In conjunction with the thesis below, this PowerPoint presentation illustrates the colossal detrimental affect the seafood industry is having on our world’s oceans, along with problems associated with the aquaculture industry.
The Seafood Industry’s Affect on the World’s Oceans
The Affects of the Seafood Industry on the World’s Oceans
The seafood industry is indubitably an economic giant. Over one billion people in the world today rely on seafood as a primary source of food (“Overfishing of the Oceans”). The seafood industry employs over a million people worldwide. The revenue from seafood for the year 2009 was approximately $10.5 billion in the United States alone. Clearly, this giant is a force to be reckoned with. Yet just how vast and limitless are our world’s oceans? The seafood industry is having a monumental effect within our oceans that is tantamount to the clear-cutting of the rainforests. Yet this destruction generates far fewer protests as it is, for the most part, hidden beneath the waves. Indeed, even for those who recognize the environmental issues associated with the seafood industry, it is difficult to grasp the broad scope of the problem. There are two primary approaches to harvesting seafood: wild-caught and farm-raised. Each method of catching or farming of seafood has its own environmental footprint; its own set of pros and cons. Although many fishing practices are undeniably environmentally detrimental, there are some fisheries that operate in a sustainable way. By choosing methods that are more sustainable for the long term – and do not simply generate the most immediate revenue – our oceans may have a chance to be saved.
The primary environmental issues generated from wild-caught seafood are overfishing, illegal and unregulated fishing, habitat damage, and bycatch. Wild-caught seafood is an age-old tradition. Indeed, ocean fish are the last creatures on earth that we humans hunt on a large scale. However in the 1800s, the Industrial Revolution began to make fishing an unfair fight. Fishing technologies have become so advanced that they are capable of finding, and harvesting, essentially all of the fish in the sea. These factors lead to the first issue with wild seafood: overfishing. Overfishing is simply removing fish at a faster rate than they can reproduce. In July of 2009, marine biologists Marine Boris Worm and Ray Hilborn predicted in Science magazine that by the year 2048, world food fisheries as we know them would completely collapse. Additional research confirms this hypothesis, but adds that this crisis can be avoided by halting overfishing (“Alison Barratt on the State of the Oceans Health”). Currently, about 75% of the world’s fish populations are fully exploited, over exploited, or collapsed. Most commercial fish populations are well below natural levels (Monterey Bay Aquarium, Seafood Watch). The global fishing fleet is estimated to be two and a half times that of sustainable levels. In just the past decade, Atlantic populations of halibut, bluefin tuna, swordfish, haddock, and yellowtail flounder have joined the list of species at record low levels. In the early 1990s, the once all-powerful North Atlantic cod fishery completely collapsed due to overfishing. Overfishing has the greatest affects on larger, long-lived species. These larger fish have long life spans and slow reproduction rates, and are therefore vulnerable to extinction. Large predatory fish, such as tuna, swordfish, and shark, have been reduced to just 10% of their original population size (“Overfishing of the Oceans”). Unfortunately, these large species include some of our favorite seafoods, such as tuna. These giants can grow up to three metres in length and can weigh over 450 kg. Over the past 50 years, the world consumption of tuna has increased ten times – from .4 million to 4 million tons. The population of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna has been declining rapidly and may disappear entirely in less than a decade without major immediate changes to management of wild stocks. As countless fish populations continue to collapse (the global catch of wild fish leveled off over 20 years ago), our demand for them has continued to rise. It is estimated that by the year 2030, the world will need an additional 37 million tons of fish per year to maintain the current levels of consumption (“Fish catch and production”). This generates a cycle that cannot be sustained for long.
