Sudden Oak Disease Arrives in Washington State – KUOW

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Al Bergstein

Very disturbing news given that the disease can attack rhododendrons, Douglas firs, and western larches. 

A Disease That’s Felled Forests in California and Oregon Shows up in Washington http://www.opb.org/news/article/a-disease-thats-felled-forests-in-california-and-oregon-shows-up-in-washington/

It’s a sunny spring morning at the Bloedel Reserve, a public garden on Puget Sound’s Bainbridge Island. Roads lead to paths lined with blossoming bushes and trees. Darren Strenge, the reserve’s plant health manager, is showing me the rhododendron glen. That’s where a gardener first spotted a problem back in 2015: a plant that wasn’t healthy…. Strenge took a sample and sent it into a lab. The answer came back: the plant had the pathogen that causes sudden oak death. The disease has decimated forests in California and infected forests in southwestern Oregon. And now it’s made a return to Western Washington, where rhododendrons, Douglas firs, and western larches are most susceptible. It has the potential for such disastrous effects that agencies, scientists, and citizens are working together to try to keep it under control. Eilís O’Neill reports. (KUOW/EarthFix)

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I am an Arctic researcher. Donald Trump is deleting my citations – Guardian

Posted on March 29, 2017 by Al Bergstein

Very disturbing news about what is happening to our base of science from the incredibly malicious Trump Administration. We saw similar  wanton destruction of science to validate a political point of view from the Harper Administration in Canada about three years ago. We can only hope that they are simply deleting web pages and not the actual data, which, in case I have to remind anyone, is data that we, the taxpayers, paid for. It is not theirs to delete. Perhaps a lawsuit is in order?

Just over 1% of US Arctic waters have been surveyed to modern standards. In truth, some of the maps we use today haven’t been updated since the second world war. Navigating uncharted waters can prove difficult, but it comes with the territory of working in such a remote part of the world.

Over the past two months though, I’ve been navigating a different type of uncharted territory: the deleting of what little data we have by the Trump administration.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/28/arctic-researcher-donald-trump-deleting-my-citations

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Sea Ice at Poles Exhibiting “Crazy” behavior – Scientific American

Posted on December 8, 2016 by Al Bergstein

It does not matter one iota whether Donald Trump’s regime believes in global warming or not. It’s happening, now, and far faster than our scientists hoped. Often these kinds of changes grow exponential, and there are some signs that it may be true. Trump is not going to ignore it, he will have to deal with it, no matter what he calls it. And so will we. Port Townsend is already having to deal with emergency jetty and break water repairs to have them last the winter. These costs are millions of dollars at a moment in time when our taxing authority has been limited due to Tim Eyman’s misguided initiatives.

“There are some really crazy things going on,” said Mark Serreze, director of the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado, saying temperatures in parts of the Arctic were 20 degrees Celsius (36°F) above normal some days in November.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/polar-sea-ice-the-size-of-india-reportedly-vanishes-in-record-heat/?linkId=32081414

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Perils of Climate Change Could Swamp Coastal Real Estate – NY Times

Posted on November 25, 2016 by Al Bergstein

It really doesn’t matter in some ways what the Trump administration does or does not do on the issue of global warming and sea level rise. The planet is going to react to CO2 regardless of what we do. It has existed without politics for billions of years. It doesn’t care who we elect, it works on chemical, geological and biological factors. While it would be nice to have an administration that took it seriously and provided funding to help communities mitigate the effects of what we continue to do globally, this article points out that the real estate market and insurance companies, along with the effected communities, are already  dealing with the issue. People that live on the coast and  own property there, are on the front of the wave, so to speak. They will pay the costs first. It will only get worse, as we are too far along with global warming to reverse all the trends even if we stopped using fossil fuel tomorrow. The lag time of the effect is longer than one lifetime.

That’s why I’m pushing the notion that we should continue to focus on the local, state and regional levels to make meaningful changes, while we wait out the Trump administration. Your personal decisions will matter more than ever. What you eat, what you decide to drive, will be part of how we craft this part of the US to survive four years of inaction at the federal level. If you own property at sea level, you should be pondering what you are going to do. Don’t expect help from the Feds. America has voted in an administration that does not even believe your problem exists. No amount of deregulation is going to help you. As Roger Miller said, “You can’t roller skate in an buffalo herd.”

