|
|
|
Climate change, shrinking biodiversity, poor management, man-made disasters: the list of threats to our oceans and coasts - and to the people dependent on them - seems to keep growing. This month's news includes a round up of what can be done to face those perils: from adopting new fishing techniques to forming stronger multilateral agreements. Each month the UN Atlas provides reliable information about the oceans on which to base management decisions -- read and learn more.
Find out about the 1billionhungry campaign and sign the petition today
If this newsletter may interest someone you know, please forward it.
Contribute to and participate in the growing Atlas community by becoming an active Member of the UN Atlas today!
Thank you,
The UN Atlas of the Oceans Editors
Visit the UN Atlas of the Oceans Web site
Comments? Please write to UN-Atlas-Oceans-Project@fao.org
- FAO: Hunger : An overview of the global hunger situation. (Website)
- IMO: International Maritime Prize 2009 goes to Mr. Johan Franson (Sweden) : The IMO Council, meeting for its 104th session, has agreed to award the International Maritime Prize for 2009 to Mr. Johan Franson (Sweden), for his contribution to maritime safety, security and prevention of pollution from ships. (News)
- IMO: Conference to adopt revised STCW Convention and Code opens in Manila : A Diplomatic Conference to consider, for adoption, major revisions to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978 (the STCW Convention), and its associated Code has been opened in Manila, Philippines, by the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Mr. Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, on Monday, 21 June 2010. (News)
- IMO: Conference agrees new provisions on hours of rest for watchkeepers : A Diplomatic Conference to adopt amendments to the STCW Convention, (successfully completed in Manila on 25 June 2010 - see briefing 32/2010) has also agreed, by consensus, a series of new provisions on the issue of "fitness for duty - hours of rest", to provide watchkeeping officers aboard ships with sufficient rest periods. (News)
- IMO: Manila conference sets 25 June annually as "Day of the Seafarer" : Manila conference sets 25 June annually as "Day of the Seafarer" Member States of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) have unanimously agreed that the unique contribution made by seafarers from all over the world to international seaborne trade, the world economy and civil society as a whole, should be marked annually with a 'Day of the Seafarer'. (News)
- IMO: Eastern European countries to get help in tackling alien invaders under innovative EBRD/IMO Marine Biosafety Initiative : Eastern European countries to get help in tackling alien invaders under innovative EBRD/IMO Marine Biosafety Initiative The Russian Federation and Ukraine will be the first countries to benefit from a training programme aimed at helping selected Eastern European countries reduce the risk from harmful organisms and pathogens transferred in ships' ballast water, under an innovative Marine Biosafety Initiative, launched by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in partnership with the International Maritime Organization (IMO), through the Organization's GloBallast Partnerships Programme (GloBallast). (News)
- Climate change will have 'mixed' effect on Asian rivers : Two of Asia's 'water towers', the Brahmaputra and Indus river basins, are likely to be severely affected by climate change while others will be less affected and could even benefit, research on Asia's rivers shows. (News)
- Underwater Gliders May Change How Scientists Track Fish : Tracking fish across Alaska's vast continental shelves can present a challenge to any scientist studying Alaska's seas -- researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks have successfully tested a possible solution in the form of underwater gliders. (News)
- Ocean Stirring and Plankton Patchiness Revealed by Computer Simulation : Computer simulations performed by researchers at the National Oceanography Centre and the University of Glasgow show how oceanic stirring and mixing influence the formation and dynamics of plankton patches in the upper ocean. (News)
- New Online Map Shows Network of Protection for North America's Marine Ecosystems : North America's nearly 2,000 marine protected areas represent an unprecedented effort to protect the continent's fragile marine environments and are found throughout the marine ecoregions that encircle our continent. (News)
- FAO: Managing sea cucumber fisheries with an ecosystem approach : Sea cucumbers are important marine resources for the livelihoods of many coastal communities and the ecosystems as a whole. Retail prices of up to USD300–500 per kg (dried product) have been responsible for the indiscriminate and excessive exploitation of many species. (News)
- FAO: Measuring the contribution of small-scale aquaculture : An FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper, Measuring the contribution of small-scale aquaculture: an assessment, presents methods and indicators for evaluating the contribution of small-scale aquaculture to sustainable rural development based on an expert workshop. (News)