Another issue generated with wild-caught seafood is illegal and unregulated fishing. International fisheries management agencies report that at least a quarter of the world’s seafood catch is illegal, unreported, or unregulated (Illegalfishing.info). Indeed, the illegal fishing industry generates over $9 billion a year. Japan alone has caught over $6 billion worth of illegal Southern Bluefin tuna over the past 20 years. The management plans that are in place dictate the size, location, season, gear type, and amount of fish permissible to be caught for specific species. These management plans, already few and far between, are often ignored. Fishermen take undersize fish, fish in closed areas, fish during seasonal closures, use illegal gear, and take more fish than is allocated by these management plans. For example, Chilean seabass, as a slow-growing and long-lived fish, are naturally vulnerable to overfishing, and the management practices that are in affect for this species reflect this reality. Yet this species has been the target of pirate fishermen who ignore these limits in order to generate the most short-term revenue. These fish are prevalent in remote Antarctic waters, where law enforcement is difficult and not strong enough to combat the eleven nations that have so far been identified in trafficking illegal Chilean seabass. Shark finning (removing only the fins of a shark and throwing the mutilated body back into the ocean) is illegal in over 100 nations, yet this wasteful and devastating practice continues to exist and threaten worldwide shark populations, killing over 100 million sharks every year. Fifteen species of shark have seen their numbers drop by 50% in only the last 20 years, and 17% of all shark species are endangered or threatened (Monterey Bay Aquarium, Seafood Watch). Yet, as long as the demand for delicacies such as shark-fin soup continue to exist, this practice continues to linger unabated.
One of the most important concepts with wild-caught seafood is that it is not just what we fish, but how we fish. The gear employed to harvest seafood makes a huge impact on the primary environmental issues associated with the seafood industry. The gear affects the amount of fish caught, as well as the amount of habitat damage and bycatch that results. Bycatch is simply unwanted catch, which results from non species specific fishing gear. One out of every four fish is discarded as bycatch, and this number may even be conservative (“Fish catch and production.”). Sylvia Earle states that “for every pound of seafood that goes to market, more than 10 pounds, sometimes even 100, may be thrown away as bycatch”. And not just fish are bycatch. Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, seabirds, and marine mammals die as bycatch (“Overfishing of the Oceans”). Annually, over 200,000 loggerhead sea turtles, 50,000 leatherback sea turtles, and 100,000 albatross are entangled and die as bycatch from various poor fishing methods (“Overfishing – The Consequences”). There are eight primary fishing methods used today, each with its own set of pros and cons (Monterey Bay Aquarium, Seafood Watch). These methods are: pole/trolling, purse seining, gillnetting, longlining, trawls and dredges, traps and pots, harpooning, and trolling. Pole/trolling uses poles and bait to catch specifically targeted fish by an individual fisherman, and is therefore environmentally responsible. Purse seining uses a large wall of netting to encircle a large school of fish. There are many types of purse seines, and some can catch untargeted animals such as dolphins. Gillnetting uses curtains of netting suspended by floats and weights which can hang at any height within the water column. This invisible netting has high levels of bycatch and can entangle and kill unintended animals such as sharks and turtles. Longlining involves a central fishing line which can be up to 50 miles long and is strung with a series of smaller lines with baited hooks at spaced intervals, and can be hung at various depths in the water column. Although this method uses a hook and line such as a troll, these massive lines are left to “soak” in the water and can hook and kill seabirds (particularly albatross as they dive for bait), turtles, and all manner of bycatch. Trawls and dredges are nets that are towed behind boats at various depths. These nets can be the size of football fields, and therefore catch massive amounts of seafood, both wanted and unwanted. These nets can be dragged midwater or along the seafloor. Bottom trawling in particular can severely damage the ocean floor, and this method in general results in very high amounts of bycatch, as no species specific method is employed. In Alaskan waters alone, bottom trawls remove over one million pounds of corals and sponges from the sea floor annually. Generally, these communities have no time to recover, as some of these areas are trawled up to 400 times per year (“Seafloor carnage: the truth about bottom trawling”). Traps and pots involve submerging cages to the seafloor that are fixed with bait. This method generally has low bycatch and less seafloor damage, as the traps do not move, and is generally sustainable. Harpooning is a traditional practice used rarely today on large, pelagic predators such as tuna. This is the most species specific method of fishing available, as the fisherman must have a specific target in sight. It generates no bycatch and no habitat degradation. Trolling is a hook and line method, where a boat tows numerous fishing lines at various depths with various lures, targeting specific species. This is a relatively sustainable method, as the fisherman quickly releases unwanted catch.
