Modest fisheries reduction could protect vast coastal ecosystems

Science Daily: A reduction of as little as five per cent in fisheries catch could result in as much as 30 per cent of the British Columbia coastal ecosystems being protected from overfishing, according to a new study from the UBC Fisheries Centre in Canada.

The study, by Natalie Ban and Amanda Vincent of Project Seahorse, proposes modest reductions in areas where fisheries take place, rather than the current system of marine protected areas which only safeguard several commercially significant species, such as rockfish, shrimp, crab, or sea cucumber. The article is published July 21 in PLoS One.

Using B.C.'s coastal waters as a test case, the study affirms that small cuts in fishing – if they happen in the right places – could result in very large unfished areas. For example, a two per cent cut could result in unfished areas covering 20 per cent of the B.C. coast, offered real conservation gains.

"The threat of over-fishing to our marine ecosystems is well-documented," says Ban, who recently completed her PhD at the UBC Fisheries Centre. "Our study suggests a different approach could reduce the impacts on fishers as well as helping us move towards achieving conservation goals."

Part of the reason for the research was to open a debate on how to meet conservation goals set during the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, which included establishing a network of marine protected areas by 2012. "With the current rates of progress, there is no chance of meeting our 2012 targets," says Ban. "Given that fishers recognize the problem of overfishing but often regard marine protected areas as serving only to constrain them, another approach must be found. That's why we undertook this study."…

Seattle Fisherman's Terminal at sunset, shot by Joe Mabel, Wikimedia Commons, under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2. This is the second Joe Mabel image I've used today! Thank you for making these images available

Fund promotes African adaptation to climate change

David Njagi and Naomi Antony in SciDev.net: Africa's most marginalised communities will be able to share their experiences of adapting to climate change thanks to a new fund that seeks to promote knowledge sharing across the continent. AfricaAdapt, a network set up in May to aid the flow of information between stakeholders, launched a Knowledge Sharing Innovation Fund last month (16 June), offering grants of up to US$10,000 to projects testing new ways of sharing knowledge, such as theatre performances and radio broadcasts.

The network, funded by the UK Department for International Development and Canada's International Development Research Centre, is a collaboration between the UK-based Institute of Development Studies and three African research organisations: Environment and Development in the Third World, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), and the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre.

"Our expectation for AfricaAdapt is that communities in Africa who are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change will be able to draw on information shared within the network — both scientific research and indigenous knowledge — and use it to cope with or become more resilient to climate-change impacts," says Jacqueline Nnam, knowledge-sharing officer at FARA….

At the market in Kilingili, Kenya, shot by JimSlim, Wikimedia Commons, under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2

Massive glacier in sub-Antarctic island shrinks by a fifth

Terra Daily, via Agence France-Presse: One of the biggest glaciers in the southern hemisphere shrivelled by a fifth in 40 years, French scientists said on Wednesday. The Cook glacier on Kerguelen, an island in France's southern Indian Ocean territories, covered 501 square kilometres (193 square miles) in 1963.

Combining satellite images with other data, glaciologists from the Laboratory for Studying Geophysics and Space Oceanography estimate the glacier lost an average of nearly 1.5 metres (4.9 feet) in height each year by 2003, shedding almost 22 percent of its original volume. In terms of area, the glacier shrank by 1.9 sq. kms. (0.74 sq. miles) per year from 1963 to 1991.

Thereafter the loss doubled, to 3.8 sq. kms (1.48 sq. miles) per year. By 2003, the glacier covered only 403 sq. kms (155 sq. miles), a retreat of 20 percent compared with 1963….

Cook Glacier (Kerguelen Islands) south rim, shot in 1983 by B.navez , Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License

Rainfall to decrease over Iberian Peninsula

Physorg: Scientists have recorded a decline in winter precipitation over the past 60 years in Spain, and they now forecast that precipitation will also decrease in spring and summer. A team from the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (CSIC) has studied rainfall data from 1950 to 2006 and the climate projections for coming decades, showing that less rain will fall in future over the Iberian Peninsula. However, precipitation will continue to be more frequent in winter than in spring-summer.

Have there been any changes to the monthly contributions to total annual precipitation within the Mediterranean basin? Researchers from the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (CSIC) have assessed the changes observed in rainfall patterns since 1950, and are predicting contributions to be lower by the middle of the 21st Century, against a backdrop of increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

"We have used the data reported (1950-2006) and simulated various climate models (2040-2060) to look at whether the monthly contribution to the annual total has changed over recent decades, and whether such changes are likely to happen over the medium term", Juan Ignacio López-Moreno, lead author of the study, tells SINC.

…According to the scientists, significant changes have taken place over this area, with disparate effects being noted over the course of the year, and "uniform patterns" identified in the evolution of rain over time. In addition to the changes in the amounts of precipitation falling, López-Moreno says "the climate models suggest new changes will take place over the coming decades"…

The Iberian Peninsula, shot by NASA

Conservationists dismayed by the state of Washington's new industrial stormwater permit

Environment News Service: A coalition of three nonprofit water protection groups are jointly requesting that the Washington Department of Ecology "abandon its plans to weaken industrial stormwater protections." In public comments submitted to the Department of Ecology, the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, Columbia Riverkeeper, and Spokane Riverkeeper expressed their "deep disappointment" with Ecology’s draft Industrial Stormwater General Permit.

They said Ecology’s draft permit fails to regulate critical pollutants and uses dilution factors which allow industry to discharge more pollution than under the current permit. Industrial stormwater pollution is a leading cause of water quality impairment throughout Washington, contributing heavy metals, toxic contaminants and muddy waters to the state’s rivers, lakes, and sounds.

The stormwater permit at issue regulates industrial facilities that discharge stormwater into surface waters and into storm sewers that lead to Puget Sound, other marine waters, and Washington’s wetlands, creeks, rivers and lakes. It covers about 1,200 facilities in the lumber, paper, printing, chemicals, petroleum, leather, metals, landfills, transportation, mills and food products industries….

