Oceans

Preserving U.S. Fisheries: A Bipartisan Pipe Dream?

President Obama’s call in his 2012 State of the Union address for a new spirit of bipartisanship brought to mind a recent Washington Post article on current federal efforts to preserve U.S. fisheries. In what qualifies as a rare “good news” story involving federal environmental policy, that article reports that the Obama Administration is poised to …

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Oceans: the biggest loser from our international failure to address greenhouse gas emissions?

In this op-ed from Monday’s Los Angeles Times, UC San Diego scientists Tony Haymet and Andrew Dickson succinctly and directly summarizes the threat that ocean acidification poses to our world, and plead for reductions in carbon emissions.  (My colleagues have blogged about ocean acidification before, here and here among other places.)   Unfortunately, as my …

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And Caldron Bubble

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble. Or in this case, vast quantities of natural gas bubbled into the Gulf of Mexico: A vast majority of the natural gas that billowed out of BP PLC’s failed well in the Gulf this summer did not escape to the surface and atmosphere. Instead, the …

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The Oceans Heat Up

Here’s the data from the latest research in Nature, courtesy of Real Climate: I’m sure that at least some economists will view this as a desirable development: soon we’re going to have our very own planetary hot tub!

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Misinformed Attacks on the Law of the Sea

Objections to the Law of the Sea Treaty are based on specious arguments about sovereignty.

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The Supreme Court’s Love Affair with the Takings Clause–Not Over Just Yet

One of the biggest differences between the U.S. Supreme Court under former Chief Justice Rehnquist and the Court under current Chief Justice Roberts is the comparative interest in property rights and the Constitution’s Takings Clause. From 1978 until Rehnquist’s death in 2005, the Supreme Court heard one or more takings cases each Term–culminating in the …

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When the Seas Turn Sour

Just in case you didn’t have enough to worry about, the New York Times reports there is growing concern about the impact of CO2 levels on the oceans: The oceans have long buffered the effects of climate changeby absorbing a substantial portion of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. But this benefit has a catch: as …

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