Albatrosses adapted to wind, feeding conditions; at risk in changing climate

A large team of researchers has found that albatross body shape and relative wing size is linked to where they nest and how far they fly to feed.

And also, how well they may adapt to changing global climate conditions.

(Image: Albatross in flight. NOAA photo by Capt. Budd Christman, NOAA Corps.)

The team found that albatross species with smaller wings compared to their body size do not generally range as far for feeding as those with higher wing-to-body ratios—and that this may limit the ability of rare species to expand their range.

The article, “Wind, Waves, and Wing Loading; Morphological specialization may limit range expansion of endangered albatrosses,” was published in the online journal PloS ONE by Oregon State researcher Robert M. Suryan, along with a team from across the country and Japan that included David Anderson, Scott Shaffer, Daniel Roby, Yann Tremblay, Daniel Costa, Paul Sievert, Fumio Sato, Kiyoaki Ozaki, Gregory Balogh and Noboru Nakamura.

Albatrosses, of course, are famous for flapless flight. They are consummate at soaring, a flight technique that requires far less energy than wing flapping. Four of the important Pacific albatrosses are all in the genus Phoebastria.

The researchers noted that a couple of the Pacific albatross species with larger bodies, the short-tailed and waved albatrosses, have the smallest breeding ranges. They tend to breed near rich feeding waters, so the don't need to go too far.

Short-tailed albatross breed on islands in the northwest Pacific near Japan and feed in the relatively nearby rich Kuroshio and Oyashio currents. Waved albatrosses breed mostly in the Galapagos and feed in the relatively nearby Peruvian upwelling.

Of the two, the short-tailed albatross has smaller wings, but operates in an area with generally higher wind speeds, which appear to help keep it aloft. When it ventures into feeding regions with lower wind speed areas, they tend to be near the nesting area, so shorter flights can make up for the energy cost of more energetic flying.

The waved albatross has much larger wings compared to its body size, which appears linked to to low wind speeds in its feeding area.

“Waved albatrosses encounter low wind speeds year-round. Fittingly, the waved albatross had aerodynamic performances more similar to smaller albatrosses, requiring less wind to stay aloft than the short-tailed, despite being similar in body size. Hence, the waved albatross appears adapted for low wind speed and wave height environment, and, indeed, is the only albatross to breed in a tropical ocean.”

Meanwhile, albatrosses with smaller bodies and comparatively large wing surface areas, fly over much larger swaths of ocean when feeding. Satellite tag studies have found Laysan albatrosses that fly thousands of miles in a single feeding trip—going as far on a single foray as from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to San Francisco Bay and back.

“Smaller-bodied black-footed and Laysan albatrosses primarily nest on islands in the central North Pacific and traverse large expanses of open ocean during the breeding season to feed in the sub-Arctic transition zone and along continental shelf regions of the California and Alaska Currents,” the authors said.

Among the impacts of this study is the realization that as climate change and sea level rise threaten their current nesting islands, short-tailed albatrosses won't be able to travel long distances through low-wind areas to new nesting areas, and the waved albatrosses may not be able to traverse high-wind areas.

“Restoration of remote, predator-free, and higher elevation island habitats may be particularly important for the long-term conservation of Phoebastria species; especially islands within productive continental margins for the two endangered species that show specialization for breeding in these regions,” the authors write.

©2009 Jan TenBruggencate

Climate catastrophes loom, Hawai'i task force proposed

The pace of climate change appears to be increasing, according to several scientific reports of the last few weeks.

It now appears that there will be significant, disruptive and expensive changes to the face of the planet within the lifetimes of most people alive today.

It's a gathering storm, and most of us haven't even bothered with an umbrella.

The Hawai'i Legislature is considering mandating what appears to be a good first step in the establishment of a Climate Change Task Force: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2009/Bills/SB266_.HTM.

Senate Bill 266 would put the task force in the Department of Health, and it would be charged with the necessary but unenviable task of figuring out the impacts of climate change and sea level rise on the island's economy, infrastructure, people and natural systems.

The task force would be required to make recommendations to the Legislature and governor on preventing shoreline erosion, protecting the visitor industry, protecting and where necessary moving public infrastructure, handling health emergencies and protecting native ecosystems.

The 29-member task force will be made up of politicians and bureaucrats, representatives of industry and government, a few engineers and the military, community representatives of surfing and fishing groups, along with a single specialist in climatology or geophysics and a single environmental engineer.

It is to provide a preliminary report to next year's Legislature and a final report to the 2011 Legislature.
There are increasingly good reasons to be paying attention, and for the appointing bodies to put thoughtful representatives on this task force, presuming the Legislature passes the bill and the Governor signs it.

A couple of those reasons have been identified on RaisingIslands: http://raisingislands.blogspot.com/2009/03/rising-seas-causing-major-us-economic.html
http://raisingislands.blogspot.com/2009/03/climate-in-peril-reefs-weaken-nero.html

There are other new issues.

Increasingly, science is identifying evidence that warming is happening faster than anticipated, that seas are rising faster than previously estimated, that oceans are acidifying at alarming rates.