Carkeek Park on Puget Sound, shot by Joe Mabel, Wikimedia Commons, under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2

Disaster-risk reduction in West Africa made simple

IRIN: Partnerships between aid agencies and climate experts are finally paying off by helping NGOs’ disaster prevention and response, but specialists question why it took so long. “The question is not why meteorological services and humanitarian organizations are talking to each other today, but why they have not been talking for one-and-a-half centuries,” said Maarten van Aalst, associate director of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) regional climate centre in the Senegalese capital, Dakar.

Since 2008, the IFRC has been working with Columbia University’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), Niger-based African Centre of Meteorological Application for Development (ACMAD), and regional agriculture research agency AGRHYMET, to create seasonal forecasts that help the federation to predict disasters.

With the regional rainy season under way, IFRC has stockpiled relief items in vulnerable areas; is warning communities in the Gulf of Guinea - where above-average rainfall is predicted - to prepare for flooding; and is training volunteer teams in areas expected to be most affected.

All this helps in more efficient resource use, Youcef Ait-Chellouche, IFRC’s West Africa disaster management coordinator, told IRIN. “We now set the alert before the disaster happens. Our teams are in place 48 hours in advance,” he said....

Filling up at a well in Niger

Safety concerns at huge China dam project: auditor

Terra Daily via Agence France-Presse: Developers building one of the world's biggest hydropower projects in southwest China are taking dangerous shortcuts, state media reported Tuesday, citing the national auditor. Alarm bells started ringing after builders brought forward their timeframe to finish the Xiluodu dam by more than two years, the National Audit Office said in a report on the project, according to the China Daily newspaper.

"The quickened timeline increased the risks and difficulties, and added to the cost," the report said. Budget costs were also out of control and the developers had illegally collected nearly 10 million yuan (1.46 million dollars) in unauthorised fees, the China Daily cited the report as saying, without giving further details.

The Xiluodu dam, being built along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River on the borders of mountainous Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, is expected to be the world's third biggest hydropower project.

With the new timeline, construction is expected to be finished by 2013, the China Daily reported. However plans continue to change, with developers last month deciding to raise the height of the dam from 278 metres (917 feet) to 285.5 metres.

The construction director of the project, Hong Wenhao, told the China Daily that the auditor's report "overrated the problem" and that there were no safety issues to be concerned about….

The upper reaches of the Yangtze River, shot by Peter Morgan, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License

Predicting outbreaks of Rift Valley fever

AllAfrica.com, via IRIN: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Agency (NASA) is devising remote sensing methods to monitor the environmental conditions that cause Rift Valley Fever. This episodic livestock disease, which occurs every five to ten years and can be transmitted to humans, was first identified by a British veterinary surgeon in Kenya more than 50 years ago. It has since been detected across the African continent and as far afield as the Indian Ocean islands of Comoros and Madagascar.

Remote sensing, a technique that uses recorded or real-time wireless sensing devices to collect information on an object or phenomenon, can be used to determine the environmental conditions that lead to outbreaks.

"The purpose of our research is to provide the first line of defence through international collaborations," Assaf Anyamba, an associate research scientist at NASA's Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center, told IRIN during the International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Earth Observation - Origins to Application, at the University of Cape Town.

"The satellite information we collect and analyze to produce end-user products is then disseminated to our partners; the Food and Agricultural Organization [FAO] takes care of livestock-related disease threats, while the World Heath Organization [WHO] deals with the information relating to human health," he said….

Distribution of Rift Valley fever, from the Centers for Disease Control

Estimating crop water needs using unmanned aerial vehicles

Science Daily: Andalusian scientists of the Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (IAS) – part of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC)- and the University of Córdoba (UCO) are leading a campaign of measures in the USA to estimate crop water needs using their own system of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) equipped with thermal multispectral cameras.

In collaboration with the University of California (and thanks to an invitation from the Vice-President of such university for a project led by Dr. David Goldhamer) will be conducting flights over experimental plots with different crops, some of them being the largest pistachio nut crop in the world, as well as over almond tree and vineyard crops spread across the State of California. This system allows you to know the ideal time to water the crops, saving water, and it can even be used to detect situations of water waste or water leaks in the irrigation system. The method has been used in more than 600 flights made between 2007 and 2009 in wheat, corn, peach, olive, orange and vineyards fields in Spain.

…The system is based in small unmanned planes which can fly between 50 minutes and 2 hours and explore up to 1,000 hectares at an altitude of 300 m. above the ground. ‘The planes are equipped with a GPS system that continuously informs of its location to a base station from which the platform is operated and its mapping is observed' Dr. Zarco-Tejada explains, a researcher of the CSIC leading the project of Cordoba Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (IAS)….

Aerial view of a farm near Teufen, Switzerland, shot by Hansueli Krapf, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License

American Meteorological Society cautious on geoengineering

A Policy Statement of the American Meteorological Society: …Even if reasonably effective and beneficial overall, geoengineering is unlikely to alleviate all of the serious impacts from increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

…Still, the threat of climate change is serious. Mitigation efforts so far have been limited in magnitude, tentative in implementation, and insufficient for slowing climate change enough to avoid potentially serious impacts. Even aggressive mitigation of future emissions cannot avoid dangerous climate changes resulting from past emissions, because elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations persist in the atmosphere for a long time. Furthermore, it is unlikely that all of the expected climate-change impacts can be managed through adaptation. Thus, it is prudent to consider geoengineering’s potential benefits, to understand its limitations, and to avoid ill-considered deployment. Therefore, the American Meteorological Society recommends:

1. Enhanced research on the scientific and technological potential for geoengineering the climate system, including research on intended and unintended environmental responses.

2. Coordinated study of historical, ethical, legal, and social implications of geoengineering that integrates international, interdisciplinary, and intergenerational issues and perspectives and includes lessons from past efforts to modify weather and climate.

3. Development and analysis of policy options to promote transparency and international cooperation in exploring geoengineering options along with restrictions on reckless efforts to manipulate the climate system.

Geoengineering will not substitute for either aggressive mitigation or proactive adaptation, but it could contribute to a comprehensive risk management strategy to slow climate change and alleviate some of its negative impacts. The potential to help society cope with climate change and the risks of adverse consequences imply a need for adequate research, appropriate regulation, and transparent deliberation.