Although the environmental problems associated with wild caught seafood seem insurmountable, there are tried and true solutions we can apply through proper management. Overfishing can be combated through choosing seafood wisely. Money is power, and if smart consumers opt for more sustainable fish choices, this will be reflected on our world’s oceans. The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program creates informative seafood pocket guides, which can help consumers in choosing the most sustainable seafood for their region. Catch limits must certainly be required and enforced if wild stocks are going to have a chance to recover. An example of this sustainable fishing management scheme in action is the now thriving Alaskan Salmon Fishery, which enforces sensible catch limits to maintain the population for the future (“Alison Barratt on the State of the Oceans Health”). To combat illegal and unregulated fishing, Marine Protected Areas must be established to protect delicate areas of the ocean. Marine Protected Areas have been proven to increase the size, numbers, and diversity of fish populations in areas in which they have been established, yet these Protected Areas cover less than .6% of the world’s ocean today (Monterey Bay Aquarium, Seafood Watch). There is hope on this horizon though, as many nations, such as New Zealand, have made plans to drastically increase the number and area of these reserves in the coming years. As far as habitat damage and bycatch are concerned, these issues can be tackled by enforcing the use of more sustainable fishing gear. Fishermen do not want bycatch, as it wastes valuable resources. By requiring innovative yet simple devices, these bycatch rates can be drastically decreased. For example, seabirds often flock around longline vessels and become ensnared and drown from baited hooks. This is detrimental to both the fisherman, who loses his bait and another potential catch, as well as an obvious detriment to wildlife. In 2002, “streamer lines” became required gear for Alaskan longline fisheries (Monterey Bay Aquarium, Seafood Watch). Streamer lines are simply brightly colored streamers on either side of a longline which scare birds away. Since this simple method has become required, seabird longline deaths have decrease by roughly 70%. Other simple devices such as turtle escape folds and circular hooks have also proven effective strategies in reducing bycatch. Another way to reduce bycatch rates is by equipping boats with more selective gear. By moving away from harmful fishing methods, we can also decrease habitat degradation and overfishing all in one. By decreasing detrimental practices such as bottom trawling, gillnetting, and longlining and replacing them with more sustainable methods such as trolling, trapping, and harpooning, fish stocks would have a chance to recover. For example, in 2003, California replaced spot prawn trawls with traps, reducing seafloor damage and allowing the rockfish population to recuperate. Unfortunately, due to higher immediate gain, the most environmentally unsustainable fishing methods also happen to be some of the most used. In the United States, 54% of wild seafood is caught via trawls, 25% by purse seines, and less than 1% by poles and trolling. International management plans are a must if we are to help save the oceans. When nations pull together to save a common species, the effects can be enormous. No clearer has this been shown than with the migratory Atlantic Swordfish. This species, as with most, does not adhere to political boundaries. Therefore a global effort was required to save its dwindling numbers, which were at all time lows in the 1990s due to overfishing. The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas and the National Marine Fisheries Service implemented global and international protection plans in 1999, and since then stocks have recovered to 99% of their original level. Cases such as these give hope for the future of our oceans.
As wild stocks dwindle, alternatives are certainly necessary. A potentially good alternative to wild-caught seafood is the farming and harvesting of fish through aquaculture. Aquaculture has been around throughout the 20th century, but really began to take off as wild stocks noticeably dwindled in the late 1980s. Today, approximately half of our seafood comes from fish farms, and this number is growing rapidly. Yet this alternative does not come without its own batch of environmental obstacles. The primary issues generated from aquaculture are the continued use of wild fish, spread of pollution and disease, escapes of farmed fish into the wild, and habitat damage. Yet there are sustainable aquaculture practices in use today which minimize these environmental damages. The environmental footprint of these aquaculture institutions depends on the species being farmed, where that farm is located, and how they are raised.