The British Antarctic Survey reported that thousands of square miles of ice shelf have disappeared in recent years. The Wordie Ice Shelf is entirely gone and the Larsen Ice Shelf is shrinking fast.

"The rapid retreat of glaciers there demonstrates once again the profound effects our planet is already experiencing -- more rapidly than previously known -- as a consequence of climate change," said U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

A new estimate suggests the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free in as little as 30 years, half a century earlier than previously expected.

"In recent years, the combination of unusual warm temperatures from natural causes and the global warming signal have worked together to provide an earlier summer sea-ice loss than was predicted," said NOAA's James Overland.

The Dutch are estimating sea levels could be higher by two feet in 40 years, and others suggest several feet by the end of the century. Small island nations are begging the world to make greenhouse gas emissions cuts to slow the process.

With increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere turning into carbonic acid in the oceans, scientists are just beginning to tally the effects on fisheries, coral reefs and other marine ecosystems of the changing oceans.

"Ocean acidification is a serious threat to our environment and to our marine life. Changes in ocean chemistry, caused by carbon dioxide, will affect our food supply and the health of our oceans, yet research on ocean acidification is still in its infancy," said Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ).

"The scientific findings about climate change are frightening," said Federated States of Micronesia representative M.J. Mace, in a Reuters piece.

As researchers learn more about sea levels, one bit of information for places like Waikiki and New York (parts of Manhattan are just 5 feet above sea level) is that it's important not to focus only on the flat-water sea level.

For low-lying areas, it takes only a few inches of rise above current levels before a storm surges drive salt water into the streets, parking garages and utility conduits.

The small island nations are calling on the world to reverse the rise in greenhouse gases, so that the impacts can be reversed.

But there are still powerful forces arguing for doing nothing about the problem, other than learning to live with it.

The OPEC cartel says oil isn't the problem; it's the nations that burn it that are the problem. And besides, the world ought to keep burning oil and simply adapt to changing climate.

“OPEC considers that efforts should not be limited to mitigation, but should increasingly encompass adaptation to climate change, in particular for developing countries,” said Mohammed Barkindo, Acting for the OPEC Secretary General, in 2006, in a statement to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Nairobi.

More recently, current OPEC Secretary General, Abdullah al-Badri, expressed similar sentiments, although he said OPEC would be willing to help fund research into carbon-capture technologies.

©2009 Jan TenBruggencate

Population crash in Hawai'i false killer whales

Researchers have identified a disturbing crash in the population of false killer whales around the Hawaiian Islands.

Recent aerial surveys, compared with surveys in 1989, suggest a significant decline in numbers of overall whales as well as in the sizes of their pods.

(Image: NOAA photo of false killer whales off Hawaii by Robin Baird.)

The most recent reports were published in the journal Pacific Science by Randall Reeves, Stephen Leatherwood and Robin Baired, under the title, “Evidence of a Possible Decline since 1989 in False Killer Whales (Pseudorca crassidens) around the Main Hawaiian Islands.”

The animals are large members of the dolphin family, and evidence suggests there is a permanent population in the waters around Hawai'i that is genetically distinct from other false killer whale populations.

The 1989 survey found massive pods—some of which had far more whales in it than the entire statewide known population today.

“Groups of more than 300 individuals were seen on three different days, with minimum counts of 380, 460, and 470 individuals in these groups.

“The encounter rate, relative species ranking, and average group size from the 1989 survey were all substantially greater than those from more recent aerial and ship-based surveys.

“The largest group observed in 1989 (470) contained almost four times as many whales as estimated for the entire main Hawaiian Islands from recent aerial surveys,” says the paper abstract.

Current population surveys suggest it's not that all whale species have declined, but that this species has suffered particularly.

“In the 1989 general surveys off the island of Hawai‘i, the false killer whale was the third most frequently sighted species of the nine documented, representing 17% of all sightings.

“In 369 days of boat-based surveys around all the main Hawaiian Islands from 2000 through 2006, undertaken throughout the year, false killer whales accounted for only 1.5% of odontocete groups sighted, and the false killer whale was the 11th most frequently encountered species of odontocete,” the paper says.

What isn't clear is why the decline has taken place—are they short of food because of increased human fishing pressure, or is it something else? That's not yet clear, the researchers say.

For more information on false killer whales, see the NOAA website, http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/cetaceans/falsekillerwhale.htm, or visit http://www.cascadiaresearch.org/robin/falsekillerwhale.htm.

© Jan TenBruggencate 2009

Rising seas causing major U.S. economic impacts now; Hawai'i dodging bullet so far

Sea level rise and increasing hurricane strength are already having severe economic impacts on the East Coast—insurance companies have stopped issuing home insurance in extensive coastal areas.

“If you can't get insurance you can't do business, you can't own a home,” said Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, a grassroots nonprofit that works on global warming impacts and solutions.

(Image: A century of sea level measurements in Honolulu. For sea level information across the state of Hawai'i, go here. Credit: NOAA.)