Real estate agents looking to sell coastal properties usually focus on one thing: how close the home is to the water’s edge. But buyers are increasingly asking instead how far back it is from the waterline. How many feet above sea level? Is it fortified against storm surges? Does it have emergency power and sump pumps? Rising sea levels are changing the way people think about waterfront real estate. Though demand remains strong and developers continue to build near the water in many coastal cities, homeowners across the nation are slowly growing wary of buying property in areas most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Ian Urbina reports. (NY Times)

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/24/science/global-warming-coastal-real-estate.html

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Youth Activists Demand Tougher Limits On Climate Pollution – KNKX

Posted on September 7, 2016 by Al Bergstein

The first news we’ve posted from the new KNKX (formerly KPLU!). So happy that they were able to stay independent. I’ve stopped all donations to KUOW this year to protest their underhanded way of attempting to buy out the competition, and their endless repetitive news stories. As to this news, all I can say is, “Go Kids! Don’t Stop! It’s your future.”

The Washington kids who filed suit against the state Department of Ecology to get tougher limits on carbon pollution say current policies don’t go far enough. Together with their backers, they’ve unveiled more aggressive legislation they say would protect their constitutional right to clean air.  In April, a King County Superior Court judge ordered the state Department of Ecology to issue an emissions reduction rule by the end of the year and to consult with the young plaintiffs about the latest science before making recommendations to the legislature in 2017.  This was after eight youngsters filed suit in cooperation with the national group, Our Children’s Trust, which has brought similar cases across the country. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

http://knkx.org/post/youth-activists-demand-tougher-limits-climate-pollution

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From mountain forests to city parks, trees are stressed and dying – Seattle Times

Posted on August 8, 2016 by Al Bergstein

While this story highlights problems in Seattle, the article also points to problems statewide. Climate change is here, and we are going to have to roll with it’s  its punches. A small thought out of this article, is for those of you with birch trees (I’m one of them ). Hold off on any tree trimming until later in the fall. The birch beetles noted in this article are active until about August (so the historical data tells us). I’m unclear as to whether they are going to be active longer into the year, but I’m planning on doing my annual trimming after the leaves fall. Trimming causes stress to the tree, which is what the borers are looking for.

The killing effects of the long, hot drought of 2015 are showing up in dying tree tops, thinning needles, burgeoning beetles and an unprecedented number of dead trees in city parks.

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/from-mountain-forests-to-city-parks-trees-are-stressed-and-dying/

Support local journalism, subscribe to local news.

Filed under: Around the Salish Sea, Climate Change, Puget Sound | Tagged: | 2 Comments »

The Siege of Miami – New Yorker

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Al Bergstein

What does Miami have to do with the Olympic Peninsula? It’s all about a ring side seat to the real story of global warming that isn’t being told by the mainstream press, because of fear of panic in high value real estate locales like Miami.This is a clear picture of how bad things are going to get, real fast. Miami is going under water, now, and other than it’s mayor, no one wants to admit it. Read this fascinating story from the front lines of a major American city about to be returned to the sea,perhaps in our life times.

 In November, researchers reported that, owing to the loss of an ice shelf off northeastern Greenland, a new “floodgate” on the ice sheet had opened. All told, Greenland’s ice holds enough water to raise global sea levels by twenty feet……..Of all the world’s cities, Miami ranks second in terms of assets vulnerable to rising seas—No. 1 is Guangzhou—and in terms of population it ranks fourth, after Guangzhou, Mumbai, and Shanghai. A recent report on storm surges in the United States listed four Florida cities among the eight most at risk. (On that list, Tampa came in at No. 1.) For the past several years, the daily high-water mark in the Miami area has been racing up at the rate of almost an inch a year, nearly ten times the rate of average global sea-level rise. 

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/12/21/the-siege-of-miami

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New Puget Sound climate study: Older projections coming true, more changes ahead – Tacoma News Tribune

Posted on December 3, 2015 by Al Bergstein

More local updates on climate change science and it’s impacts. We are now entering a period where the first waves of local data and predictions are behind us, and we can start to compare those predictions with real data. The problems we are going to have with river flows, snowpack and salmon are going to take very hard work to mitigate, if they can be at all.  Anyone wishing to jump in can contact me about opportunities. Many exist. A lot of us have been spending years of our lives contributing to prioritization of issues, and meetings to debate those priorities. It’s a small group that rotates through, due to lack of interest by the general public in participating and we are always willing to have new people contribute as they can.

If you are in a hurry, simply go to the link of the report and read the Executive Summary.

