Ocean acidity rising; NOAA research finds

A government research ship landed at Kodiak in late March with more news of a changing environment. The North Pacific Ocean is growing more acidic as it absorbs greater levels of carbon dioxide, according to researchers working on the R/V Thomas G. Thompson.

The ship, owned by the U.S. Navy and operated by the University of Washington, sailed from Tahiti to Kodiak and took samples along the way, according to a recent news release from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA and the National Science Foundation funded the research.

“We observed measurable decreases in pH, a measure of the acidity of the water, as well as measurable increases in dissolved inorganic carbon over a large section of the northeastern Pacific,” said Richard Feely, an oceanographer with NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle. Feely was chief scientist aboard the ship.

The higher acidity may pose a problem for ocean animals that build calcium shells for protection, other scientists noted.

“The effects of decreased calcification in microscopic algae and animals could impact marine food webs and, combined with other climatic changes in salinity, temperature, and upwelled nutrients, could substantially alter the biodiversity and productivity of the ocean,” said Victoria Fabry of California State University San Marcos.

She and Robert Byrne of the University of South Florida measured how fast pteropods — tiny free-swimming clams — were losing their shells in the water with higher carbon dioxide.

“As humans continue along the path of unintended CO2 sequestration in the surface oceans, the impacts on marine ecosystems will be direct and profound,” Fabry said.

Redefining food

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, wants to make sure the federal government isn’t paying for junk food in schools.

She and Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, have introduced a bill that would tighten the federal definition of “foods of minimal nutritional value.”

The bill attempts to make sure all food sold in school cafeterias and vending machines meet the standards.

“Currently, the federal school meal programs will reimburse schools for ice cream, but not popsicles; candy bars, but not seltzer water,” Murkowski said at a news conference. “Schools can also be reimbursed for potato chips, snack cakes and donuts served in the cafeteria. It just doesn’t make much sense.”

Murkowski said some school districts in Alaska are already working on changes.

“While I wholeheartedly believe in local control, I also believe that the federal government shouldn’t be paying to put high-fat, high-sugar foods in schools ... and then pay for the medical costs incurred from treating obesity-related diseases, such as diabetes and high blood pressure,” she said.

Another opt-out

Stevens’ desire to strengthen state authorities over matters off their shores was reflected at recent hearing on aquaculture issues.

Stevens last year introduced a bill, at the request of the Bush administration, that would set up a permitting process for offshore aquaculture. He also, though, filed an amendment that would give governors the power to opt out.

“Clearly, it should be the right of a state that has wild fish to protect its fish without an economic analysis,” Stevens said at an April 6 hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee.

“Our state harvests 60 percent of all commercial fish harvested in the United States. I myself doubt seriously that we would ever be able to protect wild fish if we had aquaculture off of our shores,” Stevens said.

Mark Vinsel, executive director of the United Fisherman of Alaska, backed Stevens’ view.

“Please be very cautious in your drafting of regulations and heed the old saying ... ‘First, do no harm,’” Vinsel said at the hearing.

Acting strangely

The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History opened an exhibit April 15 that explores recent changes in the Arctic environment.

“Arctic: A Friend Acting Strangely” will document rising temperatures, declining sea ice and changing distributions of plants and animals.

“Some of these changes have beneficial effects while others bring hardship or have costly implications,” the museum states diplomatically in its description of the 2,000-square-foot exhibit.

“A friend acting strangely” is one translation of the Inuit word “uggianaqtuq.”

Unsuccessful block

Rep. Don Young’s effort to block a wind farm off Massachusetts didn’t succeed, but Sen. Ted Stevens has secured language that project supporters say is equally threatening.

Young and Stevens, Alaska Republicans, both served on a conference committee created to write a final version of the U.S. Coast Guard’s authorizing bill for the current year. The committee approved the bill April 7. It could go to the floor of each house for a final vote soon after Congress returns April 24.

In February, Young asked fellow committee members to insert language that would have halted the Cape Wind project, a 420-megawatt, 130-tower wind farm proposed for Nantucket Sound, just south of Cape Cod. The language would have outlawed wind turbines within 1.5 miles of shipping lanes nationwide, but Young wrote a long letter describing his objections to the Cape Wind project specifically.

When the committee released its final version of the bill, though, Young’s turbine-blocking language wasn’t there. Instead, the bill contained a provision that would allow the Massachusetts governor to veto the project. The current governor, Mitt Romney, opposes the project. Romney is running for president, but four of the five candidates seeking to replace him oppose it as well.

Stevens secured the veto provision at the request of Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy.

“Sen. Kennedy spoke to Sen. Stevens in support of this provision,” said Kennedy spokesman Melissa Wagoner, according to the Associated Press.

Press releases issued April 7 by the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Transportation Committee, chaired by Stevens and Young respectively, made no mention of the Cape Wind issue, which has received extensive media attention in New England.

Jack Coleman, spokesman for Clean Power Now, a Cape Wind supporter, said Stevens’ provision lacked any justification.

“It gives the governor of Massachusetts veto power over the project for no specific reason,” Coleman said. “There’s nothing in there about radar, birds, navigation.”

The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, though, said it was “pleased” with Stevens’ amendment.

Stevens’ amendment also allows the Coast Guard commandant to stop the project if it is a hazard to navigation, as Young had argued.

“We don’t believe that Cape Wind can pass a navigational risk test,” said Alliance President Charles Vinick, in a news release reacting to the committee’s action. “Based on the studies coming out of the UK, recent denials by the (Federal Aviation Administration) of other wind turbine proposals, and the strong local opposition by those directly impacted by navigational risks, Cape Wind has good reason to believe that they will not meet that standard.”

Cape Wind supporters have said the 1.5-mile setback proposed by Young was unprecedented and unjustified but would probably have killed the project. Current federal law sets only a 500-foot buffer around offshore oil and gas facilities, they note.

Sixty-six percent of Nantucket voters rejected the wind farm in an election on a non-binding referendum Tuesday.

By SAM BISHOP | Mirror Washington Bureau