Orange County Global Warming Committee

Madagascar’s Wildlife in Crises – 23 Nov 2009
World Will Miss 2010 Target to Stem Biodiversity Loss – 14 Nov 2009
Silent Crisis: Freshwater Species Are the Most Threatened on Earth – 14 Nov 2009
Kenya's Elephants Dying Amid Drought – 9 Sep 2009
Walruses Congregate on Alaska Shore as Ice Melts – 9 Sep 2009
Human and Environmental Factors Are Changing the NW Atlantic Ecosystem – 31 Aug 2009

Summarized from article in LA times by Robyn Dixon 23 November 2009

Madagascar’s Wildlife in Crises

Madagascar was once one of the last remaining hot spots of diversity because of its expanse of virgin forests, and the home of nearly 100 species of lemur. However, the nation has been left lawless after a political coup this year and its wildlife habitat is unprotected from deforestation and environmental degradation.
Lemurs face multiple threats. In some areas they are considered bad luck and the villagers kill them on sight. In other areas, they are hunted for food. Climate change is drying out the land and destroying the habitat. But even more disturbing is the reinvigoration of logging by companies who are often funded by foreign lumber traders and have close links to the government. The loggers bribe or threaten park rangers to allow them to harvest trees with devastating results.
International agencies have imposed sanctions and suspended the USAID’s environmental programs. Until the coup occurred, the USAID and State Department had been actively helping the country protect its rich ecosystems. About 40% of Madagascar’s budget comes from foreign aid.
Now Madagascar’s forests are being plundered. Environmentalists estimate that at the present rate of logging the country could be deforested within a few years, which will probably wipe out many of the lemur species, several of which are already endangered.

Article from Science Daily 14 October 2009

World Will Miss 2010 Target to Stem Biodiversity Loss

At a landmark conference on biodiversity science in Cape Town, South Africa it was reported that the world would miss its target for stemming biodiversity loss by 2010, a goal that was established by approximately 123 internationals scientist at the 6th 2003 Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. Not only will the world miss the 2010 target, but it will likely also miss the 2015 targets within the U.N. Millennium Development Goals to improve health and livelihoods for the world's poorest and most vulnerable people by protecting the ecosystem services provided by biodiversity.
The 2009 DIVERSITAS conference consisted of about 700 scientists and called for new more science-based targets. The summary statement noted that, “It is clear that biodiversity loss erodes the integrity of ecosystems and their capacity to adapt in a changing world. It represents a serious risk to human well being and a squandering of current assets and future opportunities. … Meeting current and future human needs must make adequate provision for the complex web of life of which people are an integral part.”
The area of tropical rainforest that is estimated to have been destroyed since 1992 is greater than the size of California and expected to increase.

Silent Crisis: Freshwater Species Are the Most Threatened on Earth

According to DIVERSITAS conference participants headed by Klement Tockner (Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin) mismanagement of fresh water supplies and the growing human need for water are causing freshwater ecosystems to collapse. Thus, freshwater species have become of the most threatened on Earth, having extinction rates that are 4- to 6-times greater than salt water and terrestrial species.
Although freshwater ecosystems cover only 0.8% of the earth's surface, they are home to 10% of all animals, including 35% of all vertebrates. Few people are currently aware that we are on the verge of a major crisis in freshwater biodiversity on local and global scales.
Freshwater species found in rivers, lakes, and wetlands provide a greater array of important natural services than those of any other ecosystem type. Biodiversity loss affects not only fishing and agriculture, but also water purification and disease regulation. And yet predictions are that by 2025 not a single Chinese river will reach the sea except during floods. This will have a devastating effect on coastal fisheries in China.
Freshwater ecosystems and their species also absorb and bury about 7% of atmospheric carbon, thus their loss will add to the global warming problem. These ecosystems will be the first victims of the combination of climate change and the increasing demand of humans on water supplies. The rate of freshwater species extinctions is increasing, especially in hot spot areas such as the Mediterranean, Central America, China and Southeast Asia."
"Despite their pivotal ecological and economic importance, freshwater ecosystems have not been of primary concern in policy making," adds Prof. Tockner.
Links: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091011184419.htm
http://www.diversitas-international.org/pages/home.php

