http://www.hindu.com/2009/03/11/stories/2009031154321000.htm
Dwindling catches
Ocean temperature is one of the primary environmental factors that determine the geographic range of a species. A paper published recently in the journal Fish and Fisheries has used computer modelling to project the global impact of climate change on biodiversity with reference to 1,000-odd fish species. The study has shown that the only way for the tropical fish, with their inability to regulate their body temperature, to survive in warming oceans would be to migrate to cooler waters at higher latitudes. The warming of the oceans would affect the sub-polar species differently. A two-to-four-fold limit to temperature tolerance compared to tropical species and a very limited species diversity would have a big impact in the polar regions. Local extinctions in the sub-polar, tropical, and semi-enclosed regions as well as migration of species to cooler latitudes would affect nearly 60 per cent of present fish biodiversity. Such a mass-scale disturbance is very likely to disrupt the marine ecosystem. Though warming oceans would affect fish whether they live at the surface level or at depths, the shift to an extent of 600-odd km would be seen in the case of surface-living species.
Local extinctions in the tropics will have a great effect on food security of developing countries. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the direct impact of climate change on fisheries would be more pronounced in the developing and least developed countries where about 42 million people work directly in the sector. Two-thirds of the most vulnerable countries are in tropical Africa. It is a fact that reliance on fish protein is directly related to the level of development. In the developing countries, 2.8 billion people depend on fish products for 20 per cent of animal protein. The only way to reduce the magnitude of the impact is to take urgent measures to check the current trend of carbon pollution and limit the average global temperature rise to 2 degrees C by 2100, as against the anticipated 6 degrees. Dwindling fish catch will be one of the many adverse consequences of uncontrolled global warming. Several studies published since the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change’s 4th Assessment Report show that carbon emissions are rising faster than expected, and worldwide action to bring them down brooks no delay.
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Nualgi can increase fish yield and help absorb large amounts of CO2
Showing posts with label Carbon capture and recycling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carbon capture and recycling. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Where is the missing carbon?
More fish can mean more carbon capture.
Please see the following article.
http://www.terrapass.com/blog/posts/fish-guts-carbon-sink?
Where is the missing carbon?
Tim Varga | February 17, 2009
Research suggests that a lot of it may wind up inside fish
A giant hole in the global carbon budget may be plugged by an unlikely source: fish guts.
A large proportion of manmade CO2 emissions drain back out of the atmosphere into various carbon sinks. Scientists have long known that approximately half the CO2 flux from the atmosphere goes to land-based sinks and half to the ocean. The problem is that the math hasn’t quite added up.
Terrestrial sinks like forests and savannas, in addition to the long-term storage in soils, are relatively well quantified. Primary absorption in the oceans, too, has been fairly well described: satellite imagery of the open ocean has been used to map and calculate the amount of primary absorption across 70% of the earth’s surface.
Still, the numbers contain a substantial gap. Since the terrestrial sinks are comparatively better understood, and the CO2 in the atmosphere has to go somewhere, most scientists assumed that it was somehow ending up in the ocean. But where?
Almost twenty years ago, researchers at the University of Miami discovered that a species of toadfish carries tiny balls of calcite (CaCO3) in its gut. The authors suggested that this was likely a result of a filtration system in the fish’s stomach: water breathed in and out by the fish would need to be cleaned of various salts, including calcium and magnesium, to maintain proper salinity. These salts combine with carbon in seawater to form carbonates, which precipitate and collect in the fish’s gut.
It turns out that toadfish aren’t unique. All bony fishes have this feature. A new study calculates that these tiny calcite stones could be a missing sink that accounts for 3-15% of the oceanic carbon absorption. That’s a big hole to plug, and the study’s figures are conservative. The actual number could be significantly higher.
This provides another reason to be concerned with declining fish stocks worldwide. In addition to missing out on your favorite tuna sandwich, the global fisheries collapse could end a vital sink for atmospheric carbon.
* * * * * *
Use of Nualgi will result in more fish.
So it could contribute substantially to reducing global warming.
Please see the following article.
http://www.terrapass.com/blog/posts/fish-guts-carbon-sink?
Where is the missing carbon?
Tim Varga | February 17, 2009
Research suggests that a lot of it may wind up inside fish
A giant hole in the global carbon budget may be plugged by an unlikely source: fish guts.
A large proportion of manmade CO2 emissions drain back out of the atmosphere into various carbon sinks. Scientists have long known that approximately half the CO2 flux from the atmosphere goes to land-based sinks and half to the ocean. The problem is that the math hasn’t quite added up.
Terrestrial sinks like forests and savannas, in addition to the long-term storage in soils, are relatively well quantified. Primary absorption in the oceans, too, has been fairly well described: satellite imagery of the open ocean has been used to map and calculate the amount of primary absorption across 70% of the earth’s surface.
Still, the numbers contain a substantial gap. Since the terrestrial sinks are comparatively better understood, and the CO2 in the atmosphere has to go somewhere, most scientists assumed that it was somehow ending up in the ocean. But where?
Almost twenty years ago, researchers at the University of Miami discovered that a species of toadfish carries tiny balls of calcite (CaCO3) in its gut. The authors suggested that this was likely a result of a filtration system in the fish’s stomach: water breathed in and out by the fish would need to be cleaned of various salts, including calcium and magnesium, to maintain proper salinity. These salts combine with carbon in seawater to form carbonates, which precipitate and collect in the fish’s gut.
It turns out that toadfish aren’t unique. All bony fishes have this feature. A new study calculates that these tiny calcite stones could be a missing sink that accounts for 3-15% of the oceanic carbon absorption. That’s a big hole to plug, and the study’s figures are conservative. The actual number could be significantly higher.
This provides another reason to be concerned with declining fish stocks worldwide. In addition to missing out on your favorite tuna sandwich, the global fisheries collapse could end a vital sink for atmospheric carbon.
* * * * * *
Use of Nualgi will result in more fish.
So it could contribute substantially to reducing global warming.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Micro Algae - a few reports
Some very interesting reports on use of algae to capture and recycle carbon.
Microalgae as a source of liquid fuels. Final technical report USDOE -OER http://www.osti.gov/bridge/product.biblio.jsp?query_id=0&page=0&osti_id=6374113
Design and analysis of microalgal open pond systems for the purpose of producing fuels: A subcontract report USDOE
http://www.osti.gov/bridge/product.biblio.jsp?query_id=0&page=0&osti_id=6546458
Systems and economic analysis of microalgae ponds for conversion of CO2 to biomass.
Final report. US DOE
http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/493389-FXQyZ2/webviewable/493389.pdf
Look Back at the U.S. Department of Energy's Aquatic Species Program: Biodiesel from Algae; Close-Out Report. 325 pp.; NREL Report No. TP-580-24190 available on: http://www.nrel.gov/docs/legosti/fy98/24190.pdf
Greenhouse Gas Abatement with Microalgae http://www.co2captureandstorage.info/networks/networks.htm
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