FEMA will use the results of this sea level rise study to assess the long-term fiscal implications of climate change as it affects the frequency and effects of natural disasters. Information from the study will be shared with other states to inform their climate change mitigation efforts.

“…the study will complement an existing study currently being performed by FEMA which focuses on the effect of climate change on the National Flood Insurance Program.” – Phil May

According to FEMA Regional Administrator Phil May, the information and results from this study may help formulate strategies to deal with potential effects of sea level rise on the nation’s coast.   Read more...

Philippe Cousteau, grandson of legendary ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau and founder of Earth Echo, and Ted Danson, award-winning actor, longtime ocean advocate and Oceana board member, urged the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources to protect our oceans and climate from the threats of offshore drilling.

In their testimonies, they called on Congress to quickly reinstate the moratorium on offshore drilling, which was allowed to lapse in 2008 under Bush.

Philippe Cousteau urged Congress to reinstate the offshore drilling bans that until last fall had been in effect for 25 years in Atlantic and Pacific coastal waters.

“Oil and water simply don’t mix,” said Danson. “While not intentional, oil spills do happen and they harm everything from the smallest ocean organisms to the largest predators in the sea.”   Read more...

NOAA is unveiling a new El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Alert System today.

“The ENSO Alert System will succinctly inform industry, government agencies, academia and the public about the onset and status of La Niña and El Niño. This system will also help decision makers plan for the potential effects presented by these conditions.”

La Niña: cooler than normal sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean that impacts weather globally.

La Niño: the opposite of El Niña, or warmer than normal ocean temperatures.

These changes in ocean temperatures alter the tropical wind and rainfall patterns with far reaching implications.

Tropical Pacific Sea Surface Temperature
Weekly averaged sea surface temperatures for the past twelve weeks. (Credit: NOAA)   Read more...

To be honest, the only thing I’ve ever learned from pluff mud is I wish I’d worn an older pair of sneakers every time I step in it, ’cause 9 times out of 10, they’re ready for the trash after that.

Anyway, just like the ice cores I’ve learned about on the Discovery Channel, scientists have been saving up mud samples from around the world too. The earliest mud core from the Deep-Sea Sample Repository is a 1947 sample.

That may not seem that long ago, but the 5′ mud cores hold tons of data about the climate, including: water salinity, CO2 density, and other footprints that, when analyzed over time, are valuable sources of information for scientists. With it, they learn about global conditions present from a mud core’s time line in history.   Read more...