As with wild-caught seafood, it is not just a question of what we farm but how we farm. There are five primary fish farming methods, each, again, with its own set of pros and cons. These five methods are: open net pens or cages, ponds, raceways, recirculating systems, and shellfish culture (Monterey Bay Aquarium, Seafood Watch). Open net pens/cages enclose fish in pens or cages within pre-existing waterways such as coastal areas or lakes. This is considered a very high impact method of fish farming, as contaminants such as waste from the farmed fish flows freely into natural waterways. Diseases and parasites can also be spread freely into wild habitat. There are also high levels of fish escapes into surrounding habitat, which can outcompete native species. Salmon are often farmed in this manner. Some fish farmers have become “ranchers” and catch young species such as tuna and eel and raise them to adulthood in open net pens, rather than raising them from an egg. This removes the reproducing population from the wild, thus greatly depleting wild populations. It is also a highly resource intensive process. Ponds enclose fish in an inland body of water. This method has the potential to contain wastewater and treat it, unlike open net pens or cages. Yet, as this treatment practice is expensive, many ponds also discharge untreated wastewater which in turn contaminates local groundwater. Another environmental problem with pond farming is the construction of these ponds in critical habitat. The primary offender in this case is shrimp ponds, which have destroyed over 3.7 million acres of mangrove forests and delicate coastal habitat (“Shrimp Farms Harm Poor Nations”). Apart from shrimp, ponds are also used to raise catfish and tilapia. Raceways are a fishing method in which farmers divert water from natural waterways to flow through fish-containing channels. Water is usually treated and returned to the waterway, yet in few cases the used water is returned without treatment. This can contaminate the surrounding environment. Escapes are also possible from this method of fish farming. This is a common method of raising rainbow trout in the United States. Recirculating systems are simply tank-raised fish. The water is treated and recycled. This can be used to farm a wide variety of fish, including any finfish species (bass, salmon, sturgeon, etc). The obvious benefits of this farming method is that the fish are contained so that there is little chance of escape and the water is treated and not released back into the environment. Yet these systems are exceptionally costly to operate and use a relatively large amount of power, compared to other available methods. Shellfish culture is the growing of shellfish on beaches or suspended within a natural water column. This method can be used to raise oysters, clams, and mussels. This type of farm requires very little resources as these species are filter feeders, and thus obtain all of their required nutrients from the natural waterway. Indeed this type of farming has been known to greatly improve the quality of the water body in which it resides. However if the density of the shellfish culture is too high or if there is little water flow, waste can accumulate. Also, some shellfish have been known to be responsible for vigorous invasive species.
One of the primary environmental problems with aquaculture is the fact that the raising of carnivorous species requires the need to use fish as food. This fish meal is generally wild caught, thus perpetuating the cycle of adverse environmental affects by the seafood industry on the oceans. It takes over three pounds of wild fish to farm only a single pound of salmon. Tuna requires over 15 pounds of fish meal for every pound that it gains. Annually, millions of tons of wild fish such as sardines and anchovies are caught and processed into fish meal for these farmed species. Yet not all fish are carnivorous. Some species such as catfish, tilapia, and shellfish can be raised on diets requiring little to no wild fish. These species have less of an environmental impact on our oceans, and are also cheaper to farm. The use of feed alternatives is also being tested. Soy, grains, plant proteins, single-cell proteins, and algae are all being either used or tested as good alternatives to wild-caught fish meal for aquaculture (Monterey Bay Aquarium, Seafood Watch).