Closer to home than the thousands of world leaders in Paris to discuss how to limit the scale of human-caused global warming, the consequences of climate change underway around Puget Sound have been detailed in an in-depth scientific study. The report, issued in November [https://cig.uw.edu/resources/special-reports/ps-sok/] by the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group, found projections in a 2005 study on potential warming effects have come to pass, its authors said. The consequences threaten cornerstones of South Sound life from worsening floods and droughts to diminishing salmon stocks and snowpacks. Derrick Nunnally reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article47561745.html

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First EPA chief accuses Republicans of ignoring science for political gain – The Guardian

Posted on November 23, 2015 by Al Bergstein

William Ruckelshaus, who this week will receive the presidential medal of freedom, says candidates are harming US’s reputation ahead of Paris climate talks

The man considered the father figure of environmental protection in the US has attacked Republicans for “going through all the stages of denial” over climate change, accusing leading presidential contenders Donald Trump and Marco Rubio of ignoring science for political gain.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/nov/23/epa-william-ruckelshaus-republicans-climate-change?

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Washington Tribe Confronts Climate Change, Sea Level Rise – Earthfix KUOW

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Al Bergstein

Climate change adaptation strikes home here on the west coast of the Olympic Peninsula. The Quinault Indian Nation is struggling sea level rise and the loss of the Anderson Glacier, which feeds the Quinault River.

TAHOLAH, Wash. – A big question will confront international leaders in the next round of climate talks in Paris: How do they help poor, island and coastal nations threatened by rising oceans, extreme weather and other climate change-related risks?

In the Northwest, sea-level rise is forcing a Native American tribe to consider abandoning lands it has inhabited for thousands of years. – Ashley Ahearn reports.

http://kuow.org/post/washington-tribe-confronts-climate-change-sea-level-rise?utm_source=Sightline%20Institute&utm_medium=web-email&utm_campaign=Sightline%20News%20Selections

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July 2015 was warmest month ever recorded for the globe – NOAA

Posted on August 22, 2015 by Al Bergstein

The data is in from NOAA, and it’s not good.  In addition, January-July 2015 also had record warm temperatures and globally the oceans heated up. From South America, through Africa, the data points to the highest temperatures recorded since record keeping in 1880.

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/service/global/extremes/201507.gif

(graphic from NOAA)
These numbers simply belie the fact that moving to clean energy is crucial to having any success in reversing this trend, or mitigating it. The numbers however, don’t show the facts on the ground, where drought, massive and unprecedented wildfires, and ocean destruction are impacting us now, and into the future. There is no time left to push solutions into the future.

Here in Jefferson County, there appears to be no backup plan if we get another winter without snowpack. I have heard nothing from County or City leaders, on what will be done if the water from the rivers is not present. That situation is happening now, and will not likely break until midwinter. Lots of talk about September through November water rationing, but scientists are predicting a very dry winter.

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/summary-info/global/201507

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Washington businesses unite on climate action – Crosscut

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Al Bergstein

Ultimately, it is probably going to have to be the business community that gets the politicians to act. Insurance companies and groups like this will be the kind of influencers that the political hacks that have just been elected will need to hear.

With a snow-capped Mount Rainier as their poster child, Washington businesses have joined forces to take a stand on climate change. More than 100 businesses — from REI and Virginia Mason to Taylor Shellfish and Microsoft — launched a declaration calling for “climate action.” While they didn’t know what the outcome of the November election would be when they came together, their message remains the same. “Tackling climate change,” a declaration from the group says, “is one of Washington’s greatest economic opportunities of the 21st century. And it’s simply the right thing to do.” Martha Baskin reports. (Crosscut)

http://crosscut.com/2014/11/14/climate/122769/businesses-and-climate-looking-ahead/

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The Mother Nature of climate protests comes Sunday with offspring here – Seattle PI.com

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Al Bergstein

If you are concerned about getting the attention of the general population, who are vaguely aware of the issue of the issue of Climate Change, you might want to take part in one of these two ‘super protests’ or look into the various other local ones being planned around the Peninsula.

