Latest news with #U.S.NationalOceanicandAtmosphericAdministration
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
'Ignorance' Is Most Pressing Issue Facing Ocean Conservation, Says Sylvia Earle
Credit - Erika Larsen Marine biologist Sylvia Earle could easily rest on her laurels. In a career that began in the 1950s, she has become a pioneer in ocean exploration and conservation. She holds the record for the deepest walk under the sea and was the first female chief scientist at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But on the cusp of her 90th birthday this August, she has no plans to slow down—and believes that the problems currently facing our oceans now have never been more urgent. Her most recent venture, Mission Blue, aims to create a worldwide network of marine protected areas known as 'Hope Spots.' As of June 2, this includes the Chesapeake Bay. TIME spoke to Earle in May after a dive she made in the country's largest estuary. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Read more: Fishing Communities in the Philippines Are Fighting for their Future as Waters Rise TIME: You have been involved in ocean conservation work for decades. What changes have you noticed since you first started this work? EARLE: We have learned more about the nature of the ocean, of the planet as a whole, and even about ourselves. When I was a child, no one had been to the moon, no one had been to the deepest part of the sea. The internet did not exist. Think about the things we did not know, even about the microbial world, and how influential that is on everything and every one. That was just missing in our understanding of how the world functions. [We've learned more about] the magnitude of our climate and what our role has been in bringing about change. In many cases, we've lost more than during all preceding history. What do you feel is the most pressing issue facing our oceans now? Ignorance, complacency, lack of awareness that the ocean is essential to everyone, everywhere, all the time. Every breath we take, every drop of water we drink, we are connected to the ocean. Our very existence depends not just on the existence of rocks and water. 97% of Earth's water is ocean, and ocean is essential to life, but what really matters is that the ocean has populated with creatures who preceded us, not just by centuries or millennia, but hundreds of billions of years, fine tuning rocks and water into a habitable planet. It just seems perverse that we take so much for granted and are so casual about consuming nature [when] you realize how long it has taken for the natural systems to come to a state where we actually can not just survive here, but thrive here. We know what to do. We just need, in this really critical crossroads in time, to use the knowledge we have and to come together. Everybody is, without exception, vulnerable to the state of the planet, the habitability of Earth. If you can't breathe, nothing else quite matters. Or if you don't have water, if you don't have food. All of the basics anchor back to [the idea that] we've got to take care of what keeps Earth, our home, safe in a universe that is really inhospitable. For those who want to go to Mars and set up housekeeping, I say, good luck. It's a great vision. I think we'll get there for a small number of people, for small periods of time, but it's not an alternative to Earth. We are of the Earth. Actually, we are of the ocean, because it's the ocean that makes our existence possible. As someone who has led more than 100 expeditions and logged more than 7,000 hours underwater, what's one thing you wished more people knew about our oceans? I wish people could understand [that the ocean] is not just a massive amount of salt water, but rather it's a living system. What we put into the ocean changes the chemistry of not just the ocean, but of the planetary functions as a whole. The consequences to planetary chemistry, to planetary security, are right now facing us with the prospect of the sharp changes that we won't be able to control if they get to that tipping point. The good news through all of this, I think, is that the world has not tipped yet into a state from which we cannot recover. We've got all the warning signs, the rapid increase temperature, the rapid increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the rapid loss of forests on the land, and the consequences of clear cutting forests, disrupting the carbon cycle, clear cutting the ocean of fish, of squid, of krill from Antarctica, all of this. We know what we need to do. A big part of Mission Blue's work is identifying 'Hope Spots' in the ocean. When much of our ecosystems are under threat, why is it important to you to highlight these areas? The real purpose underlying the Hope Spot concept is to ignite public awareness and support for protecting nature. The Hope Spot is a means to a broader end, to get people to be aware of why the ocean in particular matters. Land and sea together, the whole world is one big, mostly blue hope spot, but [we want to] energize individual champions, communities, institutions, to come together with a common purpose of protecting a place that they know and love. And this is meant to highlight and enforce and support everybody else who's trying to do something to turn from declined to recovery, one hope spot, one community, one champion at a time. And it is contagious. People want to know, what can I do to make a difference? You are almost 90 years old—what keeps you diving? Why not? I think it's important to keep doing the things you love as long as you can. How can I resist when most of the areas on Earth where life exists have yet to be explored. I want to keep doing it as long as I can breathe. Don't you want to do the same thing? Read more from TIME's Ocean Issue The World Isn't Valuing Oceans Properly Meet the Marine Biologist Working to Protect Our Oceans from Deep-Sea Mining Geopolitical Tensions are Shaping the Future of our Oceans Write to Simmone Shah at