New research provides insight into ice sheet behavior

British Antarctic Survey: A new study published this week takes scientists a step further in their quest to understand how Antarctica’s vast glaciers will contribute to future sea-level rise. Reporting in the journal Nature Geoscience, scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and University of Durham describe how a new 3-D map created from radar measurements reveals features in the landscape beneath a vast river of ice, ten times wider than the Rhine*, in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS).

During 2007, two researchers spent months living and working on the Rutford Ice Stream in temperatures that dropped as low as −30°C. The ice stream moves towards Antarctica’s coast by one metre every day. The science team towed radar equipment back and forth across the ice measuring its thickness, and building up a picture of the landscape beneath. A lubricating mixture of sediment and water beneath the ice assists as it flows towards the ocean, and is sculpted into a series of massive ridges the size of tower blocks and separated by deep furrows. These features ultimately control the flow of the ice stream.

Lead author British Antarctic Survey glaciologist Edward King says, “It was really exciting to see this beautiful image of the landscape two kilometres below our feet emerge from the data. We are now sure that these amazing sediment formations are created by fast-flowing ice and we are much better placed to understand how ice streams behave and how they might change in the future.”…

Future of Western water supply threatened by climate change

University of Colorado News: As the West warms, a drier Colorado River system could see as much as a one-in-two chance of fully depleting all of its reservoir storage by mid-century assuming current management practices continue on course, according to a new University of Colorado at Boulder study. The study, in press in the American Geophysical Union journal, Water Resources Research, looked at the effects of a range of reductions in Colorado River stream flow on future reservoir levels and the implications of different management strategies.

….The Colorado River system is presently enduring its 10th year in a drought that began in 2000, said lead study author Balaji Rajagopalan, a CU-Boulder associate professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering.

…The research team examined the future vulnerability of the system to water supply variability coupled with projected changes in water demand. The team found that through 2026, the risk of fully depleting reservoir storage in any given year remains below 10 percent under any scenario of climate fluctuation or management alternative. During this period, the reservoir storage could even recover from its current low level, according to the researchers.

But if climate change results in a 10 percent reduction in the Colorado River's average stream flow as some recent studies predict, the chances of fully depleting reservoir storage will exceed 25 percent by 2057, according to the study. If climate change results in a 20 percent reduction, the chances of fully depleting reservoir storage will exceed 50 percent by 2057, Rajagopalan said.

"On average, drying caused by climate change would increase the risk of fully depleting reservoir storage by nearly ten times more than the risk we expect from population pressures alone," said Rajagopalan. "By mid-century this risk translates into a 50 percent chance in any given year of empty reservoirs, an enormous risk and huge water management challenge," he said….

Lake Powell in Utah is one of one of several Colorado River reservoirs in danger of depletion in the coming decades as a result of warming temperatures in the West, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder. Image from the Bureau of Reclamation

NOAA's chief poses 'grand' ocean challenge

Becky Evans in South Coast Today (Massachussetts): The chief of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is challenging the nation to reverse the decline of oceans and coasts and restore them to a "healthy, productive and resilient state" while tackling the issue of climate change. Dr. Jane Lubchenco unveiled what she called a "Grand Challenge to the Nation" during a speech Monday before ocean and coastal management experts who are attending a conference this week in the state capital.

"In our fisheries, the rich biodiversity of life swimming in and flying above the oceans, and our own well being all depend upon the actions we take this year and this decade," said Lubchenco, a marine ecologist who taught at Oregon State University before President Barack Obama appointed her as head of NOAA. "Too much is at stake to continue on our present path," she said. "Too much is at risk if we ignore either oceans or climate change."

…Climate change is already affecting coastlines and oceans through sea-level rise, increased storm surges, coastal flooding, coral bleaching and ocean acidification, Lubchenco said. In New England, she said, it threatens to alter fish and shellfish resources, presenting either new opportunities or new challenges for fishermen….

Forest fires force thousands to flee in Canada

Terra Daily, via Agence France-Presse: Raging forest fires in western Canada have forced 10,000 people to evacuate their homes with thousands more poised to flee the flames that began consuming thousands of acres at the weekend, local officials said.

"Right now there are over 10,000 people who have been evacuated... and then we've got over 6,000 people on evacuation alert," said Jenelle Turpin, an Emergency Operations Center officer in Kelowna, a British Columbia city of 100,000 people about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Vancouver. "They've been out of their homes for the last two days with very little clothing or their support stuff from home, Turpin said.

Three fires broke out from Saturday in pine forests which cover the mountainsides ringing Kelowna and the surrounding area, one of western Canada's main wine-growing regions…

A 1951 forest fire in Wolf Creek, Oregon, shot by Bluford W. Muir, US Department of Agriculture

Kenya faces crop failure, warns FAO

AllAfrica.com, via Business Daily (Nairobi): The erratic weather patterns in Kenya has pushed the country to the list of countries likely to face crop failure. In a report released last week, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) called for close monitoring of the crop situation in Kenya and eight other countries where prospects point to a shortfall in production of crops as a result of a reduction of the area planted, adverse weather conditions, pests, diseases and other calamities.

Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan from Africa; Asia's Afghanistan, India, Republic of Moldova and Argentina in Latin America and the Caribbean are ranked among the other countries that are likely to produce less, the Crop Prospects and Food Situation report stated.

The data generated by the new Global Information and Early Warning Service tool by the agency earlier in the year showed that poor weather has inhibited crop production in the country, adding to the reduced production a year after the post-poll crisis.

In Kenya, the report said: "Insufficient rainfall during the initial stage of the main cropping season (March-April) is likely to have impeded crop growth, increasing the probability of yet another poor harvest."…

A coffee plantation in Kenya, 1936

Car horns warn against natural disasters

Fraunhofer Institute (Germany): In the past, sirens howled to warn the population against floods, large fires or chemical accidents. Today, however, there is no extensive warning system in Germany, as most sirens were dismantled after the Cold War. Researchers of the Fraunhofer Institute for Technological Trend Analysis INT in Euskirchen want the population to be warned by car horns in the future.