Allstate “has made a decision to retreat from coastal Maryland, parts of Virginia. And Liberty Mutual and State Farm have joined Allstate up and down the east coast from Massachussets to Florida in this retreat, directly and explicitly tied, according to them, to rising sea levels and bigger storms,” he said.

Hawai'i has thus far dodged this particular bullet, but experts are warning that severe impacts are coming.

Sea levels have measurably risen, and are continuing to do so. Shorelines are retreating. Low-lying areas are suffering inundation. And Hawai'i, like much of the nation, has done very little to prepare for the retreat of its shorelines.

“The tragedy is that there is so little planning for sea level rise in the United States,” Tidwell said. He joined two scientists in a recent audio conference on sea level rise. The conference, sponsored by the Rockefeller Family Fund, is available online at http://www.kelleycampaigns.com/sealevel.html.

One of their messages is that a lot of the projects being funded by the federal government's stimulus package are on land that will be under water within the lifetimes of today's young people.

Sea level expert Orrin Pilkey said that while current estimates differ somewhat, serious students of sea level are now looking at three to seven feet of sea level rise by 2100. The Dutch, whose below-sea-level provinces can't afford to get it wrong, are figuring on two feet in the next 40 years—during the working life of today's high school kids.

Pilkey is director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Duke University. He said panels in Miami and Rhode Island figure a minimum sea level rise of 3 to 5 feet by 2100. And a book Pilkey and associated wrote figures it will be 6 to 7 feet by then—and it will keep going up.

For Hawai'i, local coastal geologist Chip Fletcher has concluded that these levels put much of Waikiki under water. Indeed, a lot of coastal Hawai'i, including low-lying beach parks, are at risk.

We're not alone.

Just a three-foot rise could lop off the entire southern tip of Florida, and destroy much of the Everglades National Park, the third largest park in the contiguous U.S., said Anthony D. Barnosky, environmental change expert and professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley.

The main driver of sea level rise in the past century has been thermal expansion of the oceans, Pilke said. Water expands as it warms. The main driver of rise in this century will be the melting of the Greenland and West Antarctica ice sheets, he said.

Much of the world is taking this issue far more seriously than the U.S.

Great Britain is talking about abandoning some of its coastal small villages. The Maldive Islands are discussing buying land in India or elsewhere to move their whole low-lying nation. New Zealand is agreeing to take refugees from flooding Pacific islands. The Dutch approach is an engineering one—armoring the shoreline to keep the ocean at bay.

Pilke said the U.S. can't really consider large-scale armoring—its coastline is far too long. And beach nourishment—like what has been done to add sand to Waikiki Beach—is a very temporary solution in a rising sea environment.

The only reasonable American response to continued sea level rise is to retreat from the shoreline, he said. That gets development out of the danger zone and preserves beaches for future generations.

The experts identified three key strategies for this problem.

One, as cited by Pilke, is retreat—moving critical infrastructure and population out of the low coastal area.

Another is engineering—developing critical coastal infrastructure (harbors, for example) so it can continue to function in a higher sea level environment.

And the third is to attack the cause—climate change. The speakers at the session agreed on a need to curb greenhouse gas emissions at all levels, push the move to non-carbon fuel sources and cap carbon emissions.

Said Tidwell: “The impact of sea level rise and global warming is already being profoundly seen and felt.”

©2009 Jan TenBruggencate

Climate in peril, reefs weaken, Nero fiddles

The carbon dioxide load in the atmosphere keeps rising unabated, as the chart at the right shows, and scientists are getting a better handle all the time on consequences.

(Image: 1958 to 2009 chart of CO2 levels taken at Mauna Loa Observatory shows the rise of the gas in the atmosphere, if anything, is increasing at a steeper rate than it was half a century ago. More information on it here. Credit: NOAA.)

Against this ominous background, here is today's news, starting with something in Hawai'i back yard.

International researchers report that reef growth will slow as more and more carbon dioxide translates into more and more acid oceans. CO2 levels since 1958 have risen from under 320 to more than 380 parts per million (ppm).

The worse news: “...by the time atmospheric partial pressure of CO2 will reach 560 ppm all coral reefs will cease to grow and start to dissolve.”

There goes the shoreline. There goes your favorite surf break. There goes the nearshore fishery.

Meanwhile...

Reuters is reporting that by 2060, summer heat as a result of global warming in Sydney could be fatal to some residents.

Climate change is said to be one-third responsible for major droughts across the world, and as things continue, the droughts are likely to get worse. This is hardly news—these droughts were predicted more than a decade ago as one feature of a warmer world. And now they're here.

It's not that we're doing nothing, although it's not clear we're doing enough.

Europeans are looking at straightening out airline routes, to reduce fly time and fuel burn.

Congress has some legislation to address carbon emissions, but is not going to fast-track climate legislation for fear of a Republican filibuster.

International groups are pointing fingers rather than acting on climate issues.

And the United Nations official in charge of climate change says India's cheap Nano is just fine, because people deserve automobiles.

The really bad news, perhaps, is that most folks agree that we need to do something about climate, but as Scientific American reports, we can't agree on who should do it or what, exactly to do.

©2009 Jan TenBruggencate