[DIALOGnews] DISCCRS News 8/3/07
Ruth Ladderud
ladderra at whitman.edu
Fri Aug 3 14:46:28 CDT 2007
DISCCRS News
8/3/2007
************************************
TABLE OF CONTENTS
RESOURCES and FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Presentations available from Royal Society March 2007 Showcase of the
IPCC WG1 report
http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/downloaddoc.asp?id=3494
http://tv.royalsoc.ac.uk/dpx_live/dpx.php?dpxuser=dpx_v12
(see RESOURCES 1 below)
FORUM
Climate Catastrophe: DISCCRSnews encourages you to read Hansen, J.
2007. Climate Catastrophe. New Scientist 195 no. 2614: 30-34.
http://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/abstracts/2007/Hansen_2.html
Jumbo Squid Invade California Coast
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jul/jumbo-squid-invade-
california-coast Or: http://tinyurl.com/2gwjt4
(see FORUM 1 below)
SCIENCE NEWS
Nigeria: Climate Change - 13 million citizens at risk
http://allafrica.com/stories/200707300344.html
Jumbo Squid Invade California Coast
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jul/jumbo-squid-invade-
california-coast Or: http://tinyurl.com/2gwjt4
(see NEWS 1 below)
Big Oil drills for vote of approval
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/7e3a8690-3acc-11dc-8f9e-0000779fd2ac.html
(see NEWS 2 below)
Algae aids corals in hot water
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20071207-16093-2.html
(see NEWS 3 below)
Global Warming Debate Is Stormy
http://www.miamiherald.com/574/story/186619.html Or: http://
tinyurl.com/2vj837
(see NEWS 4 below)
Bush Awards Medals to National Science and Technology Laureates
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/science/20070727-1711-bush-
medals.html Or: http://tinyurl.com/ytsppq
(see NEWS 5 below)
'Dead Zone' Forms Again Off Oregon's Coast
http://www.oregonlive.com/science/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/
science/1185933323144640.xml&coll=7 Or: http://tinyurl.com/yrstgy
(see NEWS 6 below)
House Passes $600 Million Increase in National Science Foundation Budget
(see NEWS 7 below)
Russia Plants Flag on North Pole Seabed
http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2140202,00.html Or:
http://tinyurl.com/2cajqy
(see NEWS 8 below)
Lake Superior Changes Mystify Scientists
http://www.examiner.com/
a-861403~Lake_Superior_Changes_Mystify_Scientists.html Or: http://
tinyurl.com/2nmwbc
(see NEWS 9 below)
SUMMER PROGRAMS, COURSES, INTERNSHIPS, MEETINGS, OPPORTUNITIES
Speakers needed: Fall 2007 AGU Session on "Including Land Use and
Land Cover Change in Earth System Models" - 10-14 December 2007, San
Francisco, CA (USA)
(see MEETING 1 below)
nternational Conference Climate Changes Spatial Planning (CcSP) -
12-13 September 2007 - Netherlands
www.climatechangesspatialplanning.nl
(see MEETING 2 below)
JOBS
(see below)
***************************************************
Resources and Funding Opportunities
(RESOURCES 1) Presentations available from Royal Society March 2007
Showcase of the IPCC WG1 report
http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/downloaddoc.asp?id=3494
http://tv.royalsoc.ac.uk/dpx_live/dpx.php?dpxuser=dpx_v12
In early March 2007 in London the Royal Society held a two-day
discussion meeting titled The science of climate change: A showcase
of the IPCC 4th Assessment Working Group 1 Report.
The programme can be found at http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/
downloaddoc.asp?id=3494.
The presentations and linked videos can now be found at http://
tv.royalsoc.ac.uk/dpx_live/dpx.php?dpxuser=dpx_v12 by clicking on the
Environment and Climate tab, and then scrolling down to the list of
15 sessions, each titled 'Climate Change Discussion Meeting'. They
are in reverse chronological order.
The meeting was of great interest because it was the first
occasion when a broad scientific audience was exposed to the
underlying content of the work carried out by IPCC WG1. Each of the
WG1 chapter lead authors gave a detailed presentation of their
findings and were quizzed at length by participants. The event
included panel discussions that are well worth watching, as these
covered at length the IPCC process itself, along with a host of
qualifications and new comments.