- FAO: Strengthening aquaculture health management in Bosnia and Herzegovina : The FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper, Strengthening aquatic animal health management in Bosnia and Herzegovina, presents the main results of a project focussing on aquatic animal health management in Bosnia and Herzegovina. (News)
- UN agency helps set up laboratory in Ivorian port to monitor for toxic waste : A new laboratory has been set up in the Ivorian port city of Abidjan to improve the monitoring of hazardous materials under a project backed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) that aims to prevent a repeat of a notorious incident in which thousands of people were sickened by toxic waste. (News)
- Sea-green project may not be iron-clad : Thousands of tonnes of iron will be dumped into the Southern Ocean in the biggest trial of a technique that some say could cut global warming. Others say that there could be unwelcome side effects such as a deep water reduction of oxygen, increase in acidity and an increase in nitrogen dioxide, a more harmful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. (News)
- Marine Biodiversity Symposium: 2010 International Year of Biodiversity : The Marine Biodiversity Symposium: 2010 International Year of Biodiversity will be held at the Australian Marine Science Association, Annual Conference, in Wollongong, Australia on Tuesday 6 July 2010. The Census of Marine Life (CoML) will provide a Keynote Speaker. More details https://www.amsa.asn.au/conference/conf2010/index.html (Event)
- Pacific Islands Marine Portal : The portal of the Pacific Islands Marine Resources Information System (PIMRIS) (Website)
- Delegates meet to discuss better implementation of UN ocean treaty : Delegates gathered at United Nations Headquarters in New York today to explore ways of improving the implementation of a global treaty aimed at protecting oceans and the resources they hold from a range of threats, including pollution, climate change, illegal fishing and crimes. (News)
- Ban calls for greater awareness of the value of oceans to humanity : Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged governments and citizens across the global to acknowledge the enormous value of the world’s oceans to humanity and ensure that pollution of the bodies of water by human activity is brought under control. (News)
- International Whaling Commission 62 in Morocco 2010 : Details of the International Whaling Commission's 62nd Annual Meeting in Agadir, Morocco, 2010 which will consider the future of the IWC and review the Moratorium on Commercial Whaling. 21 to 25 June, 2010 (News)
- Antidote to fish toxin isolated from local plant : Scientists are improving a Pacific folk remedy used to treat a form of food poisoning that prevents millions of people in the region from consuming fish. (News)
- Ocean Changes May Have Dire Impact on People : The first comprehensive synthesis on the effects of climate change on the world's oceans has found they are now changing at a rate not seen for several million years. (News)
- Wild Sharks, Redfish Harbor Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria : Researchers have found antibiotic-resistant bacteria in seven species of sharks and redfish captured in waters off Belize, Florida, Louisiana and Massachusetts. (News)
- NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson Continues Deepwater Horizon Spill Study Mission : NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson departed Galveston, Texas, June 15 to continue research on the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill's impact on the Gulf of Mexico. (News)
- NOAA, FDA Continue Ramping Up Efforts to Ensure Safety of Gulf of Mexico Seafood : The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are taking additional steps to enhance inspection measures designed to ensure that seafood from the Gulf of Mexico reaching America's tables is safe to eat. (News)
- Patchwork-Like Image of Developing Zebrafish Sensory Organ : Using an electron microscope, scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany captured a snapshot of the beginnings of an organ which plays a central role in how zebrafish perceive the world around them -- the lateral line. (News)
- Sharks Can Really Sniff out Their Prey, and This Is How They Do It : Sharks have a keen sense of smell and a remarkable ability to follow their noses through the ocean -- now, researchers reporting in Current Biology, have figured out how the sharks manage to keep themselves on course. (News)
- Dolphins Use Diplomacy in Their Communication, Biologists Find : A Spanish researcher and a Paraguayan scientist have presented the most complete and detailed European study into the repertoire of sounds used by bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) to communicate. (News)
- Oceanic Volcanos : Though unseen the ocean floor is a volcanic hot bed where the tectonic plates collide and spread apart. New research reveals that when two parts of the Earth's crust break apart, this does not always cause massive volcanic eruptions. (News)
- What is Biodiversity? : Biodiversity is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem or on the entire Earth. Biodiversity is often used as a measure of the health of biological systems. (News)
- Crocodiles Ride Ocean Currents for Ocean Travel : The mystery of how the world's largest living reptile -- the estuarine crocodile -- has come to occupy so many South Pacific islands separated by huge stretches of ocean despite being a poor swimmer has at last been solved by a group of Australian ecologists. (News)