….An estimated 1,000 organizations are working to mount the mother of all environmental demonstrations this Sunday in Manhattan.  Its aim, along with other events worldwide, is the biggest impact on public consciousness since the first Earth Day in 1970…. The Puget Sound area will see two offshoot demonstrations. The first will take place Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m.at the Peace Arch in Blaine, with a heavy emphasis on protecting the Salish Sea — inland waters of Washington and British Columbia through which millions of salmon pass en route to the Fraser river…. The second event will be a Peoples Climate March in Seattle, slated for Westlake Park at 1 p.m.  Joel Connelly reports. (SeattlePI.Com)

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2014/09/15/the-mother-nature-of-climate-protests-comes-sunday-with-offspring-here/#4530101=0

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Report from the Climate Change Front – State Senator Kevin Ranker at the NW Straits Conference

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Al Bergstein

Washington State is in the forefront of the impacts of climate change around the world. In addition to actually feeling the effects, in alarming problems emerging in our waters that are impacting shellfish, we have a state legislature and governor that have demanded and funded serious scientific study along with  a feedback loop to the lawmakers from the Governor’s directives, as well as State law.

It is difficult to collate all the scientific efforts of this funding into a neat package, but once or twice a year, we get a window into that work. The Northwest Straits Initiative, which for over 15 years has brought together scientists, business interests, tribes  and volunteer citizens, holds their annual conference.  These people belong to the Marine Resource Committees  (MRCs) of seven counties, from Snohomish to the Canadian border, and west through the Strait of Juan de Fuca (along with non-NW Straits Initiative managed counties along the Coast). The MRC  representatives  come together to share the stories of their work, and hear a unified program of science efforts that support or influence that work.

This year, the conference attendees, were treated to an update on many of the various climate change issues that they face. As part of our coverage of this important conference, and because the NW Straits does not have the financial capabilities to hold a large public forum, we  at the Olympic Peninsula Environmental News present a series of presentations to you over the next few weeks, to allow the general public to hear what was told to the attendees. Given that the attendees are mainly volunteers (there are a few part time staff members in each jurisdiction to help in project management and grant writing), and come forward from the local communities, for those who are interested in volunteering, or cannot afford the time and money to attend the conference, we will post audio of all the presentations we were able to cover, which was all but two, and in addition, as time allows, we will also post the powerpoint presentations of those speakers who used it.

Washington State Senator Kevin leads off the presentations. Hailing from  San Juan County,  Senator Ranker has been instrumental in providing support with funding and legislation to scientific research and policy guidance on ocean acidification (OA). OA research is a critical to fund, as the effects of the increased acidification, in even small degrees, appears to have serious outcomes on shellfish, which provides over $270 million dollars a year (2010 number), and over 3200 direct jobs, most of them in rural and lower income communities around the Sea.  These jobs also support the wider communities they live in with indirect jobs, in supporting industries.

Senator Ranker’s presentation can be found at the following link. You can listen to it right here, or download it for later listening on any MP3 player, or your tablet or PC. The presentation is 38 minutes long, and Senator Ranker’s slides will likely be available later. It is our opinion that not immediately having his slides will not detract from his message. The Senator is a very humorous and off the cuff speaker.

If you wish to attend any of the monthly MRC meetings in your area, check their local web sites. All meetings are open to the public and are advertised in advance. You can also support the work of the NW Straits Initiative, by donating to the NW Straits Foundation. Their web site is http://www.nwstraits.org and http://www.nwstraits.org/Foundation/About.aspx.

Filed under: Around the Sound, Climate Change, Events, fisheries, Government, legislation, ocean acidification, People | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

What Climate Change Means For Northwest’s Rivers, Coasts and Forests – Earthfix

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Al Bergstein

The science continues to come in on this. A good luck at the economic factors that will be affected.

Northwest residents from Idaho farmers to Puget Sound tribes will be impacted by climate change, according to a new report written by scientists at Oregon State University and the University of Washington. The report was issued Monday. It’s based on models that predict average temperatures in the Northwest will rise over the next fifty years. Amelia Templeton reports.

 

 http://earthfix.kcts9.org/communities/article/what-climate-change-means-for-northwests-rivers-co/

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Scientific report raises possibilty of massive ocean rise NY Times

Posted on August 17, 2013 by Al Bergstein

New evidence points to what has happened before when the earth warms up.

Filed under: Climate Change | Tagged: | 1 Comment »

Climate Change And The Republican Party – KUOW.ORG

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Al Bergstein

Great interview with Bill Ruckelshaus. He and other Republicans who have headed the EPA have come out with a call to their fellow Republicans currently in Congress, to get with the program and accept Climate Change. 
Former head of the Environmental Protection Agency and former co-chair of the Puget Sound Partnership, William Ruckelshaus explains why the Republican Party needs to take action on climate change.