Since that meeting, the 11 chapters that make up the report have
been hosted at http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/wg1-report.html. You may
find that watching the RS presentations, together with reading of the
relevant chapter, does effectively bring alive the dense content,
making it easier to assimilate the information along with the
implications.
***************************************************
Science News
(NEWS 1) Jumbo Squid Invade California Coast
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jul/jumbo-squid-invade-
california-coast Or: http://tinyurl.com/2gwjt4
Discover - ...over the last few years, millions of jumbo squid-
often called red devils, or Humboldt squid-have taken up permanent
residence off the coasts of California in the Northern Hemisphere and
Chile in the Southern. Sightings have been reported as far north as
Alaska, where wolves gnaw on the washed-up carcasses.
Why Dosidicus gigas has made its recent move to higher latitudes
is something of a mystery. A new study in this week's issue of
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) says a
combination of factors, including changes in the global climate and
fishing practices, have caused the jumbo squid population to grow and
expand its range.
Since the squid are originally from lower latitudes with warmer
waters and the most recent invasions were during El Nino events in
1997 and 1998 and in 2002 and 2003, the researchers originally
suspected global climate change. But a recent jumbo squid tagging
study by William Gilly at Stanford University showed that the
cephalopods routinely survive 50-degree temperature fluctuations in a
single day, suggesting that relatively gradual global warming might
not have that much effect.
********************
(NEWS 2) Big Oil drills for vote of approval
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/7e3a8690-3acc-11dc-8f9e-0000779fd2ac.html
When Conoco Phillips was battling to prevent a state takeover of
its multibillion-dollar investments in Venezuela last month, why was
one of its top executives talking to elementary school teachers about
lightbulbs?
Jim Gallogly, head of refining and marketing, was conducting a
day of questions and answers on recycling and other issues in
Columbia, South Carolina. The third-biggest oil company in the US had
sent him to a small city – where it has no operations – at this a
critical time.
"People are mad at us," Mr Gallogly explains. "We have to get out
and answer their questions."
Explaining its activities is something Conoco, and the industry
at large, has started to do in the hope of turning round the poor
reputation of the oil and gas sector. The public might be more
sympathetic to $3-a-gallon petrol, executives reason, if it
understands how the money is spent.
Companies such as Conoco spend billions of dollars each year to
find hydrocarbons in remote lands and deep under the ocean. The
precious chemicals fuel everything from cars to power stations and
are used to make everyday products such as toys and medicines.
(continued...)
********************
(NEWS 3) Algae aids corals in hot water
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20071207-16093-2.html
Australian Institute of Marine Science - Thursday, 12 July 2007 -
AIMS researcher observing the 2006 bleaching event at the Keppels.
Coral geneticists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science
(AIMS) are closer than ever before to unravelling the 'hidden'
microscopic dynamics of reef coral.
Dr Madeleine van Oppen and Jos Mieog (PhD student) from AIMS say
their new highly sensitive genetic technique- 100 times more powerful
than conventional methods - has provided the first evidence that many
corals store several types of algae, which can improve their capacity
to cope with warmer water temperatures.
"Simply, when conditions warm the more heat tolerant algae
provide back-up, become more abundant. Some algal types impart
greater resistance to environmental extremes," said Mr Mieog.
Since the discovery of this 'shuffling' effect some years ago
there has been much debate amongst marine scientists, many suggesting
it is an infrequent event due to the small number of corals that were
shown to host several types of algae.
But this is where the high-powered genetic investigations of Dr
van Oppen's team (in collaboration with the Netherland's University
of Groningen) reveal the contrary.
Their study shows that most common corals on the Great Barrier
Reef harbour more than one type of algae, and that conventional
genetic methods have failed to detect some types which occur in low
abundance.
"This work shatters the popular view that only a small percentage
of corals have the potential to respond to warmer conditions by
shuffling live-in algal partners," said van Oppen
"The potential for this hidden back-up type (algae) to step in
and provide nutrition to coral during heat stress is far greater than
currently thought," Mr Mieog added.
The ability of reef corals to adapt or acclimatise to projected
climate change is critical, but it has been an incredibly
controversial question in contemporary coral reef science and
conservation.
"It is clear now that the previous techniques were unable to
detect symbionts (algal partners) at low abundance."
