” the deep coral report says.

© 2007 Jan W. TenBruggencate

For a copy of the report, The State of Deep Coral Ecosystems of the United States:2007, see www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/dce.html.

For information on the monument, see www.hawaiiatolls.org, www.hawaiireef.noaa.gov and www.fws.gov/pacificislands.

Birds at Christmas: An accounting

Wondering what that bird is that's eating your papayas?

And whose melodious call drifts through the garden?

Or which green bird is hopping through that 'ōhi'a tree on your forest hike?

(Photo: A pair of 'alae 'ula, or Hawaiian moorhens. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo.)

The Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count provides an essentially free (you may need to pay $5 to join Audubon) opportunity to learn about birds. It's open to veteran birders and rank beginners alike—so if you're in the latter category, the century-old bird count is a chance to get a free seminar in bird identification.

The society's 108^th national count (the 63^rd in Hawai'i) will be conducted in Hawai'i from Dec. 14 to Jan. 5.

For more information on the web see www.hawaiiaudubon.com/xmas.html for the Hawai'i count, and nationally, www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/.

Attached below is the schedule and island-by-island contact information, clipped from the Hawai'i Audubon site.

© 2007 Jan W. TenBruggencate

Island	Date	Coordinator	phone/email
O`ahu
Honolulu	Sun 12/16	Arlene Buchholz	808-988-9806 (snovakz@juno.com)
Waipi`o	Sat 01/05	David Bremer	623-7613 (bremerd001@hawaii.rr.com)
Kaua`i
*Waimea	Sat 12/22	Michelle Ho`okano Koke`e Natural History Museum	808-335-9975 (kokee@aloha.net)
Hanalei	TBA	Brenda Zaun	808-828-1413 (Brenda_zaun@fws.gov)
Maui
Pu`u O Kaka`e (East)	TBA	Jennifer Higashino	(jenn@maui.net)
`Iao Valley (West)	TBA	Jennifer Higashino	(jenn@maui.net)
Moloka`i
Kalaupapa	Mon 12/17	Arleone Dibben-Young	808-553-5992 (nene@aloha.net)
Hawai`i Island
Volcano	12/15	Eldridge Naboa	(enaboa@tnc.org)
North Kona	1/3	Nick Mitchell	808-322-2735

*A Bird Identification meeting will be held on December 19. Call the Koke`e Natural History Museum at (808) 335-9975 for more information.

Polynesian voyaging curbed by climate change?

Is there a role for climate science in archaeology.

Increasingly, the answer seems to be yes.

One of the mysteries of Hawaiian history has been why voyaging between the Hawaiian Islands and the South Pacific stopped several hundred years before the arrival of Europeans in the Islands.

Climate researchers say that the decline in long-distance Pacific voyaging may have coincided with a significant change in climate, which would have changed weather patterns throughout the region.

For traditional navigator Bruce Blankenfeld, the link between climate and voyaging success is perfectly reasonable.

“You take a lot of your cues from the weather. If the weather changes, that changes everything,” he said.

Blankenfeld is one of five Hawai'i non-instrument navigators who recently was inducted into a traditional Micronesian navigation society. He is one of the veteran navigators of the Polynesian Voyaging Society's canoe, Hōkūle'a.

Around the year 1300 the global climate began a switch from a warm period, often referred to as the Medieval Warm Period, to a cooler pattern known as the Little Ice Age.

“There were changes in weather patterns and climate patterns, and there were more storm events in the Little Ice Age. This would have made traveling much harder, less predictable and less successful,” said Oliver Timm, a paleoclimatologist with the University of Hawai'i's International Pacific Research Center.

What caused the climate to cool? There are a couple of suspects, Timm told RaisingIslands.

One is that solar radiation dropped at the end of the warm period, although the drop was so small, about a tenth of a percent, that Timm believes it was unlikely to be the sole cause of cooling.

The other possible cause is volcanic activity, which can throw a great deal of material into the atmosphere that can block solar radiation.

“If you have several major volcanic events, that can significantly change incoming solar radiation,” Timm said.