Another environmental impact of aquaculture is the spread of disease and pollution. This is particularly an issue with open net farming, as byproducts are released directly into the environment. These byproducts include fish waste, uneaten food, parasites, pesticides, and antibiotics. Currents can spread these contaminants to other areas. Elevated levels of organic matter and nutrients can lead to algal blooms and consequent eutrophication. Parasites from salmon farms located next to wild salmon migration routes can kill up to 80% of the wild fish in the surrounding area. Parasites are a particular problem with high density farming. Even the antibiotics used to control these diseases can travel into open waterways and pollute them. For this reason, “closed”, onshore farms are a much better alternative. This is particularly true of recirculating systems, in which all byproducts are contained. These fisheries include tilapia, catfish, cobia, trout, and arctic char (a salmon alternative). These fisheries are all located inland in the United States and are isolated from sensitive habitats.
Escapes from fish farms are a relatively unheralded consequence of aquaculture that adversely affects the environment. Each year, millions of fish escape from fish farms. The fish farmed in an area rarely coincide with those that occur there naturally, and thus an escape can have detrimental affects to the local environment. These escapees compete with native species and often outcompete them, taking over a region as an invasive species. An example of this is with tilapia raised outside its native region of Africa, which has become invasive. Atlantic salmon which are farmed in the Pacific and escape often outcompete threatened Pacific salmon, with whom they share an almost identical niche. Escaped fish can also interbreed with native fish, thus irreversible altering the gene pool. These consequences can be decreased through the elimination, or indeed a reduction, of open net fish farms.
The final issue associated with fish farming is habitat damage. Location of fish farms is crucial, and larger farms deliver a larger environmental footprint. Formerly rich, coastal waters have been polluted by open net farms. Coastal habitats are vital for many species of plant and animal life, and therefore farms located in coastal areas are much worse for the environment than those located further inland. Thousands upon thousands of acres of vital mangrove forests have been lost by conversion to shrimp ponds in tropical regions such as Thailand and Ecuador. According to 1994 NACA/ADB (the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific and Asia Development Bank) data, 88% of all land converted into shrimp farms was formerly mangrove forests. The environmental Justice Bureau states that as much as 38% of global mangrove destruction is directly linked to shrimp farm development (“Shrimp Farms Harm Poor Nations”). Mangroves are vital to the coastal environment as they protect coastlines and shelter local flora and fauna. Interestingly, the majority of the shrimp harvest is exported to nations such as Europe, Japan, and United States.
Most environmental concern associated with aquaculture arises from the farming of marine finfish and shrimp, which are the biggest culprits of high-intensity fish farming. There are several aquaculture options which are certified sustainable. These include the farming of bivalves and sustainable finfish that can be harvested inland. Aquaculture is a thriving industry and is only predicted to grow dramatically in the coming years as wild seafood becomes less prevalent. As such, proper management of this industry must be established early in order to maintain its sustainability. Currently, an Aquaculture Stewardship Council is being developed which would be analogous to wild-caught seafood’s Marine Stewardship Council. This council, as with the MSC for wild seafood, certifies operations that meet certain sustainable standards. The USDA is also working to develop standards for organically farmed seafood that will help consumers in choosing the most sustainable option (Monterey Bay Aquarium, Seafood Watch).
The future, while it often seems bleak, contains hope. Innovative approaches to the most pressing environmental problems have great promise for the future sustainability of the industry. For example, integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, or IMTA, is a concept that is starting to be applied in some modern farms. IMTA is a system of aquaculture in which the byproducts of one crop become the fertilizer, food, and energy for another. Several applications of this are possible, such as farming a finfish, seaweed, and shellfish together to create a trophic loop. The wastes from the fish are used by seaweed or shellfish as fertilizer, which in turn clarify the water back for the fish. All of these products can be sold on the market to generate revenue. It is ideas such as these which provide hope that all is not lost for the world’s oceans. By taking an ecosystem approach to harvesting seafood, we can work with Mother Earth, and not against it, for the benefit of all.