Since the 1980s, reefs around the world have been devastated by
bleaching, where temperature increases of just 1°C above the long-
term average can cause coral animals to expel the photosynthetic
algae that keep them supplied with nutrients.
"This flexibility discovered in our research is important in
understanding the past evolutionary success of these coral species
and their future survival capacity in the face of a changing
climate," Dr van Oppen added.
********************
(NEWS 4) Global Warming Debate Is Stormy
http://www.miamiherald.com/574/story/186619.html Or: http://
tinyurl.com/2vj837
Miami Herald (Registration Required) - Hurricanes are forming
twice as often as they did a century ago, largely because of global
warming caused by humans, according to a new scientific study. Other
scientists say the report draws improper conclusions from partial data.
The study, conducted by two respected researchers and scheduled
to be released today in a peer-reviewed publication, found that four
hurricanes and two tropical storms developed during an average year
between 1900 and 1930.
Between 1995 and 2005, however, the average shot up to eight
hurricanes and seven tropical storms, the report said. The scientists
attributed the sharp increases to warmer ocean temperatures and
altered wind patterns linked to human-induced global warming.
********************
(NEWS 5) Bush Awards Medals to National Science and Technology Laureates
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/science/20070727-1711-bush-
medals.html Or: http://tinyurl.com/ytsppq
San Diego Union-Tribune (Registration Required) - WASHINGTON -
President Bush awarded 30 science and technology medals Friday for
breakthroughs in such fields as astrophysics, laser technology,
climatology and tissue engineering.
The National Science Foundation administers the Medal of Science,
which was established by Congress in 1959. The Medal of Technology
was established by Congress in 1980 and is administered by the
Commerce Department.
"We have researchers who have drilled into glaciers, isolated the
DNA of mobile genes and pioneered the distributed feedback laser,"
Bush said before presenting the medals in the White House's East
Room. "In other words, we've got some smart people here. And we're
glad you're Americans."
********************
(NEWS 6) 'Dead Zone' Forms Again Off Oregon's Coast
http://www.oregonlive.com/science/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/
science/1185933323144640.xml&coll=7 Or: http://tinyurl.com/yrstgy
Oregonian (Registration Required) - For the sixth year in a row,
a suffocating blanket of oxygen-starved water is forming off the
central Oregon coast, with marine life struggling to endure the
repeated trauma, Oregon State University scientists say.
The return of the "dead zone," where water holds so little oxygen
that fish and other life cannot survive, suggests a fundamental shift
in wind and water patterns off Oregon that may reflect global warming
trends, the scientists said.
Last year's unusually severe and long-lasting dead zone turned
sections of the seafloor into graveyards of dead crabs, starfish and
sea anemones. Observations by a remote control submarine this summer
suggest that marine life such as starfish may take as long to return
as plants and animals did after the eruption of Mount St. Helens,
said Jane Lubchenco, an OSU professor of marine biology.
********************
(NEWS 7) House Passes $600 Million Increase in National Science
Foundation Budget
July 27, 2007 --The U.S. House of Representatives passed an
appropriations bill that would increase funding for the National
Science Foundation (NSF) by nearly $600 million or 10 percent to $6.5
billion in fiscal year 2008. The bill would put NSF on track to
double its budget in less than 10 years.
Funding for NSF is included in the Commerce, Justice, and Science
Appropriations Act that passed the House by a vote of 281 to 142 on
July 26. Two days before the vote, the White House Office of
Management and Budget issued a Statement of Administration Policy
saying that the President would veto the bill if it is presented to
him. The Administration “strongly opposes” the bill because it
“includes an irresponsible and excessive level of spending and
includes other objectionable provisions.”
Regarding the National Science Foundation, the Statement of
Administration Policy says, “the Administration supports neither the
additional $72 million above the [President’s budget] request
allocated to NSF education programs that lack proven effectiveness,
nor [Appropriations Committee] report language that seeks to allocate
funds away from the NSF research programs that most directly
contribute to America’s economic competitiveness.”
Although the House passed the appropriations bill by a large
majority, the margin of victory was several votes short of the number
needed to override the threatened veto. If the bill is vetoed,
funding for NSF and other science agencies could be reduced in a
subsequent bill.