The change in global average temperatures caused other changes, including a significant drop in sea level.

“The Medieval Warm Period sea level was a half meter to one meter higher than during the Little Ice Age. There was a significant drop in the sea level. That was a major stress for the societies of the Pacific islands. Suddenly, with a drop in sea levels, it changes the biology and food supply,” he said.

University of the South Pacific researcher Patrick Nunn addressed the impact of climate change on Polynesian societies in November 2007 at a conference of the International Pacific Research Center.

Nunn, a professor of oceanic geoscience, said that the change from the warm to the cool was the most rapid climate change in several thousand years.

Timm said significant change may have taken anywhere from a few generations to as long as couple of hundred years, but it was significant against a backdrop of a long period of relative climate stability.

“The problem is for societies that have adapted to one climate for hundreds of years, and then you have a change that occurs over a few generations,”
Timm said.

One of the impacts of Little Ice Age lower sea levels in Hawai'i were that some salty marshes became fresh. Kawainui Marsh on O'ahu was among these. The plain inland of Bellows also went from salty to fresh. On Kaua'i, the low coastal plain at Mānā was populated during the 1300s, perhaps associated with a reduced salinity of its marshlands.

Nunn cites similar changes around the Pacific. At Tikiopia in the Solomon Islands, an inlet was cut off from the sea by dropping sea levels and became a lake.

Also during the Little Ice Age, there were increased numbers of disruptive El Nino climate events.

There was ecosystem stress and associated societal stress. As rich reefs were suddenly above sea level, coastal habitations were abandoned. Polynesians were moving, sometimes taking up residence on now-dry former swamplands, moving out to newly formed islands on the reefs, or moving to inland villages.

“Climate change, both directly and through environmental filters, caused profound societal changes in the tropical Pacific Islands during the last millennium,” Dunn said.

Associated with these changes was the dropping off of long-distance voyaging across much of Polynesia. Hawai'i and New Zealand, in particular, became isolated from the rest of Polynesia during this period. Other islands also suffered.

Trade routes were abandoned. In the Kiribati islands, the trade in stone tools from the Marquesas stopped, Nunn said.

It may be that the changes in society alone were enough to inhibit voyaging, or perhaps the mental maps that traditional navigators used were no longer accurate in a time of changing winds, changing temperatures, perhaps altered currents, and even possible changes in the movement patterns of fish and birds.

© 2007 Jan W. TenBruggencate

Climate, Emissions, Approaches, Costs--and Hawai'i

A crucial national report released this month suggests the nation can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions without severe disruption of the economy—if it takes effective steps early.

The report is “Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: How Much At What Cost?” It was prepared with the help of a combination of environmental organizations and energy companies by the global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. (see details and a link for the report below)

For Hawai'i, with the threats of rising sea levels, changing rainfall patterns, increasing hurricane potential, and myriad economic disruptions from a range of warming impacts—including threats to our primary economic engine, tourism—the issue is real and the problems imminent.

The state has an opportunity, as the Legislature is about to launch its next session, to address the issue as several other states already have. Many states have been far more aggressive in this area than Hawai'i.

Seven states and a couple of Canadian provinces have joined the Western Climate Initiative in a commitment to control regional greenhouse gas emissions. California is at war with the federal government over its insistence on increasing energy efficiency of its motor vehicle fleet. Ten states joined a consortium of European and Pacific nations and provinces in forming the International Carbon Action Partnership. The governor of Alaska just appointed a sub-cabinet on climate change, to consolidate climate change information for the state and to recommend policies to help the state deal with them.

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

Rising greenhouse gases are causing planet-wide climate alterations, and are acidifying the oceans.

The McKinsey report says industry leaders are increasingly recognizing it's a problem. The report cites a recent survey by The Business Council, that found that 40 percent of chief executive officers said environmental and warming issues are very important, some saying they are “the most important policy challenge facing the nation.” That number has doubled in a year and a half.

