December 2007 Conservation Abstracts

Compiled by NAEC Member, Florence Collins

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GLOBAL W ARMIMG

In 2007 the ocean north of Alaska was 3.56 degrees Centigrade warmer than average, and 1.5 degrees warmer than the historical minimum. Water reflects only 7% of the sun's radiation, compared to 85% for sea ice; the ice in September 2007 absorbed 300% more solar energy than it did in 1980. A piece of sea ice off the Alaska coast in the Beaufort Sea was 11 feet thick in June but less than 2 feet thick by September; and it seems to be at least 3 feet thinner than normal everywhere it was measured. Most of the thinning occurred from below---5 times the normal summer loss. Fairbanks Daily News Miner, (FDNM) December 16, 2007, p. E3; Science News, December 22 & 29, 2007, p.387

The Arctic Ocean ice in 1980 occupied an area equivalent to that of the Lower 48 states; in September 2007 it was as big as the U. S. east of the Mississippi, and the loss of ice in 2007 was 23% greater than it was in 2005 (which had previously had the greatest loss). Unusually warm water is moving north into the Arctic through both the Bering Strait and the Atlantic Ocean. (Science News, December 2007)

The earth's tropical belt has expanded about 200 miles---between 2 and 4.9 degrees---since 1979. Atmospheric ozone, depth of the lower atmosphere, and dryness in the atmosphere at the edges of t he tropics also have increased. FDNM, December 3, 2007, p.A6

ANIMALS

Humpback whale hunting by Japan is opposed by the U. S. and an "agreement to stop it may already have been reached; commercial hunting was banned world wide since 1966. FDNM, December 20, 2007, p. C6

Thousands of Pacific walruses that have been coming ashore north of the Arctic Circle died during late summer and fall on the Russian side of the Bering Strait. They gathered in huge herds on "haul outs" (up to 40,000 of the animals on any one haul out), and "stampeded when a polar bear, low-flying airplane, or human hunter" appeared. Many (3 or 4 thousand) died of injuries during the stampedes. No large die-offs were seen in Alaska, apparently because the largest herds had only 2500 members. Ice disappeared in the Chukchi Sea this year and they need haul outs because they cannot swim indefinitely as seals can. FDNM, December 15, 2007, p/ A1, A10' Science News, December 1, p 468

Ring seals (polar bears' primary prey) also depend on sea ice; snow caves collapse before the young can swim away, making them subject to predators. FDNM, December 24, 2007, p. A1, A7

Some black guillemots winter in Seattle but migrate to Cooper Is. in the Arctic for breeding. In late2007, however, parent birds were unable to fly far enough to get proper food for their chicks, because the ice edge had moved many miles north, so most of the chicks died. Science News, ibid; FDNM ibid

Large bottom trawlers off of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands now have to keep more of the fish they catch, instead of dumping them as "bycatch"; an estimated 110 million pounds of fish will not be thrown overboard, as they must keep 65% of their catch in 2008 and 85% in 2010 according to a federal appeals court decision made on December 19, 2007. Pink salmon returns in British Columbia rivers with salmon farms show that sea lice "have a density so high that they are killing juvenile wild pink salmon at a rate fast enough to drive local runs to extinction in 8 years, if nothing is done---and 4 years have passed. Yukon News, December 13, 2007

MINING

The Chuitna coal mine on the west shore of Cook Inlet is being "pushed" forward by the state of Alaska (the Dept. of Natural Resources); the Alaska Federation of Natives opposes it, and the proposed port and storage facilities in Cook Inlet, as well. Center News, Winter 2007, p. 8

The Rock Creek mine near Nome was given a permit to discharge liquids into wetlands by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals; some Nome residents are still concerned about toxic dust blowing toward town and dangerous chemicals leaking into the water supply. The company hopes to start a 2nd open-pit at nearby Big Hurrah mine site. 'FDNM, January 6, 2007, p. B3

The Tulsequah Chief mine on the Taku River in British Columbia has asked the Alaska Dept. of Natural Resources for permission to take a hovercraft and an "amphitrac" up the river to access the mine; "using Juneau as a shipping hub" the vehicles have never been used on the Taku before, and the amphitrac has not been built and would be "the first of its kind." The effect of this system on salmon, etc., is unknown, and the project is opposed by Alaskan fishing associations and other groups. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC) flyer, late December 2007

An in-holding in Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park, claimed by the "Pilgrim" family was not taken up by the US Supreme Court. The family claimed the right to take a bulldozer across park land, to access an old trail to a mine in the park that they own. The park said the family had to do an environmental assessment on their part of the road on the land, and that they should go through proper channels to re-open the road. The U. S Court of Appeals ruled against the family, in February 2007, saying that the family had not had its rights violated. Meanwhile, "Papa Pilgrim" (Robert Hale) was accused by his family of 15 children of misusing them, and he was sentenced, in November, 2007, to 14 years in jail.. The Park Service "eventually gave the family a winter-only permit to travel the road; Marcia Blaszak the Alaska Regional Director of the Park Service said it was a collaborative with private owners within the parks to affirmatively address their access rights. FDNM, December 11, 2007, p. A1, A8

MISCELLANY

A "series" of lawsuits has been started by Earth Justice, (an environmental advocacy group) and some Alaskan environmentalists to stop a "rash" of timber sales that have sprung up across the roadless areas of the Tongass National Forest; they have been temporarily blocked by court order. Earth Justice Docket 2007

A 470- acre Passive" park is proposed for Skyline Drive, north of Farmers Loop in Fairbank It w ill not be developed but has trails already, and is surrounded by private property. FDNM, December 8, 2007, p. A3

FEDERAL AND FOREIGN NEWS

U. S. Vice president Al Gore and the U. N. International Congress on Climate Change shared the Nobel Peace Prize this year. FDNM, December 22, 2007, p. C8

The U. N. Climate Conference in Bali on December 3-14 207 was meant to establish a new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which will expire in 2012. The European Union has committed to emissions 20to 30% below 1990 levels by 2020 and "a widely accepted view is that reductions of 25 to 40% below 1990 levels are needed from richer nations, but the U. S. says because of "many uncertainties" it objects to specific numbers, and that the reference to 25-40% was only in the nonbinding preamble. The U.S. and China, the world's t op two polluters, "are not ready to ready to commit to industry chaos on greenhouse gasses." "The world's lone superpower took a tongue-lashing from its most powerless nations as nation after nation assailed the U.S.’s ‘No’ vote---the delegate from Papua New Guinea said, ‘We seek your leadership but if for some reason you are not willing to lead, please it to the rest of us. Please get out of the way.’" The conference exploded with applause, the U S. delegation backed down, and the "Bali Roadway" was adopted, setting the stage for a "grinding year of climate talks to come.” FDNM, December 16, 2007, p.A1, 'A5

HR6, an energy bill passed the Senate 86 to 8 on December 13, 2007, and was sent to the House. It would raise vehicle mileage by 40%, boost residential and industrial energy efficiency and increase use of biofuels by 7 times, by 2020. Corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards, SUVs, and light trucks would be 35 mpg, (from 27 mpg now). FDNM, December 17, 2007, p. B

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