References
“Alison Barratt on the State of the Oceans Health”. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgu369_alison-barratt-on-the-state-of-the-oceans-health_tech
“Fish catch and production.” UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics Library. 2005. UNEP/GRID-Arendal. 15 Mar 2011 <http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/fish-catch-and-production>.
Illegal-fishing.info
Monterey Bay Aquarium, Seafood Watch. http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx
“Overfishing of the Oceans”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yov6aCqt8w&feature=related
“Overfishing – The Consequences”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxacxShp3LY&feature=related
“Save the Bay, Eat a Ray”. http://slashfood.com/2010/07/23/save-the-bay-eat-a-ray/#ixzz1GVqwSNrP
“Seafloor carnage: the truth about bottom trawling” by Greenpeace UK . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUHcD_jTgVA&feature=related
“Shrimp Farms Harm Poor Nations”. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3728019.stm
“The End of the Line” documentary. http://www.youtube.com/user/endofthelinemovie
“The Plundered Seas” by Michael Berrill. Sierra Club Books, San Fancisco, CA. 1997
“Would you eat a Cownose Ray?”. http://hamptonroads.com/2010/07/would-you-eat-cownose-ray-virginia-hopes-so
The game I envisioned is called “Plundered Seas”. It is a Sims-type game, similar to the McDonalds game studied in class. It is single player and involves an interface of different choices one can make regarding fishing. Your avatar is a fisherman, yet this is not necessarily represented in the game (it is like you are looking out onto these scenes, putting the player behind the computer directly into the situation). There are two locations between which you can travel and make decisions. The first is the Seaside Town. Here, your fisherman can decide what he is going to catch, how he is going to catch it, and where he is going to fish. There is also an ATM to keep an eye on your finances. After these choices have been made, your fisherman and his boat (which varies based on the fishing method you select) move out onto the Open Ocean. Here, you fish. Each decision made in the seaside port has its consequences out on the ocean.
The focus of this game is sustainability of the world’s oceans. Therefore, it is best to choose methods that secure the best long-term result, and not go for the biggest short-term gain. For example, if you choose to bottom-trawl (a destructive fishing method which produces high levels of bycatch), your first and second hauls out in the ocean may be initially high, yet after a few hauls you will notice a severe decline in the fish in your area. If you opt for a more sustainable method, such as hook-and-line fishing or trolling, your initial catches may have lower yields than trawling would initially produce, yet over time you will see much greater profits than with more un-sustainable methods. The fish you decide to catch also plays an important role. Many species of fish are far more sustainable than others. For example, if you choose to fish for sharks or other large, long-lived species, you may receive more money per individual, but your catch will rapidly decline to extinction (especially if you combine that choice with trawling). Also, you can opt to fish for illegal species that yield extremely high profits, but more than likely you will be caught and heavily fined by the patrol boats who are also out on the ocean. This will also happen if you surpass the fishing limits, which differ for each species. If you choose to hunt whale, yellow-fin tuna, or another species in which Greenpeace takes a special interest, or if you are being particularly un-eco friendly, be prepared to encounter heavy damages to your vessel from passing Greenpeace boats. The location in which you choose to fish is also important. You can opt to fish in a wildlife refuge which may have high levels of certain species, but these waters are also heavily patrolled. The object of the game is to bring awareness to various fishing methods actually used today and the effect they are having to the world’s oceans. The player will soon realize the best choices to make, and these choices translate to being the most sustainable in the real world. Perhaps after playing this game, seafood consumers will look twice at the labels on their seafood, and question how it was caught and if that method is sustainable. They might think twice about eating tuna, a long-lived predatory species which is in global rapid decline. Hopefully this game will bring awareness and alarm to the often unheralded crisis of our Plundered Seas.
Here is a rough mock-up of my game interface:
For my infographic assignment, I decided to pick a topic I am passionate about and that relates to my blog theme of Green News. The Seafood Industry’s affect on the world’s oceans is a hot topic in environmental studies today, and one that I have researched heavily for my senior seminar presentation in Environmental Science. Although most of the news associated with this topic is negative and correlates with environmental degradation, there is some hope on the horizon for the future of the industry. This graphic, through the use of Robin Williams’ principles of Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity, briefly portrays the current state of the oceans, how they got to be that way, and the future outlook for the seafood industry and our oceans working in unison.