The National Science Foundation got off to a good start in the FY
2008 appropriations process. President Bush proposed increasing the
NSF budget by $513 million or 8.7 percent to $6.4 billion as part of
his American Competitiveness Initiative.
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a bill that would
increase the NSF budget by $637 million or 10.8 percent to $6.55
billion in FY 2008. The full Senate is expected to vote on the bill
within the next two months and then a conference committee will be
appointed to reach a compromise between the House and Senate versions
of the bill.
The House and Senate appropriations bills and the President’s
budget request would provide similar funding levels for NSF except
for Education and Human Resources (EHR) programs, which have strong
bipartisan support in Congress. The President’s budget request
would increase funding for EHR by 7.5 percent in FY 2008. The House
appropriations bill would increase EHR funding by approximately 18
percent and the Senate bill would increase EHR funding by
approximately 22 percent.
NSF has fared well at each stage in the appropriations process so
far. The President proposed a substantial increase in funding for NSF
in FY 2008. The House appropriations bill would increase funding for
NSF above the level proposed by the President. The Senate
appropriations bill would increase funding above the level passed by
the House. The final funding level for NSF remains uncertain,
especially if Congress is unable to override the threatened veto of
the House appropriations bill.
********************
(NEWS 8) Russia Plants Flag on North Pole Seabed
http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2140202,00.html Or:
http://tinyurl.com/2cajqy
Guardian (UK) - Russia today planted a flag on the North Pole's
seabed in an attempt to declare sovereignty of the unclaimed land.
The journey to the bottom of the sea began at an ice hole near the
North Pole and the two Russian submarines dived to over 4200 metres,
according to the Itar-Tass news agency.
The expedition leader and famed polar scientist, Artur
Chilingarov, told colleagues on the surface that his craft had
reached the seabed. "The landing was smooth, the yellowish ground is
around us, no sea dwellers are seen," he said, according to Tass.
Expedition members said the biggest challenge for the sub crews
will be to find their way back to the surface through an opening in
the 1.5 metre-thick polar ice, before exhausting air supplies.
**********************
(NEWS 9) Lake Superior Changes Mystify Scientists
http://www.examiner.com/
a-861403~Lake_Superior_Changes_Mystify_Scientists.html Or: http://
tinyurl.com/2nmwbc
MARQUETTE, Mich. - Deep enough to hold the combined water in all
the other Great Lakes and with a surface area as large as South
Carolina, Lake Superior's size has lent it an aura of
invulnerability. But the mighty Superior is losing water and getting
warmer, worrying those who live near its shores, scientists and
companies that rely on the lake for business.
The changes to the lake could be signs of climate change,
although scientists aren't sure. Superior's level is at its lowest
point in eight decades and will set a record this fall if, as
expected, it dips three more inches.
Meanwhile, the average water temperature has surged 4.5 degrees
since 1979, significantly above the 2.7-degree rise in the region's
air temperature during the same period. That's no small deal for a
freshwater sea that was created from glacial melt as the Ice Age
ended and remains chilly in all seasons.
***************************************************
Summer Programs, Courses, Internships, Meetings, Opportunities
(MEETING 1) Speakers needed: Fall 2007 AGU Session on "Including Land
Use and Land Cover Change in Earth System Models" - 10-14 December
2007, San Francisco, CA (USA)
This AGU2007 Fall Meeting Session on “Including Land use and
Land Cover Change in Earth System Models” is an initiative of the
Analysis, Integration and Modelling of the Earth System (AIMES) Young
Scholars Network 2007.
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: Session B32:
Including Land Use and Land Cover Change in Earth System Models
Land use and land cover change are both driver and target of
physical and social components of the earth system. Economic,
political, demographic and cultural forces together with climate and
other environmental drivers (e.g. soil fertility and water
availability) influence decision making and lead to changes in land
cover and land use. In turn, land cover and land use affect the
biophysical and biochemical processes of the earth system (e.g. via
albedo, heat fluxes, surface roughness, emissions, water fluxes) and
thereby modify the environmental setting (e.g. climate, climate
variability, soils, water availability) societies are embedded in.
Despite the integral role in the earth system, land use dynamics
are not yet well represented in most earth system models, and
feedbacks between the social and biophysical sphere have only been
addressed in very few modeling frameworks.