NBC News
5 days ago
- Climate
- NBC News
A cloud of Sahara dust is smothering the Caribbean en route to the U.S.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A massive cloud of dust from the Sahara Desert blanketed most of the Caribbean on Monday in the biggest event of its kind this year as it heads toward the United States. The cloud extended some 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) from Jamaica to well past Barbados in the eastern Caribbean, and some 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) from the Turks and Caicos Islands in the northern Caribbean down south to Trinidad and Tobago. 'It's very impressive,' said Alex DaSilva, lead hurricane expert with AccuWeather. The hazy skies unleashed sneezes, coughs and watery eyes across the Caribbean, with local forecasters warning that those with allergies, asthma and other conditions should remain indoors or wear face masks if outdoors. The dust concentration was high, at .55 aerosol optical depth, the highest amount so far this year, said Yidiana Zayas, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The aerosol optical depth measures how much direct sunlight is prevented from reaching the ground by particles, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The plume is expected to hit Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi late this week and into the weekend, DaSilva said. However, plumes usually lose most of their concentration in the eastern Caribbean, he noted. 'Those islands tend to see more of an impact, more of a concentration where it can actually block out the sun a little bit at times,' he said. The dry and dusty air known as the Saharan Air Layer forms over the Sahara Desert in Africa and moves west across the Atlantic Ocean starting around April until about October, according to NOAA. It also prevents tropical waves from forming during the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs June 1 to Nov. 30. June and July usually have the highest dust concentration on average, with plumes traveling anywhere from 5,000 feet to 20,000 feet above the ground, DaSilva said. In June 2020, a record-breaking cloud of Sahara dust smothered the Caribbean. The size and concentration of the plume hadn't been seen in half a century, prompting forecasters to nickname it the 'Godzilla dust cloud.'
5 days ago
- Climate
A colossal cloud of Sahara dust is smothering the Caribbean en route to the US
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- A massive cloud of dust from the Sahara Desert blanketed most of the Caribbean on Monday in the biggest event of its kind this year as it heads toward the United States. The cloud extended some 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) from Jamaica to well past Barbados in the eastern Caribbean, and some 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) from the Turks and Caicos Islands in the northern Caribbean down south to Trinidad and Tobago. 'It's very impressive,' said Alex DaSilva, lead hurricane expert with AccuWeather. The hazy skies unleashed sneezes, coughs and watery eyes across the Caribbean, with local forecasters warning that those with allergies, asthma and other conditions should remain indoors or wear face masks if outdoors. The dust concentration was high, at .55 aerosol optical depth, the highest amount so far this year, said Yidiana Zayas, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The aerosol optical depth measures how much direct sunlight is prevented from reaching the ground by particles, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The plume is expected to hit Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi late this week and into the weekend, DaSilva said. However, plumes usually lose most of their concentration in the eastern Caribbean, he noted. 'Those islands tend to see more of an impact, more of a concentration where it can actually block out the sun a little bit at times,' he said. The dry and dusty air known as the Saharan Air Layer forms over the Sahara Desert in Africa and moves west across the Atlantic Ocean starting around April until about October, according to NOAA. It also prevents tropical waves from forming during the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs June 1 to Nov. 30. June and July usually have the highest dust concentration on average, with plumes traveling anywhere from 5,000 feet to 20,000 feet above the ground, DaSilva said. In June 2020, a record-breaking cloud of Sahara dust smothered the Caribbean. The size and concentration of the plume hadn't been seen in half a century, prompting forecasters to nickname it the 'Godzilla dust cloud.'