Why is this important to us on the Olympic Peninsula? Because climate change is affecting the oceans, meaning severe changes to fish and shellfish. It could mean huge costs to move facilities up off the waterfront as oceans rise. Larger and more powerful storms are predicted, much like Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast. Also, we get most of our water from the runoff from snowpack in the mountains. That could mean a significant reduction in drinking water in the future.  We are thrilled that Mr. Ruckelshaus and others have taken this stand against their own party’s inaction.

Check with KUOW.ORG to find this interview, as it was live today, will likely be rebroadcast tonight, and likely posted on their web site soon.

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Legislature approves several Puget Sound priority bills

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Al Bergstein
The fact that what did get put forward in the legislature this year did get passed is good news. Other bills that were important died in committee, some with very little help from even their sponsors (such as the bill allowing the banning of net pens that was sponsored by Representative Kevin Van De Wege and lightly supported by him). However, the rubber will meet the road in Olympia, this week and next, as the budget tries to get through. All these bills’ funding is stalled in the Senate, which, with a small Republican majority, is blocking a final budget. If you are so inclined, call your Representatives and Senator and tell them to get this done.  Kudos to NGO’s such as Washington Environmental Coalition, Puget Soundkeepers, Audubon, and companies such as Taylor Shellfish, who have stepped into a leadership role fighting Ocean Acidification, along with  many others who championed these bills.
———————————————————————————–
Gov. Jay Inslee has signed into law all of the Puget Sound priority bills. Most recently, partners celebrated the signing of bills that prevent derelict vessels (ESHB 1245), prevent aquatic invasive species (SB 5702), strengthen the management of our coastal resources and protect Washington waters from the effects of ocean acidification (SB 5603). Attention remains on the budget, where little progress is visible toward bridging the significant impasse between the House and Senate.

Filed under: Climate Change, Government, legislation, ocean acidification | Tagged: , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Sediment Health in Central Puget Sound Declining Over 10 years

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Al Bergstein

The Department of Ecology (DOE) has just released a report showing that the health of Central Puget Sound sediment is declining over the last 10 years. The life that lives in the sediment, called Benthic invertebrates, have declined dramatically. This goes along with increasing ocean acidification that has been seen in Puget Sound and Hood Canal. These is not good news.

The good news can be seen in that  that lead, mercury and the ingredient in fire retardant has decreased in the sediment.

But the bad news is that “Ecology has observed similar declines in benthic invertebrate health in other regions and bays throughout Puget Sound, including the Strait of Georgia, Hood Canal, Elliott Bay, Commencement Bay, and Bainbridge Basin. Poor sediment health also has been observed in Bellingham Bay, Budd Inlet, the Eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the San Juan Islands.”

We’re hoping that given these results that Ecology won’t wait another 10 years to test.  To be clear, one of the key issues that the Puget Sound Partnership found in their prioritization of issues that has taken them a number of years to collect, is that monitoring has been lacking in key areas. It’s gratifying to see that monitoring appears to be getting done at long last.

___________________________________________________________________________

Washington State Department of Ecology – June 4, 2013

13-142

Sediment health in Central Puget Sound declining

OLYMPIA – Sediments in the bottom of Central Puget Sound show declining environmental health over a 10-year period, according to a just-released report from the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology).

Central Puget Sound is the area south of Whidbey Island to the Tacoma Narrows. It includes industrialized and urbanized Elliott and Commencement bays, Sinclair Inlet and Bainbridge Basin.

“The overall decline in sediment health is important because it is an indicator of the health of Puget Sound,” said Valerie Partridge, Ecology’s lead author for the report.

 

The report, “Sediment Quality in Central Puget Sound, Changes Over a Ten-Year Period,” compared sediment samples the state program collected in 2008 and 2009 to samples it collected in 1998 and 1999.

 

The comparison found the decline in health of sediment-dwelling life – known as benthic invertebrates – had spread to 28 percent of the region, up from 7 percent.

 

Benthic invertebrates are a key part of the marine food web.

The decline could not be attributed to any significant chemical contamination that Ecology measured. The major driving factor contributing to the decline in sediment health was the change in the number and types of benthic invertebrates, including a shift to more pollution-tolerant species.

 

Ecology also found an increase in low-level toxicity in the sediments over a wider area compared with previous testing in Central Puget Sound.

The study also turned up good news. Central Sound sediments showed a decrease in concentrations of lead, mercury, silver, tin and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. It also found that more samples are meeting state sediment quality standards in the heavily industrialized areas of Elliott and Commencement bays. These trends suggest positive results from collective cleanups and pollution prevention efforts in those areas.

Ecology scientists are not sure why the negative changes are taking place.