In Batman’s hometown of Gotham City, a gigantic searchlight projects the Bat signal into the sky in case of disaster to alarm the superhero and the population. In Germany, an extensive network of sirens was used in the past to warn the population against disasters: in case of forest fires, industrial accidents or a looming inundation of a part of town, civil protection agencies could trigger the loud and clear siren alarm, while detailed information was provided by radio and television. However, after the end of the Cold War, most sirens were dismantled in the mid-nineties to be replaced by the satellite-based warning system SatWaS, which informs the population only via radio and television. But if TV and radio are switched off, the warning goes unheard.

In recent years, different individual solutions for warning systems have been developed. Cell-broadcast systems can send mass SMS messages to mobile phones. Smoke detectors, radio-controlled clocks and weather stations equipped with radio receivers can also trigger alarm. Despite the high distribution rate of some of these devices, it cannot be ensured that a warning reaches the entire population. Only individual persons or households would be warned, and only if the devices are on standby 24/7/365. Today, fire brigades and disaster protection agencies would rather want the sirens back. However, the resulting costs would amount to several 100 million Euros for German federal and state governments, which share the responsibility for civil protection.

In January, researchers of the INT applied for a patent of a technology which allows the horns of parked cars to be activated in case of disaster. The technology is based on the eCall emergency system, which new cars are going to be equipped with as from September 2010. The eCall system was developed at the initiative of the EU Commission to help reduce the number of road traffic fatalities. It consists of a GPS sensor and a mobile phone component, which is activated only in case of an accident (i.e. when the airbags are triggered) and which can transmit data (e.g. accident time, coordinates and driving direction of the vehicle) to an emergency call center….

Graphic from the Frauhofer Institute's website

IPCC chief: Benefits of tackling climate change will balance cost of action

Damian Carrington in the Guardian (UK): Measures needed to tackle global warming could save economies more money than they cost, the world's top climate change expert said today. Rajendra Pachauri, the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), told the Guardian: "The cost could undoubtedly be negative overall." This is because of the additional benefits that reducing greenhouse gas emissions could bring, beyond limiting temperature rises.

…Pachauri's comments came ahead of a press announcement in New York today about the IPCC's plans for its next series of reports in 2013. He said these would include a greater emphasis on the economics, as well as ethical and humanitarian concerns.

Funding for reducing and adapting to climate change in one of the most difficult issues in the negotiations towards a global deal at a UN summit in December in Copenhagen. But Pachauri argues that if the costs are negative, then "inertia and vested interests would be washed away. As the Americans say, it would be like dollar bills lying on the sidewalk."

Alex Bowen, one of the Stern report authors, said: …"My hunch overall is that it will be a little more costly than we estimated in 2006. But if well designed policies are put in place, we can still do it remarkably cheaply. And there is still no doubt that strong action now is much cheaper than no action," added Bowen, an economist at the Grantham Research Institute On Climate Change at the London School of Economics….

Józef Chełmoński, 1869, "Payment of Labor (Saturday on the farm)"

Using remote sensors in South Africa

IRIN: The use of remote sensing and satellite imaging looks set to become more widespread in South Africa as sustainable agriculture and natural resource management become more urgent in the face of climate change.

Remote sensing, a technique that uses recorded or real-time wireless sensing devices to collect information on an object or phenomenon, is proving more successful in South Africa than other African countries for two reasons: South Africa has the required telecommunications network infrastructure to support remote sensing, and its higher internet capacity means that information can be transmitted consistently and timeously.

"For the past decade we have used remote sensing to evaluate and monitor land use, and its impact on the land. We also use remote sensing for mapping land cover and ecosystems, and for monitoring drought outlooks," a specialist researcher for the Limpopo Department of Agriculture, Brilliant Mareme Petja, told IRIN.

During the general election campaign, the ruling African National Congress - which won the April 2009 poll - promised to speed up land redistribution to address the racially skewed ownership system inherited from apartheid.

President Jacob Zuma's government appears committed to their election promise, as suppliers in the remote sensing industry have experienced an increasing demand for their products since the poll.

… Scientists at the Department of Agriculture in Limpopo Province have begun using remote sensing techniques to monitor the impact of climate change, with a view to mitigating and adapting to altered conditions. "Remote sensor data combined with meteorological data from the rainfall stations enables us to demarcate areas that are more likely to be affected by climate change," Petja said….

South Africa's St. Lucia Estuary, view by NASA

Monsoon rain kills 26 in southern Pakistan: officials

Terra Daily via Agence France-Presse: At least 26 people, mostly women and children, were killed and hundreds injured after the first torrential rains of the monsoon lashed Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi, officials said Sunday.

The heavy monsoon rain, which started early Saturday, brought much of the city to a standstill as power and communication systems were badly affected and hundreds of people were forced from their homes.

…"According to our reports 26 people are confirmed dead and hundreds injured. We are facing an emergency-like situation. We cannot fight with nature," Karachi mayor Mustafa Kamal told AFP….

Logo of the city district government of Karachi, Pakistan

Investigating Hurricane Ike's effects on waterways, fish contamination

University of Houston News: A long-term environmental research project being conducted at the University of Houston may offer important information about the effects of Hurricane Ike on pollution levels and help regulators determine whether existing fish-consumption advisories remain appropriate. With this year's storm season under way, the UH engineering team's project is entering a new phase as participants collect and analyze fresh samples from Galveston Bay and related waterways.

Cullen College of Engineering professor Hanadi Rifai, who has studied pollution in Houston-area bodies of water in partnership with both state and federal authorities since 2001, is leading the team. "Our work with the Galveston Bay system started in the early '90s with funding from the EPA Galveston Bay National Estuary Program," said Rifai, whose team helped write the first "State of the Bay" report identifying the environmental challenges facing the estuary.

"We have since focused on POPs, or persistent organic pollutants, which include dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. We have a unique opportunity this year to study the effect of Hurricane Ike on these pollutants, particularly in the water and sediment of the estuary, so we are gathering a one-of-its-kind data set for the ‘after' condition that we can compare to our pre-Ike 2008 data set," Rifai said. "The results will be enlightening from an environmental impact perspective of hurricanes on natural resources such as Galveston Bay."

