Drawing the Line

Article PhotoOn the day of the national Step It Up events, we walked into downtown Seattle from Capitol Hill to check out the demonstration. As we headed along 1st Avenue, we noticed a line of birdseed running down the sidewalk ahead of us. It continued for blocks. A number of shop owners and restaurant workers were outside their storefronts sweeping the seed into the gutter. When asked what this was all about, one flustered employee replied, “Some group of protesters,” and indicated down the street. We kept walking and eventually came upon the head of the lengthening line — a group of people with fanny packs filled with birdseed, dispensing it as they moved slowly forward. We asked them what they were doing, and they explained they were marking the point to which sea levels would rise in the next few decades of we don’t address climate change (rather like the Future Sea Level project, but on a much larger scale). We asked if they were representing a particular group or organization, but they seemed to be a hodgepodge of concerned citizens, identifying only as involved participants of Step It Up. We headed on our way and eventually the intervention faded… (more)

(Posted by Sarah Rich in Climate Change at 10:00 AM)

Greenpeace – Making Waves: Cod battered by Global Warming

Alison writes:

I thought you might be interested in reading and possibly linking to the following article on the effect of climate change on fisheries, published today in the Asbury Park Press.

Of note is the historic decision of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to prohibit any bottom-trawl commercial fishing off the far north of Alaska past the Bering Strait — at least until scientists figure out the effects of sea ice retreat and warming.

Climate change already affects ocean ecosystems and seafood production off the shores of North America, according to a new report on the long decline and now-stalled recovery of Atlantic cod and a decision by Alaska fisheries regulators to seal off America’s farthest northern waters to fishing.

Warming in the Arctic may be one reason why cod are so slow to return to Atlantic waters, despite years of increased restrictions on fishing, says Brian Rothschild of the University of Massachusetts.

“Everyone has attributed the declines of cod, especially in Canada, to overfishing,” said Rothschild, dean of the UMass School for Marine Science and Technology. […]

Now, “fishermen think things are changing in the Atlantic,” he added. “If this is part of a global climate change event, these things may not come back.”

Read more or Take action: Help tackle global warming in 7 steps

Dreams of Europe in Drought-Stricken Morocco

Moroccan officials blame the drought for an expected slump in Morocco’s economic growth this year, showing how farming in the kingdom still relies on smallholdings that lie beyond the network of dams and irrigation channels that guarantee water in dry years.