Article from Associated Press 9 September 2009 by Katharine Houreld

Kenya's Elephants Dying Amid Drought

The drought in Kenya is so bad that the country's elephants are dying because rivers and grasslands in game reserves are drying up.
Drought has also affected cattle and crops, and the local people are threatened with food shortages. According to the United Nations’ World Food program (WFP), some 4 million Kenyans may need emergency food aid.
The founder of Save the Elephants, Iain Douglas-Hamilton, said that this drought is a serious threat and is affecting the very young and very old members of these animals, which are beginning to die. The lack of food weakens their immune system, making them more vulnerable to a variety of diseases.
Elephants roam a wide expanse of habitat to obtain food and water. They need up to 52 gallons of water and about 660 pounds of plant material (grass, leaves, and twigs) each day. But there isn’t enough water to drink or to maintain the plants. More than 40 elephants have died in the Laikipia, Isiolo and Samburu districts during the last two months and no specific disease could be found as the cause. Preliminary tests suggest that the animals have not been eating enough fodder. Young animals are particularly vulnerable because they can’t keep up with their mothers while grazing and they can’t reach the tall trees to browse.
The deaths of these elephants are not threatening the species with extinction, since there are approximately 23,000 of them in Kenya, but wildlife experts are concerned. The elephants are now competing for forage with local livestock, which are being driven into their habitat by herders who are trying to find fresh pasture for their domestic animals.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga said that there could be a "catastrophe" if the drought continues. The expected grain harvest may be reduced by nearly 30%, and this has resulted in a 130% increase in food prices. The WFP has called for $230 million in donations to feed hungry Kenyans.

Article from Associated Press 9 September 2009 by Dan Joling

Walruses Congregate on Alaska Shore as Ice Melts

As Arctic sea ice melts and breaks up due to climate change, walruses are congregating in the thousands on the northwest coast of Alaska. Chad Jay, a walrus researcher from the US Geological Survey, said that large groups of walruses have been found at Icy Cape on the Chukchi Sea, southwest of Barrow, and Cape Lisburne south of that. Some of these animals were tagged with satellite transmitters.
Jay said that it is typical for walruses to come ashore occasionally during their sourthward migration in the fall, but the numbers this year are unusually high and they have arrived unusually early in the season. A similar event occurred in 2007, and it is believed to be a result of the retreat of sea ice from the continental shelf. Wildlife experts worry that there could deadly stampedes along with excessive pressure on prey in the region. Because sea ice loss is expected to continue in the future; this phenomenon is likely to recur.
Walruses are unable to swim for long period of time, and need to rest between feeding trips. They use sea ice as a resting platform as they search for clams in shallow waters along the continental shelf. They generally forage at depths of less than 330 feet.
In the fall of 2007, wildlife experts were surprised to find approximately 6,000 walruses congregated on Alaska’s shore. Russian biologists claimed that as many as 4,000 walruses (total population 200,000), most young animals, were crushed in stampedes. The herds in Alaska did not suffer the same rate of mortality, but wildlife experts are worried that this could become a problem here.
The Center for Biological Diversity is attempting to have the Pacific walrus declared endangered due to habitat loss with global warming. The US Fish and Wildlife Service plans to conduct a status review. There will be a 60-day public comment period that precedes the decision to be made in October 2010, with the final decision made by the Interior secretary a year later. The agency is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to warn away pilots, who can cause stampedes, said walrus researcher Joel Garlich-Miller. So can polar bears or human hunters. There is no legal mechanism to keep hunters away, he said, but people have been letting the animals rest. USGS researchers plan to head to the Chukchi coast next week to place satellite tags on up to 30 animals so their foraging habits can be studied, Jay said.
The 2007 herds prompted researchers to gear up for studies of the animals' new habits last year. However, remnant ice floating apart from the main pack ice kept walruses off shore, Jay said. Their reappearance put the research plans into motion. "We're trying to get more information on how the walruses are responding to the loss of sea ice over the continental shelf, where do they go when they do come to shore like this, how far offshore are they foraging," he said. On land, walruses have to swim out and return rather than diving vertically. That could lead to nutritional stress. "We suspect that it's going to cost them more energy to do that than if they were able to stay on the sea ice," he said. Jay has not heard reports of walrus congregating on Russian shores. One animal tagged on the U.S. side has hauled out there and herds likely are gathering, he said.

Summarized article by Shelley Dawicki 31 August 2009, NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center

Human and Environmental Factors Are Changing the NW Atlantic Ecosystem

According to a new ecosystem status report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), fish in north Atlantic waters from Cape Hatteras to the Canadian border have shifted over the past 40 years from their traditional habitats because of fundamental regional ecosystem changes that include global warming.
The Northeast US Continental Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (NES LME) spans some 100,000 square miles and supports some of the most valuable fisheries in the nation. Michael Fogarty, who leads the Ecosystem Assessment Program at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) of NOAA’s Fisheries Service in Woods Hole, Mass., says that the pressures on the ecosystem include “fishing, pollution, habitat loss from coastal development, and impacts on marine life from shipping and other uses of the ocean. In addition, changing climate conditions are warming ocean waters, changing ocean chemistry and circulation patterns, and altering atmospheric systems. These changes have, in turn, been linked to changes in the distribution and abundance of fish species in the region and their major sources of food.”
The report concludes that there is a need to manage the entire ecosystem as a whole instead of as individual separate regions.
Links:  http://www.noaa.gov
http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/press_release/2009/SciSpot/SS0912/