As part of the Environmental Protection Agency's Total Maximum Daily Load Program, the team has been creating sophisticated models to help determine how much pollution a body of water is taking in and where that pollution is coming from. The team has upwards of 50 monitoring sites, Rifai said, and it looks for pollutants in sediment, water and tissue….

Buffalo Bayou in Houston, Texas, shot by Scott Ehardt

The role of solar radiation in climate change

Science Daily: A special volume of the Journal of Geophysical Research reviews the growing research field of “global dimming” and “global brightening” in over 20 articles. These phenomena, supposedly human-induced, control solar radiation incident at the Earth’s surface and thus influence climate.

…Investigating which factors reduce or intensify solar radiation and thus cause “global dimming” or “global brightening” is still very much a nascent field of research. The American Geophysical Union (AGU) has now published a special volume on the subject which presents the current state of knowledge in detail and makes a considerable contribution to climate science.

…In analyzing more recently compiled data, however, Wild and his team discovered that solar radiation has gradually been increasing again since 1985. In a paper published in “Science” in 2005, they coined the phrase “global brightening” to describe this new trend and to oppose to the term “global dimming” used since 2001 for the previously established decrease in solar radiation. Only recently, an article in the journal Nature, which Wild was also involved in, brought additional attention to the topic of global dimming/brightening.

… A further challenge for the researchers is to incorporate the effects of global dimming/brightening more effectively in climate models, to understand their impact on climate change better. After all, studies indicate that global dimming masked the actual temperature rise – and therefore climate change – until well into the 1980s. Moreover, the studies published also show that the models used in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) fourth Assessment Report do not reproduce global dimming/brightening adequately: neither the dimming nor the subsequent brightening is simulated realistically by the models. According to the scientists, this is probably due to the fact that the processes causing global dimming/brightening were not taken into account adequately and that the historical anthropogenic emissions used as model input are afflicted with considerable uncertainties….

The sun's corona, shot by Rogilbert, who has released the image into the public domain

Activists warn of huge forest fires should El Niño occur

Adianto P. Simamora in the Jakarta Post (Indonesia): With severe drought predicted later in the year, environmental activists are urging the government to take swift action to prevent resulting huge forest fires. WWF Indonesia and Forest Watch Indonesia said Friday the government should warn forestry companies, plantations and local people living near forests to stop slash-and-burn methods to clear the land.

“Otherwise, we will suffer again from large-scale forest fires during the El Niño phenomenon this year,” the WWF’s Hariri Dedi told The Jakarta Post. “One thing’s for sure: this year, we’ll have far more forest and land fires than in 2007 and 2008. The peak will be between September and October.” Hariri warned this year’s El Niño would last longer and cause a more severe dry season.

…He said forestry companies and plantations usually took advantage of the dry season to clear-cut forests. “Such slash-and-burn practices occur repeatedly during the dry season, but no big names are jailed as a deterrent to stop forest fires,” he said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned Thursday of the return of El Niño, which could cause a long drought running from September 2009 to February 2010. Yudhoyono said the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) would monitor the development of El Niño.

Forest fires are an annual incident across the country during the dry season. In 2006, 145,000 hotspots were detected, making it the second-worst season since 1997….

Haze from burning forests over Sumatra, via NASA

Midwest Flooding, Global Warming, Floodplain (Mis)Management, and National Legislation

National Wildlife Federation: The United States is getting more heavy storms and major floods these days, detailed in a new report from the National Wildlife Federation. “Global warming is partly to blame for these heavy rainfall events,” said Dr. Amanda Staudt, climate scientist, National Wildlife Federation. “Warmer air simply can hold more moisture, so heavier precipitation is expected in the years to come.”

To explain the bigger picture and provide recommendations for how to cope with projected changes and how to avoid the worst impacts of global warming, National Wildlife Federation’s mini-report Increased Flooding Risk: Global Warming’s Wake-Up Call for Riverfront Communities details:

…In the Midwest and Northeast, big storms that historically would only be seen once every 20 years are projected to happen as much as every 4 to 6 years by the end of the 21st century. At the same time, shifts in snowfall patterns, the onset of spring, and river-ice melting may all exacerbate flooding risks. In the Pacific Northwest, snow melt discharge occurs 5 to 20 days earlier than it did 50 years ago, and it could be an additional 30 to 40 days earlier by the end of the 21st century if global warming pollution is not curbed….

Higher tides affecting the US east coast, especially mid-Atlantic

Scott Harper in the Virginian-Pilot (Hampton Roads, Virginia): Scientists are closely watching unusually high tides along the entire East Coast, especially in mid-Atlantic states including Virginia, where average daily levels are running between 6 inches and 2 feet above predicted norms.

One veteran researcher at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, John Boon, said he suspects the trend could be the beginning of a decade-long phenomenon of high water caused by an El Niño-like effect in the Atlantic. “It’s possible we’re entering a new cycle,” he said this week.

Boon, a professor emeritus of marine science who has studied tides most of his career, described how Atlantic wind patterns and currents can subtly shift, often without explanation. The shift, in turn, pushes more water onto East Coast beaches, marshes and coastline through higher tides.

...The extreme tides, he and other scientists said, have occurred before and can last, on and off, for years at a time before suddenly changing back to normal. “There’s no scientific debate that these anomalous cycles happen,” Boon said. “It’s what causes them that’s debated.”

…Similarly on the Atlantic, quirky shifts in atmospheric pressure and winds, known as the North Atlantic Oscillation, contribute to weather variability – and might be at play now, said Larry Atkinson, an oceanographer at Old Dominion University in Norfolk. Atkinson said that what Hampton Roads is experiencing now will likely become the norm in 30 or 40 years due to sea level rise associated with the slow warming of ocean temperatures….