Probably the most difficult challenge I had with this assignment was the sheer mass of information I wished to convey with a single image. I soon realized, however, that it would be impossible to show everything related to the problems that the seafood industry inflects on our oceans, and thus settled on simply depicting the highlights and a general “big picture”. It may be necessary to zoom to some of the graphs/images to see them fully, but the caption of each image depicts the general message I wished to convey. Prezi.com was a useful tool in creating this infographic.
In this infographic, contrast was implemented with the red title to make it stand out. The repetition of the ocean colored theme was also important to link the readers’ mind to the ocean. Alignment was perhaps the most influential of Williams’ principles in this infographic. From left to right, the image is set up to portray the detrimental things we have done to the ocean, the state of the oceans today, and the outlook for the future. This was the key to this infographic, to portray the information on what has been done to our oceans in the past but also to provide some hope for the future. The principle of proximity was used to create a three column format to help aid the telling of this tale. The right and left columns are angled out, whereas the center column runs straight down, which I thought helped the flow of the overall information. The relationships of the three columns are shown through their proximity; the fact that one column leads to another in sequential step. Each individual column is set up in this manner as well, as each image and caption leads to the next.
Persuasive essay that argues that the world needs to lower its dependence on fossil fuels – coded in CSS and HTML
media_fossilfuels …Text File which was then coded into…
http://media.elsweb.org/sites/default/files/fossilfuels_media1.html
Read Original Article Here
As if it was not hard enough already to convince consumers to give up the addiction to oil, the state of Oregon has proposed a preemptive tax on all owners of electric cars. The state announced on April 4th that starting in 2014, less than 3 years from today, drivers of electric cars will be charged an additional $0.0143 per mile
As states collect taxes from gasoline sales, this additional tax is to ensure that the states will not loose revenue from the increasing popularity of these earth-friendly vehicles. This additional tax, apart from being extremely premature (there are hardly any electric cars on the roads now anyways), works out to be unequal as well. If the average motorist drives about 12,000 miles/year, an electric car would be taxed $171.60 a year. A car paying gasoline taxes and running at about 30mpg (a good estimate for newer cars), is taxed $.33/gallon and therefore would be charged only $127.71/year in taxes.
Non-specific fishing techniques create bycatch – organisms unintentionally caught (and killed) in fishing gear. Bottom trawling is the worst culprit for this unintentional and costly fishing side affect. Over 300,000 whales, porpoises, and dolphins and over 250,000 endangered sea turtles are entangled in nets each year. Longlining, another major technique culprit, accounts for over 300,000 killed seabirds each year.
Got a growing drawer full of plastic bags at home? Don’t seem to have enough bins to line them with? Well Japanese scientist Akinori Ito has provided the solution! He has invented a machine which turns ordinary plastic bags into what they once were – oil.
The innovative machine turns plastic – grocery bags, bottles, caps, and other packaging products – into a form of crude oil. Using a carbon-negative process, these oil-based products are returned into their original form. The used plastic is heated, the released vapors are trapped in a network of pipes, and this effluent is then cooled which condenses the vapors back into crude oil. Although this crude oil requires one further refining step to make is suitable for use as gasoline, this crude can be used as is in generators and some stoves.
Another added bonus? The machine is a power house. It can convert a kilogram of plastic waste into a liter of oil using a single kilowatt-hour of energy.
This “desktop” appliance is meant for at home use, as this technology is not the first of its kind (similar processes are used on a community scale in more advanced recycling plants). This machine is, however, the first privately marketed appliance of this nature. However the price tag (currently about $10,000) prevents most of us normal citizens from acquiring such technology. Ito hopes that as demand and production increase, this cost will decrease rapidly.