This session seeks to provide a platform both for earth system
modelers who account for land use changes in their models, and for
land use modelers who work on the continental to regional scale.
Papers are invited that explore the interaction of physical and
social constraints and drivers in land use decision
Abstract submission requirements:
Please refer for full submission guidelines to the 2007 AGU Fall
Meeting Web site: www.agu.org/meetings/fm07/. Note the abstract
submission deadline of 6 September 2007.
Abstracts can be submitted only when the first author is an AGU
member in good standing or a nonmember whose abstract submission is
sponsored by an AGU member in good standing. (If you or a colleague
would like to present, but are not an AGU member, please contact me,
as I am happy to consider sponsoring your abstract.
Lara Kueppers lkueppers at ucmerced.edu - DISCCRS II) Abstracts must
be accompanied by submission fees. All accepted abstracts will be
published in a supplement to Eos.
For questions, please contact:
For questions about the AGU2007 Fall Meeting, please visit : http://
www.agu.org/meetings/fm07/
For questions related to this session: Elke Verbeeten
e.verbeeten at cgiar.org, Lara Kueppers lkueppers at ucmerced.edu, Marko
Scholze marko.scholze at bristol.ac.uk
********************
(MEETING 2) International Conference Climate Changes Spatial Planning
(CcSP) - 12-13 September 2007 - Netherlands
www.climatechangesspatialplanning.nl
We would like to invite you to participate in this conference.
The conference will take place at the World Forum Convention Center
in The Hague. There is no conference fee.
Climate change is a reality. The latest report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has provided a mount of new
and convincing evidence that human influence on climate is undeniable
and should be regarded as a factor of major importance. Currently the
climate science community and policy makers are converging at a
concept of combining mitigation efforts with climate adaptation
measures and strategies.
In 2004, a unique and ambitious research programme started in The
Netherlands, called “Climate changes Spatial Planning”. A budget
of 80 million Euro has been made available, jointly by government and
stakeholders on a 50/50 basis for the programme. It includes
interdisciplinary research to improve climate models and scenarios,
as well as strategies for adaptation and land use related mitigation
in close dialogue with stakeholders.
On the first day of the conference results from the CcSP
programme are presented and key note presentations on climate change
and spatial planning are given by internationally well-known
scientists and policy makers such as dr. Rajenda K. Pachauri (chair
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC), prof.dr. Carlos
Nobre (chair International Geosphere-Biosphere research Programme),
dr.Terry Barker (Cambridge University), representatives from the
European Commission and representatives from the government of the
Netherlands.
On the second conference day CcSP research results are presented
by leading scientists from the Netherlands in dialogue with regional
stakeholders and international experts.
Attached you will find a description of the conference programme.
Further information on registration, venue of the conference and
hotel reservations can be found on our website
(www.climatechangesspatialplanning.nl).
***************************************************
Jobs
Planktonnet: Great listserv for aquatic-science jobs
To subscribe to the list, send an empty email to:
planktonnet-subscribe at yahoogroups.com
Or, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/planktonnet/ and click on
'Join this group'
**************************************************
This newsletter has been developed by C. Susan Weiler to distribute
information of potential interest to recent PhDs engaged in
interdisciplinary aquatic science or climate-change research, and to
build an international sense of community among recent grads. It
provides an international forum for the exchange of information and
opinions regarding research, professional and social issues. The
views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the
funding agencies or sponsoring societies. Dr. Weiler reserves the
right to edit or reject material submitted to the list.
Please submit announcements of interest to recent PhDs to
phd at whitman.edu. Send a short message in the body of an e-mail
message, and link to any appropriate websites. Do not send attachments.
Moving? Send address changes to dialog at whitman.edu or
disccrs at whitman.edu
**********
C. Susan Weiler, Ph.D.
Office for Earth System Studies Tel: 509-527-5948
Whitman College Fax: 509-527-5961
Walla Walla, WA 99362
weiler at whitman.edu
Programs for Recent PhDs http://disccrs.org
DISCCRS poster http://www.aslo.org/phd/disccrsposter.pdf
Workshop Report, Meeting the Needs of
Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Graduates in a
Changing Global Environment
http://marcus.whitman.edu/~weilercs/biocomplexity/
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