Greenhouse gas emissions can be measured by using a standard measure called carbon-dioxide equivalents, or CO₂e. We are currently producing (effective 2005) 7.2 gigatons* of CO₂e, and without action to curtail use, will be producing 9.7 tons of CO₂e by 2030, the report says, basing its estimate on a “composite of official U.S. government agency projections.”

The report looked into 250 ways to abate our production of greenhouse gases, many of which could be accomplished at very low cost. Others, of course, are associated with higher costs.

The cheapest approach could reduce emissions by 1.3 gigatons by 2030. The mid-range would reduce them by 3 gigatons, to slightly below current production, which current legislative proposals say are still too high. The high range of a 4.5-gigaton cut is possible and would reduce production significantly, but would require “an extraordinary high level of national commitment.”

A point of the report is that the situation isn't hopeless. Reductions, and dramatic ones, are possible given current technology or the technology that's very close to ready. And while some technologies are costly, the costs can be cut by strategic reductions in use.

A key conclusion: “The United States could reduce greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 by 3.0 to 4.5 gigatons of CO₂e using tested approaches and high-potential emerging technologies. These reductions would involve pursuing a wide array of abatement options available at marginal costs less than $50 per ton, with the average net cost to the economy being far lower if the nation can capture sizable gains from energy efficiency. Achieving these reductions at the lowest cost to the economy, however, will require strong, coordinated, economy-wide action that begins in the near future.”

NO MAGIC BULLET

No single fix will solve the nation's greenhouse gas production problem, the report says. It says a broad-based approach is needed, bringing down greenhouse gas emissions in a many areas at once.

“Abatement possibilities are highly fragmented and widely spread across the economy,” it says.

But as much as 40 percent of the cuts could actually save money, generating positive financial returns. And the report says those savings could be used to help pay for some of the more expensive technologies.

Buildings and appliances: As many as 870 megatons* of reduction is possible with improved lighting, heating and cooling, building controls, high-performance consumer electronics and appliances. It would be the least costly, but “persistent barriers to market efficiency will need to be overcome.”

Transportation: Increased fuel efficiency could cut production by up to 290 megatons, with additional savings coming from switching to diesel for light-duty vehicles, lower-carbon fuels, plug-in hybrids and other technologies.

Industrial: Upgrading equipment, efficiency of motors, changing industrial processes and other technologies could cut production here by up to 770 megatons.

Carbon sinks: Up to 590 megatons could be addressed through increasing forestation and improved soil management practices, at comparatively low cost. There might need to be carbon offset systems to help provided the money for these efforts.

Electric power: More wind and solar, additional nuclear, more efficiency in current plants, and the development of carbon capture and storage for coal-fired plants. These might be the most costly, but could reduce production by 1.57 gigatons.

COMMITMENT

If the United States is serious about the problem, it could make a big impact immediately with very little cost simply by grabbing the easy and cheap solutions first. These include increased energy efficiency and applying those emissions-reduction technologies that actually save money.

Among other things, the report calls for immediate commitment of more research money for promising technologies like solar photovoltaics, cellulosic biofuels and superior efficiency vehicles like plug-in hybrids.

It also calls for simplified and speeded permitting for more-efficient and low-emissions power production facilities, to get them into operation sooner.

Why should the U.S. take the hit for reducing greenhouse gas emissions? Because we're one whopping big producer. Our production leads the world, just ahead of China's. But of course, China has four times the U.S. population. On a per capita basis they're producing it at about a quarter our rate.

The top five per capita producers of greenhouse gas are Australia, Canada, the U.S., Netherlands and Saudi Arabia. The next five are Russia, Indonesia, Brazil, Germany and South Korea.

© 2007 Jan W. TenBruggencate

See the report: www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/ccsi/pdf/US_ghg_final_report.pdf.

The collaborators on “Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: How Much At What Cost?” are DTE Energy, Environmental Defense, Honeywell, National Grid, Natural Resources Defense Council, PG&E and Shell. It was prepared for The Conference Board, the century-old business and research organization that produces the Consumer Confidence Index and the Leading Economic Indicators. The report's authors are Jon Creyts, Anton Derkach, Scott Nyquist, Ken Ostrowski and Jack Stephenson.