A statue of Neptune in Virginia Beach, Virginia, shot by Dmc313, who has generously released the image into the public domain

New isotope cluster could lead to better understanding of atmospheric carbon dioxide

Science Daily: A team of researchers has discovered an unexpected concentration of a certain isotopic molecule in parts of the stratosphere that could have implications for understanding the carbon cycle and its response to climate change. By analyzing samples of air taken from the stratosphere—the layer of Earth's atmosphere that sits between six and 30 miles above the surface—the team found a much higher concentration of 16O13C18O at high latitudes than expected.

The concentration of different isotopes is the result of different processes that carbon dioxide undergoes, such as in photosynthesis. As such, isotopes act as carbon dioxide "tracers," said Hagit Affek, an assistant professor of geology and geophysics at Yale University who previously worked as part of the lead team at the California Institute of Technology. "We use isotopes to 'balance the budget' of the carbon cycle. They basically act like labels that tell us where the carbon dioxide is coming from and where it's going."

…Although the scientists cannot yet explain the result, they propose two potential explanations. The first is that the high levels of the isotope cluster could be the result of air from the stratosphere mixing with air from the mesosphere—the layer above the stratosphere. The second is that an interaction between carbon dioxide and stratospheric water molecules could produce this abundance of 16O13C18O.

Either way, the results have implications for understanding the chemical reactions involving carbon dioxide—a greenhouse gas—that take place in the atmosphere, Affek said...

A polar stratospheric cloud, courtesy of NASA

Ho Chi Minh City plans for adaptation

Bernama (Malaysia): Vietnam's largest economic hub has been identified as one of the 10 cities in the world most likely to be severely affected by climate change, and the need to deploy an adaptation plan is urgent, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported quoting officials as saying.

Ayumi Konishi, the Asian Development Bank (ADB)'s country director for Vietnam, said the effects of climate change could cause a 7.3 percent drop in the city's GDP in the near future. Konishi spoke at a workshop on Tuesday here on the impact of climate change and the need for the city to move from study to action. The municipal People's Committee and ADB organised the workshop.

The HCM City Adaptation to Climate Change study, which is being carried out with financing from the ADB and the International Centre for Environmental Management (ICEM) in partnership with the city People's Committee, is an initial step in a planned response to the challenges in adapting to climate change.

"The study explores climate threats and their impact on areas, communities and sectors in the city and makes recommendations for adaptation options," Jeremy Carew-Reid, director of the ICEM, said.

The report identifies a number of key principles to guide climate change adaptation in HCM City, including building on experiences in responding to natural disasters, rehabilitating and maintaining flexibility and resilience in city design, and decentralising adaptation capacity. The key recommendation arising from the study is the development of a HCM City Climate Change Adaptation plan to be prepared by the People's Committee in accordance with the National Target Plan….

Motorcycling in Ho Chi Minh City, shot by Brian Jeffery Beggerly from Singapore, Wikimedia Commons, under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License

‘Dead zones’ threaten oceans

Stuart Wakeham in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: When you look in the waters of coastal Georgia and you see an ocean seemingly teeming with life, it is difficult to comprehend that large sections of the world’s oceans are considered “dead zones.” These are areas of the oceans where low levels of dissolved oxygen have either killed or driven off most of the fish and shellfish sought by commercial and recreational fishermen.

Oxygen-deprived areas of ocean have spread exponentially since the 1960s, affecting a total area of more than 95,000 square miles. Georgia’s waters may not be immune to the threat.

Natural and man-made processes cause dead zones. It begins when excessive loads of nutrients are introduced to the water from sewage, storm runoff containing fertilizer and other sources. These nutrients promote the growth of microscopic algae called phytoplankton. When phytoplankton die and decay, the process, if excessive, can consume much of the dissolved oxygen in the water, leading to an oxygen deficit (hypoxia).

…Although not considered a dead zone, Georgia’s coastal waterways are showing discouraging signs. Skidaway Institute scientist Peter Verity has monitored local water conditions for more than 20 years and documented a steady decline in dissolved oxygen; some areas approach hypoxic during the summer.

…Dead zones make up less than 2 percent of the world’s ocean volume. The model predicts that global warming could cause dead zones to grow by a factor of 10 or more by 2100….

The beach and boardwalk on Jekyll Island, a barrier island off the coast of Brunswick, Georgia. Shot by normanack, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 License

Is climate change cooking Delmarva hunters' goose? Biologist thinks so

Freddy Valencia in DelmarvaNow.com: On Thursday night in front of a small audience at Gander Mountain, Ed Perry, a retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, gave a presentation on the impact of climate change on fish and waterfowl. For hunters and fishermen who are starting to wonder where all the ducks and fish have gone, Perry has an answer.

"The level of emissions that we are using today is skyrocketing, and it's something that affects every natural system," he said. "Every state has gone up at least one hardiness zone, and some have gone up two. For example, southern Pennsylvania's hardiness zone now is what North Carolina's was 15 years ago."

Basically, plants that were once growing in the South are now able to make their way further north, and because many lakes in the West aren't freezing over anymore, the migratory patterns for ducks and geese have changed drastically. At the level that we are now, there appears to be no quick fix either….

Drought aid for Texas tough to come by

Juana Summers in the Austin American-Statesman (Texas): …Although 70 counties, including Bastrop and Caldwell, were declared disaster areas based on agricultural losses, Central Texas ranchers and farmers say help is hard to find. "The assistance, in terms of financial assistance, is very limited, if at all," said Bastrop County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Fisher. "There's only so much a handful of brochures can give you."

In the past week, Bastrop County has lost 12,000 cattle, an "astonishing" loss that Fisher said could devastate the county's market for cattle production for several years. Some farmers had government-backed insurance through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Fisher said, but "the federal program has not released any compensation for that insurance, and we're wondering" why.

...The governor's office announced Thursday that it would declare 167 Texas counties — including those in Central Texas — to be in a state of disaster because of the extreme fire hazard caused by the drought, a move officials say would allow the state to move more quickly to respond to the drought's effects….

Flood defence plan for 'at risk' borough in London

Julie Eysenck in the London Informer: Flood water could swamp parts of Pimlico and south Westminster in just 30 minutes, according to a recent study. In a worst case scenario, if the Thames Barrier failed and defences on the Embankment were breached, combined with a one-in-200-years tidal flood, there could be a two-metre rise in water levels in just half an hour.