Global News
23-05-2025
- Climate
- Global News
It's going to be an active hurricane season, but impact on Atlantic Canada yet to be seen
The Canadian Hurricane Centre is calling for an active Atlantic hurricane season this year, but the actual impact on their response zone is yet to be seen. Bob Robichaud, a warning preparedness meteorologist with the centre, said while they are able to forecast the level of activity in a given hurricane season, it's impossible to predict how many storms will actually form or make landfall because that depends on weather conditions at the time. 'Where these storms go is another thing entirely,' he said. 'Sometimes you can have a very active season but the storm track keeps the storms off shore and you have lower impacts.' He said that historically, 35 to 40 per cent of storms that form in the Atlantic Ocean will enter their response zone each year. Last year it was a low percentage, and only one — Ernesto — directly made impact in August. Indirect impacts of other storms, including Debby in August, did affect the Atlantic provinces. Story continues below advertisement 1:47 Warm waters make it difficult to predict hurricanes 'These predictions at the seasonal scale are not really predictions of where these storms will go or what areas will be affected, it's just a prediction of the total hurricane activity in the Atlantic region,' said Robichaud. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy American forecasters released their annual forecast yesterday — calling for an above-average season. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted a 60 per cent chance of an above-normal season, with a 30 per cent chance of a normal season. Their outlook is calling for 13 to 19 named storms, of which six to 10 would be hurricanes, and three to five would be major hurricanes. Factors for the above-average outlook include a lack of El Nino to impede hurricane development, warmer than normal temperatures in the Atlantic basin, and a northern shift of the West African monsoon. Story continues below advertisement Last year, the Canadian Hurricane Centre predicted 17 to 25 named storms, and there were 18 that actually formed. Robichaud said that these forecasts are an important reminder for people to prepare by identifying their personal risks, and then mitigating them. 'To really get prepared for some of these more extreme events, it's really important to know your risks. It may be different for everybody,' he said. 'If somebody is on a well, for example, a power outage will be very different compared to someone who is not (on well water) who will continue to have water during a power outage.' Another important risk factor is proximity to the coast, and whether evacuation is needed. 'Those are the things that should be considered now, not when the storm is approaching, not when the storm is on the map,' he said. Hurricane season runs from June 1 until Nov. 30, with the peak typically between mid-August and mid-October.
Global News
22-05-2025
- Climate
- Global News
‘Be prepared': Atlantic hurricane season could see up to 5 major storms
It's looking to be another active Atlantic hurricane season this year. U.S. forecasters are expecting above-normal activity over the next six months with up to five major storms possible. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its annual forecast for the Atlantic and predicted a 60 per cent chance of an above-normal season, with a 30 per cent chance of a normal season. According to NOAA, the season will see a range of 13 to 19 total named storms in which winds will reach 39 miles per hour, or 62 kilometres per hour. Of those tropical storms, it's expected six to 10 will become hurricanes with winds of 74 miles per hour or more — about 119 kilometres per hour, with three to five major storms reaching category three or higher. Story continues below advertisement NOAA says it has a 70 per cent confidence in these ranges. 'This outlook is a call to action: be prepared,' said NOAA's national weather service director Ken Graham. Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "This outlook is a call to action: be prepared," said NOAA's national weather service director Ken Graham. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'Take proactive steps now to make a plan and gather supplies to ensure you're ready before a storm threatens.' Those numbers are in line with what researchers at Colorado State University, whose data is widely watched, which forecast 17 named storms, nine hurricanes and four reaching major status. 2:00 Hurricane Milton: Death toll climbs as Florida assesses storm damage While the forecast comes from the U.S. agency, Canadians could still be impacted by powerful storms potentially heading their way. Remnants of Hurricane Beryl, a category five storm, brought torrential rainfall to southern Ontario last July, with up to four inches also reported in parts of Montreal. Story continues below advertisement Flash flooding was also reported in Nova Scotia as a result of the storm's remaining moisture moving into the region. Unlike last year, La Nina is no longer in effect, but NOAA researchers say warmer than average ocean temperatures and forecasts of weaker wind shear — which can disrupt the storms — are creating favourable conditions for the more active season. The agency also said there's the potential for a northward shift of the West African monsoon, which can produce tropical waves that 'seed some of the strongest and most long-lived storms.' This year's forecast, however, is slightly lower than what was seen last year when La Nina was in effect. At that time, NOAA was forecasting an 85 per cent chance of an above-normal season with 17 to 25 named storms, eight to 13 hurricanes and four to seven reaching major status. Hurricane season runs from June 1 until Nov. 30, with the peak typically between mid-August and mid-October.