*megatons, gigatons: A mega is a million, a one followed by six zeroes; a giga is a billion, or a thousand million, or a one with nine zeroes after it.

Air cars in our future? Probably, but not soon.

What's the next big step in automotive transport?

For years, true believers have talked about cars that run on water—but you haven't seen one running down the street yet. How about one running on air?

(Photos: Three of MDI's prototype air car models: In red the six-seat family car, middle in blue is the pickup, and bottomo is the the hot little three-seater Mini-CAT. Photo credit: MDI.)

Air cars already exist in working prototypes, and in foreign countries, several models are ready for roll-out as early as next year.

The air, of course, is compressed air.

And the manufacturers are touting efficiency numbers that border on astounding. Fill the air tank for a couple of bucks and do your 25-mile daily round-trip commute all week without needing a refill. You say your pickup gets 20 miles to the gallon and you're paying $3.50 a gallon? The same week costs you $22.

The average fuel car in the U.S. gets 24 or so miles per gallon. Hybrids achieve as much as 45 to 60. Electric cars, when you calculate the amount of fuel that's burned to produce the power to recharge them, are reputed to come in at 150 to 200 miles per gallon.

Now come compressed air cars.

The fuel is used to compress air, which is carried in tanks. Several different engine designs have been developed, some traditional-looking piston engines, others looking like rotary engines.

The French firm Moteur Developpment International has licensed its technology to firms in India and Spain, and says folks in those countries will be able to buy cars by next summer (2008). (See MDI's website, www.theaircar.com)

The Indian automaker Tata is estimating its car will have a 125-mile range on air alone, and that filling the air tanks will cost about $2. Just for comparison, let's quadruple that figure to account for Hawai'i's electricity costs. That's $8 for 125 miles, or 16 miles to the dollar, or six cents a mile. The financial equivalent of nearly 60 miles a gallon.

But some references suggest the Tata car will get twice that efficiency. And if Hawai'i electric firms established variable rate schedules, charging lower rates during late-night low-use periods, the cost to run the car gets cheaper still.

Now we're talking the energy efficiencies equivalent to electric cars, without the batteries to deal with.

Like hybrids, some air cars will carry their own little generators on board, which run on fuel and recharge the air tanks in a few hours. With this handy feature, they're talking about cars that can go 1,000 miles between fill-ups.

A South Africa firm, Zero Pollution Motors, for several years has touted a proposed air car called e.Volution, which appears to be using the MDI template.

A Korean firm, Energine Corp., has developed a prototype hybrid compressed air car, the pneumatic-hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). Its power sources are both electric motors and compressed air, and it uses its batteries to run a compressor and to power the motors. (www.energine.com, a site challenging for English speakers because much of it is in Korean.)

Engineair Pty. Ltd.. in Melbourne, Australia, has a rotary air engine that it has used in a variety of small vehicles. (www.engineair.com.au) But the company is not a car manufacturer, but apparently is looking for applications for its engine.

The problems with getting a compressed air car into your garage are several.

First, the announced production deadlines for these kinds of things are notoriously slippery, and until they're rolling in significant numbers, we won't be knowing what the potential problems and victories really are. For instance, while some folks are announcing the Tata air car will be out next year, Tata's own website says it has simply acquired a license to employe MDI technologies and it “envisages Tata’s supporting further development and refinement of the technology, and its application and licensing for India.”

Another issue is that everybody says it will be difficult to get the cars approved for use in the U.S. They tend to be quite a bit smaller than your average SUV, are very light, and need to be crash-tested, one assumes.

But price apparently won't be a major problem compared to other vehicles. Most references to date cite compressed air cars from $5,000 to a little more than $10,000.

One huge benefit over electric and hybrid cars is that you don't need to haul around a heavy weight in batteries that have a limited lifespan and constitute toxic waste when it's time to replace them.

For Hawai'i, a car like this would seem to be a perfect fit, although some doubtless will criticize them as glorified golf carts. But these cars are no smaller than some of the ultra-compacts currently available.

© 2007 Jan W. TenBruggencate