…Westminster Council planners mapped the likely course of flood waters, in a bid to help them improve defences to protect homes and businesses built on flood plains. The last time Westminster suffered severe flooding was in 1928, when 14 people died. However, the borough is likely to become more vulnerable to the risks of flooding in future because of rising tides and heavier rainfall brought on by climate change.

Last Tuesday, several tube stations were closed and parts of the borough were brought to a standstill due to the torrential downpours of rain. Recommendations made by the council include introducing simple and natural forms of drainage to reduce the amount of flood water running into drains, such as water tanks, paving which allows water to drain through, and 'living' sedum roofs.

Deputy Westminster Council leader Councillor Robert Davis said: "Like many major cities, London is built on the banks of a great river and is therefore vulnerable to climate change. "Although Westminster is currently well protected, we must ensure the city is prepared for any eventuality by planning ahead….”

Buttress from the river steps of the now-vanished Millbank Prison, in Pimlico, London. Shot by Fin Fahey, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License

Research indicates ocean current shutdown may be gradual

Oregon State University News: The findings of a major new study are consistent with gradual changes of current systems in the North Atlantic Ocean, rather than a more sudden shutdown that could lead to rapid climate changes in Europe and elsewhere. The research, based on the longest experiment of its type ever run on a "general circulation model" that simulated the Earth's climate for 21,000 years back to the height of the last Ice Age, shows that major changes in these important ocean current systems can occur, but they may take place more slowly and gradually than had been suggested.

The newest findings, to be published Friday in the journal Science, are consistent with other recent studies that are moving away from the theory of an abrupt "tipping point" that might cause dramatic atmospheric temperature and ocean circulation changes in as little as 50 years.

"Research is now indicating that this phenomenon may happen, but probably not as a sudden threshold we're crossing," said Peter Clark, a professor of geosciences at Oregon State University. "For those who have been concerned about extremely abrupt changes in these ocean current patterns, that's good news.

“In the past it appears the ocean did change abruptly, but only because of a sudden change in the forcing,” he said. “But when the ocean is forced gradually, such as we anticipate for the future, its response is gradual. That would give ecosystems more time to adjust to new conditions."

The findings do not change broader concerns about global warming. Temperatures are still projected to increase about four to 11 degrees by the end of this century, and the study actually confirms that some of the world's most sophisticated climate models are accurate….

Physiography for High Schools by Albert L. Arey, Frank L. Bryant, William W. Clendenin and William T. Morrey, USA: 1911.

Coming water war in Asia

Stephen Faris in Foreign Policy: Hopelessly overcrowded, crippled by poverty, teeming with Islamist militancy, careless with its nukes—it sometimes seems as if Pakistan can’t get any more terrifying. But forget about the Taliban: The country's troubles today pale compared with what it might face 25 years from now. When it comes to the stability of one of the world's most volatile regions, it's the fate of the Himalayan glaciers that should be keeping us awake at night.

In the mountainous area of Kashmir along and around Pakistan's contested border with India lies what might become the epicenter of the problem. Since the separation of the two countries 62 years ago, the argument over whether Kashmir belongs to Muslim Pakistan or secular India has never ceased. Since 1998, when both countries tested nuclear weapons, the conflict has taken on the added risk of escalating into cataclysm. Another increasingly important factor will soon heighten the tension: Ninety percent of Pakistan's agricultural irrigation depends on rivers that originate in Kashmir. "This water issue between India and Pakistan is the key," Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami, a parliamentarian from Kashmir, told me. "Much more than any other political or religious concern."

Until now, the two sides had been able to relegate the water issue to the back burner. In 1960, India and Pakistan agreed to divide the six tributaries that form the Indus River. India claimed the three eastern branches, which flow through Punjab. The water in the other three, which pass through Jammu and Kashmir, became Pakistan's. The countries set a cap on how much land Kashmir could irrigate and agreed to strict regulations on how and where water could be stored. The resulting Indus Waters Treaty has survived three wars and nearly 50 years. It's often cited as an example of how resource scarcity can lead to cooperation rather than conflict.

But the treaty's success depends on the maintenance of a status quo that will be disrupted as the world warms. Traditionally, Kashmir's waters have been naturally regulated by the glaciers in the Himalayas. Precipitation freezes during the coldest months and then melts during the agricultural season. But if global warming continues at its current rate, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates, the glaciers could be mostly gone from the mountains by 2035. Water that once flowed for the planting will flush away in winter floods….

View of Glacial lake and the Drang Drung Glacier, as seen from Pensi La, Zanskar, Ladakh, India. Shot by Mahuasarkar25, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Fishing nations spare both Atlantic and Pacific tuna species

Environment News Service: Declining populations of tunas received conservation support from countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean this week as governments realize how much damage overfishing has done to the world's tuna stocks. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France today announced his country's support for a ban of international trade in endangered Northern Bluefin Tuna, joining a growing call to list the overexploited fish under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES.

Speaking at the close of a national stakeholder consultation on France's future sustainable fisheries and maritime policy, the "Grenelle de la Mer," President Sarkozy said, "France supports listing bluefin tuna on the CITES convention to ban international trade." Sarkozy put this in the context of France's support for a broader sustainable fisheries policy. "Ours is the last generation with the ability to take action before it's too late — we must protect marine resources now, in order to fish better in future. We owe this to fishermen, and we owe it to future generations," he said.

The Principality of Monaco was first to communicate its willingness to sponsor a proposal to ban international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna, and has this week launched a formal CITES consultation process to seek the support of other range States….

Allianz says insurers will be hit by more wind storms in Europe

Oliver Suess in Bloomberg: Insurers will be hit by a higher number of wind storm-related claims in Europe as a result of global warming, according to Allianz SE, Europe’s biggest insurer by market value. “Global warming is happening and it’s here to stay,” Olaf Novak, head of risk management related to natural disasters at the Munich-based insurer, said in an interview in Munich. “It’s not so much the severity of wind storms in Europe but their rising frequency that worries us.”

Allianz, which generates about 84 percent of its premium income in property and casualty insurance in Europe, sees wind storms in its “home turf region” as the most important risk related to natural disasters, Novak said.