 

Maggie Dutch, lead scientist for Ecology’s Puget Sound Sediment Monitoring Program said: “The sediment monitoring program was established to measure levels of toxic chemicals throughout Puget Sound, and to determine their effects on benthic invertebrate communities. While we have seen improvements in the condition of these communities in urban areas that have undergone cleanup of toxics, we are also seeing unexpected declines in community condition where toxic chemicals we measure were not detected.Other human and natural factors in Puget Sound could be a cause.”

Dutch said some of the factors that may influence the health of the organisms in the sediments include:

  • Changes in food resources that sink through the water and reach the bottom sediments.
  • Changes in dissolved oxygen, pH, and levels of ammonia and sulfides in the water above and within the sediments.
  • Natural population cycles of sediment-dwelling organisms that may be influenced by oceanic cycles.
  • Sediment movement and burial.
  • Unmeasured contaminants, including contaminants of emerging concern, contaminant mixtures, and contaminants that may sicken but not kill marine life.

Dutch said, “While we did not measure these other factors, we will link our data to other projects that may have this information to help us map out causes.”

 

The state’s regional sediment monitoring is part of the Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program (PSEMP). The program is a collaboration of state, federal, tribal, local government, non-governmental, watershed, business, private and volunteer groups dedicated to monitoring the environmental conditions of Puget Sound.

 

Ken Dzinbal, PSEMP lead for the Puget Sound Partnership, said: “Marine monitoring is important because you can’t fix what you don’t measure. Monitoring tells us if Puget Sound is getting better or if it’s getting worse.”

“We are seeing trends. We have ideas about the causes of problems. Our monitoring helps tell us if we are testing the right things and helps us identify solutions to pollution problems,” Dzinbal said.

 

Scientists have developed several ecological indicators to track the health of the Puget Sound ecosystem and how it changes over time. Ecology’s sediment science has been adopted by the Puget Sound Partnership as Vital Signs Dashboard Indicators.

While the Central Sound findings are for the region as a whole, Ecology’s marine monitoring program has separate surveys and separate reports for Elliott Bay, Commencement Bay and the Bainbridge Basin (including Sinclair Inlet). The stories of the bays are different from the story of the region as a whole.

 

Ecology has observed similar declines in benthic invertebrate health in other regions and bays throughout Puget Sound, including the Strait of Georgia, Hood Canal, Elliott Bay, Commencement Bay, and Bainbridge Basin. Poor sediment health also has been observed in Bellingham Bay, Budd Inlet, the Eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the San Juan Islands.

Ecology is conducting follow-up sediment sampling in Elliott Bay. Sediment monitoring of urban bays is part of Ecology’s Urban Waters Initiative, which began in 2007.

 

Ecology’s data and documentation can be found on Ecology’s marine sediment monitoring website.

###

Media contact

Sandy Howard, Ecology media relations, 360-407-6408 (desk); 360-791-3177 (cell); Sandy.Howard@ecy.wa.gov

For more information:

 

Marine sediment monitoring photos on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecologywa/sets/72157633790434413/)

Department of Ecology’s Environmental Assessment Program (http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/eap/index.html)

Puget Sound Partnership as Vital Signs Dashboard Indicators (http://www.psp.wa.gov/vitalsigns/)

Ecology’s social media (www.ecy.wa.gov/about/newmedia.html)

Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.

 

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Costs of Shoring Up Coastal Communities–NY Times

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Al Bergstein

A contentious bit of the Shoreline Master Programs is the continuing calls written into them,  for the end of shoreline armoring. There are many reasons to be in favor of ‘soft armoring’. One is, it really doesn’t work. Here’s another good reason. A lesson written large for us to learn.

For more than a century, for good or ill, New Jersey has led the nation in coastal development. Many of the barrier islands along its coast have long been lined by rock jetties, concrete sea walls or other protective armor. Most of its coastal communities have beaches only because engineers periodically replenish them with sand pumped from offshore. Now much of that sand is gone. Though reports are still preliminary, coastal researchers say that when Hurricane Sandy came ashore, it washed enormous quantities of sand off beaches and into the streets — or even all the way across barrier islands into the bays behind them. But even as these towns clamor for sand, scientists are warning that rising seas will make maintaining artificial beaches prohibitively expensive or simply impossible. Even some advocates of artificial beach nourishment now urge new approaches to the issue, especially in New Jersey.

Filed under: Climate Change | Comments Off on Costs of Shoring Up Coastal Communities–NY Times

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