- Bank collapse threatens fishing community in Denmark : When Danish fishing quotas were made transferable in 2007, fishermen in the coastal hamlet of Thorupstrand joined forces and bought fishing rights together. The fishers of Thorupstrand saw fishing activities disappear quickly from the neighbouring fishing communities, where boatowners sold their boats and quotas in order to cash in on the rapidly rising quota value. But unlike their neighbours, 20 fishers in Thorupstrand formed a co-operative and bought quota to secure the future fishing activities in the community. (News)
- Federal Agencies Introduce Online Mapping Tool to Track Gulf Response : The Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill has been a challenge for a range of communities -- from hotel operators to fishermen to local community leaders. NOAA launched a new federal Web site meant to answer those questions with clarity and transparency. The Web site incorporates data from the various agencies that are working together to tackle the spill. (News)
- Indian Ocean Tsunami Modelling Symposium : In the five years since the 2004 tsunami, there have been considerable advances in tsunami modelling, especially in the Indian Ocean region. It is timely to hold an Indian Ocean tsunami modelling symposium so that the tsunami modelling community can come together to share acquired knowledge and discuss developments in the field. The symposium will be held under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/IOTWS). More details at http://www2.sese.uwa.edu.au/~iotms (Event)
- Environmental Lawyers Weigh BP's Liability in Gulf of Mexico : Fifty days into the Gulf oil spill, officials still don't have a firm answer on how much oil is escaping from the damaged well or how long it could continue. Transcript and videoclip of two environmental law professors on the legal ramifications of the spill for BP, including comparisons with the Exxon Valdez. Live video feeds at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/horizon-oil-spill.html (News)
- Live video feed of oil leak Gulf of Mexico from BP : Live video feed of oil leak, Gulf of Mexico. Courtesy BP and PBS Newshour (News)
- FAO: World Oceans Day - New fishing techniques, equipment can help sea turtles : On World Oceans Day, FAO highlights technical guidelines to reduce accidental turtle deaths. (News)
- IMO: IMO head tells UN that co-operation can provide anti-piracy blueprint : IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos has told the United Nations General Assembly that multilateral co operation arrangements, between and among States, regions and institutions can provide the means to reduce the risk of unprovoked piracy attacks on innocent ships, citing coordinated patrols in high-risk areas, information sharing, intelligence exchange and hot pursuit following attacks as among the tools by which this can be achieved. (News)
- World Oceans Day 8 June : Secretary-General, in message for World Oceans Day, says human activities place ever-increasing strain on diversity of marine life. (News)
- Mountains and Volcanoes in the Mediterranean Rise Due to Pressure from Mantle Below : If tectonic plate collisions cause volcanic eruptions, as every fifth grader knows, why do some volcanoes erupt far from a plate boundary? (News)
- Marking World Environment Day, UN sounds alarm on biodiversity : As millions around the globe celebrate World Environment Day, United Nations officials are warning that the incredible variety of life on Earth is in peril and urging everyone to speak out to protect biodiversity. (News)
- Greening the Blue Website Goes Live in the Run-up to World Environment Day : Three years ago, on World Environment Day, 5 June 2007, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon publicly called on all UN agencies, funds and programmes to become climate neutral and 'go green'. (News)
- BP not prepared for deep-water spill in Gulf of Mexico : BP did not have all the equipment needed to stop the leak from its Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico in the aftermath of the explosion on an oil rig six weeks ago, the UK company’s chief executive admitted. (News)
- Canada Calls on All States to Ratify the UNFSA and Take Action for the Sustainability of All Fisheries : The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans issued the following statement today, at the conclusion of the second review of the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement that took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City from May 24 to 28, 2010. (News)
- FAO urges early action on climate change responses : Agriculture can potentially be part of the solution to climate change in ways that respect and support the development and food security requirements of developing countries,” FAO has told a UN working group preparing long-term approaches to climate change mitigation. (News)
- New nature reserves to be added to UN list : New nature reserves such as lakes and wetlands will be added to a United Nations network that was created in an attempt to halt the loss of biodiversity and promote sustainable development, during a meeting that began today at the headquarters of the UN agency tasked with preserving the world's heritage. (News)