Insurers’ weather-related costs are rising worldwide. Allianz estimates that between 2010 and 2019 average annual insured losses from weather-related disasters could grow to $41 billion, Novak said. Weather-related natural disasters cost insurers an average of $33.1 billion a year between 1999 and 2008, according to the New York-based Insurance Information Institute. The number of weather-related natural catastrophes in Europe has more than doubled since 1980, according to estimates by Munich Re.

Global warming may be linked to a clear increase in hail storms and torrential rain, Novak said. Still, “such disasters affect rather limited areas, so their impact on insurers isn’t as severe as that of wind storms.” Allianz hasn’t yet noticed a direct connection between its payments for insurance claims and global warming, he said….

'Little boy' causes coral apocalypse

Jonathan Faull in the Minivan News (Maldives): The global scientific community is in broad agreement that weather patterns developing in the Eastern Pacific spell “El Nino” for the coming year. Concurrently a meeting of prominent scientists in London has warned that the ongoing effects of carbon emissions, in conjunction with more frequent El Nino weather cycles, could wipe functional reef ecosystems from the face of the earth in the next 20 to 40 years.

The confluence of global warming and El Nino was highlighted this week by Environment Minister Aslam Mohamed, during a speech to a rock concert in Cornwall, England and in a subsequent interview with The Guardian newspaper. "[Rising sea-levels and coral bleaching are] like a terminal disease for us," he told the Guardian. "It's in our people's minds all the time, but they also have to get on with their day-to-day lives. They also have to worry about reliable power, fresh water and sewage."

El Nino (meaning ‘little boy’ in Spanish) is not a new visitor to the Maldives. The phenomenon damaged more than 95 per cent of the Maldives’ reefs, with widespread “bleaching” of corals following three months of unusually high seawater temperatures between March and June 1998. Thomas le Berre, managing director of environmental consultancy Seamarc Pvt, Ltd, said that a full-blown El Nino system “would be a disaster” for coral systems in the Maldives.

Former chief scientist of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Charlie Veron, meanwhile has predicted that if nothing is done to reduce carbon dioxide emissions “coral reefs [will be] doomed to extinction” by 2060. “I have the backing of every coral reef scientist, every research organisation. I’ve spoken to them all. This is critical. This is reality,” he said. Veron said that such an eventuality would entail “the world’s first global ecosystem collapse”….

Raa Dhuvaafaru, as people moved into their new homes after the 2004 Tsunami, a beautful shot by Ibrahim Fawaz, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License

Flood alert radar station may lessen damage risk

Gavin Havery in the Northern Echo (UK): A weather radar station that will provide more accurate forecasts and an earlier warning against flooding has gone live. The £1m station in High Moorsley, near Durham City, constantly sends and receives signals and “reads” rainfall data in 25,000 one-kilometre grid locations every five minutes.

This provides up to seven million readings a day from across the North-East. Thorough testing of the radar has been carried out since the station was completed in August, last year. It observes rainfall and records where, when and how hard it is raining, as well as how quickly rainfall is moving across the region.

Bill Wheeler, Met Office weather radar advisor, said: “Climate change will bring with it the risk of more extreme rainfall in the future. “This latest addition to our radar network will allow us to better forecast heavy rainfall and the risk of potential flooding across the North-East.”

…Phil Marshall, flood-risk team leader for the Environment Agency, said: “Recent flooding in the North-East has shown it is vital to be able to predict where and when rain will fall, so we can warn residents and the emergency services about potential flooding, and help reduce the risk of damage to property and loss of life….

This shows a radome at Menwith Hill, used by the US National Security Agency, and not the peaceful flood radome in High Moorsley.

The impacts accelerate

World Resources Institute: A new report of scientific findings confirms not only that human activity is the primary cause of rising temperatures, but that climate change impacts are accelerating. The compilation of peer-reviewed research includes evidence that melting rates for mountain glaciers around the world doubled between 2004 and 2006, and that more than 28,000 plant and animal species are changing habits due to new climatic conditions.

“Climate change impacts are happening now. This is not a distant phenomenon. And many impacts are emerging at a faster rate than previously modeled,” said Kelly Levin, an associate at the World Resources Institute who co-authored Climate Science 2008: Major New Discoveries with Dennis Tirpak, WRI senior fellow.

Levin said the trends may seem less surprising because we are inundated with so many stories about global warming. But as a co-author for the past four years of WRI’s annual compilation, she added that the repeated reconfirmation of trends should support the need for rapid and substantial greenhouse gas mitigation and adaptation efforts worldwide….

Arctic images derived from classified data should be made public to help scientists examine climate change and impacts of diminishing sea ice

National Academies of Science: Hundreds of images derived from classified data that could be used to better understand rapid loss and transformation of Arctic sea ice should be immediately released and disseminated to the scientific research community, says a new report from the National Research Council. The committee that wrote the report emphasized that these Arctic images show detailed melting and freezing processes and also provide information at scales, locations, and time periods that are important for studying effects of climate change on sea ice and habitat -- data that are not available elsewhere.

"To prepare for a possibly ice-free Arctic and its subsequent effects on the environment, economy, and national security, it is critical to have accurate projections of changes over the next several decades," said committee chair Stephanie Pfirman, professor and chair of the department of environmental science at Barnard College, New York City. "Forecasts of regional sea-ice conditions can help officials plan for and adapt to the impact of climate change and minimize environmental risks."

Projections of future Arctic ice cover are hampered by poor understanding of sea-ice physical processes because few observations exist at appropriate times and scales. Readily available satellite images are too coarse to capture the details, the report says.

…"At a time when there is concern that Earth observation systems are decreasing and aging, releasing these images would be a step toward continuing the flow of critical information to the scientific community," said Ralph J. Cicerone, president of the National Academy of Sciences. "We hope that these images are the first of many that could help scientists learn how the changing climate could impact the environment and our society."….

From 1620, Mercator: Septentrionalium Terrarum descriptio. A map of the North Pole. Detail showing "Rupes nigra et altissima," the "very high black rock"