Fox news does it again! This article is about the recent change in formula for dishwasher detergent. Due to the fact that they are a sure cause of algal blooms, phosphates are now banned from most detergents. Algal blooms are considered by most to be pretty bad for the environment, especially when they run off into streams. They are a potent fertilizer, causing green algae to thrive in waterways and thus drain the water of oxygen. This results in dead zones which foster little significant life. Sodium tripolyphosphate also happens to be a pretty good cleaning agent. Herein lies the problem.
The article states that, “thanks to environmental protection laws”, dishwasher detergents just don’t clean like they used to. Ya they’re bad for the environment, but the big picture? Local appliance repairman are getting bombarded with calls about dirty dishes! Yet all hope is not lost. The article offers some sound advice for those who aren’t satisfied with those environmentally-friendly detergents that just don’t get their dishes sparkly enough. “Thanks to a loop-hole in eco-rules, the phosphate ban doesn’t apply to commercial facilities like restaurants or hotels, so bulk packages of detergent are available at supply companies – who sell their products on eBay.” That’s right! Fox News just gave their readers advice for buying environmentally harmful contraband formulas on a black market. Awesome.
A bit of a break from tradition – an essay on the created image “Our Mother Earth” (shown below):
On their own, pictures can undoubtedly be meaningful. But the combined effect of certain images, if used properly, can have an infinitely more powerful effect. This particular image is iconic of the idea of several individual parts comprising a whole. Although each picture here tells a story, the image as a whole is worth more than the sum of its parts.
It is no secret that environmental issues are a growing global concern. Barely a day goes by when some new ecological catastrophe doesn’t make the front page. With all this talk of death and destruction, is there really any hope left at all? This image attempts to take on that dichotomy and propose an answer.
“Our Mother Earth” aims to summarize the environmental impacts humans have on their Mother Earth. As this image is a combination of multiple parts, it is best to break down what the parts mean individually, and then asses their connoted affect as a whole. By doing so, several different layers of messages are inferred.
The literal message is denoted from analyzing the individual parts as they are. The physical globe itself, and the images contained within it, represent some of the most prominent environmental issues we face today. Many of these are primarily driven by human actions. The two images on land represent forest fires and deforestation. Although not all forest fires are manmade, those that are leave unnatural and avoidable destruction in their wake. Deforestation is an environmental issue that is entirely created by man. The human race is annihilating the world’s forests at an alarming rate, and with it, the habitat of all the species that call the forest their home. In the water, two more environmental issues arise. The image of a polar bear floating on a single floe of ice has become iconic in today’s society. It literally represents the notion of the polar bears’ loss of habitat. The last image on the globe portrays a bird covered in oil, with an oil slick trailing away. This is another pictorial denotation of an entirely manmade environmental catastrophe.
Surrounding the physical globe are some more positively connoted images, portraying some of man’s innovative solutions to environmental problems. Circumnavigating the globe in a clockwise direction, we see wind turbines, a recycling symbol, and the planting of a sapling. Hands of many shapes, sizes, and colors hold the globe aloft against a background of a clear blue sky.
The overall symbolic message is by far the most important to this image. Each picture used here has a meaning in itself, yet the amalgamation tells a story. The connotation of the images within the globe is primarily negative – we see an overall image of a burning, destructive world. We visualize disasters such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill and logging in the Amazon rain forest. We sympathize with the majestic polar bear that is quickly losing its home due to global warming. Yet surrounding the globe, we find hope. The innovative ideas of man surround a world in turmoil, and hands reach out in support and collaboration. The promise of cleaner energy is connoted by the spinning wind turbines. The young sapling represents reforestation efforts; a prominent goal within the green movement. The universal symbol for recycling is iconic of the “Reuse, Reduce, Recycle” campaign for a greener tomorrow. Although images of destruction comprise the image, the overall message conveyed is one of hope, thus exemplifying the notion of an image representing more than the sum of its parts.
