While the big climate conference in Copenhagen is turning out to more of a train wreak as each day goes by another piece of Alaska disappears in the the fridge ocean water. In what could be considered a microcosm of what will happen around the rest of the world at some point Alaska has found it self at the center of an ecological perfect storm.

It is the combination of three major threats of: less ice, more waves and warmer water, that is causing large portions of the state’s coastline to fall into the ocean. We’re not talking inches here either. In fact the amount of disappearing coastline amounts to 45 feet per year.

This fact was discovered recently by researchers at the University of Boulder in a study co-authored by CU-Boulder Associate Professor Robert Anderson. Anderson is joined by Irina Overeem, of CU’s Institute of Artic and Alpine Reseach, Cameron Wobus, from Stratus Consulting, as well as co-authors Gary Clow and Frank Urban from USGS and Tim Stanton of the Naval Postgraduate School.

The researchers used a variety of instruments and methods in the study to examine the dynamic transition between the land and the sea, including time-lapse photography of shoreline erosion, global positioning systems (GPS), meteorological measurements including temperature and wind speed, and sediment analyses of the coastal bluffs. Offshore measurements included sea-ice distribution, ocean floor depth, sea-surface temperatures and wave dynamics, said Anderson, also a fellow at INSTAAR.

The time-lapse images were taken with four tripod mounted “game cameras” often used by hunters and wildlife biologists and which were set up parallel to the shoreline. The cameras snapped pictures every six hours during the 24-hour summer daylight months to track the effects of the waves on the coastline, said Anderson.

“Once one of these blocks topples, the process continues on to the next block,” Anderson said. “These images are very powerful, because they pick up activity during severe storms when we aren’t there to watch.” The images also illustrate the steady melting along the water’s edge that helps to undermine the bluffs even in the absence of storm activity.

Source: University of Colorado

Here is a video showing some of the time-lapse pictures taken of the erosion in action.

Alaska – disappearing at 45 feet per year is a post from: The Inquisitr

Look I realize that as a cranky old fart that I don’t have much credibility when it comes to talking about feminine products but isn’t the idea of a Pokéman themed re-useable menstruation pad getting just a little too carried away.

If not and this is up your alley you can drop by the Naturally Hip store on Etsy and order yourself some.

hat tip to Kotaku

Carrying green too far – the Pokémon menstrual pad is a post from: The Inquisitr

We live in a throw-away society. Don’t want it anymore throw it away – anywhere. Finished that bottle of water just toss the bottle to the curb after all no-one gives a shit anyway. The problem is that all that thrown away plastic is collecting in places we don’t see everyday and causing an ecological disaster.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is one of those collections of garbage but because it is somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean no-one cares. Even the word patch is a misnomer given that this one section of floating garbage covers some 1,700 miles.

Researchers from Project Kaisei and the Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition (SEAPLEX) recently journeyed through the entire area collecting samples as they went. The expedition included researchers, sailors, journalists and government officials and lasted four weeks. As for the size of the patch – the 1,700 miles is only the distance that the expedition travelled before having to return, members of the research teams say it is much larger than that they just didn’t have enough time to map it all.

Mary Crowley, Project Kaisei co-founder, said: "More than 30 years ago, on my first trip to the North Pacific Gyre I found a few glass ball fishing floats, one net and there were, in four days, perhaps two pieces of floating plastic.

"Returning now with Project Kaisei .. the marine debris situation shows a startling change in this same area. In 30 minutes one easily can count up to 400 pieces of plastic on the sea’s surface."

The team found a variety of invertebrates living in the debris, including crabs, sea anemones, barnacles, sponges and algae, sparking fears that the plastic may aid the spread of invasive species.

Source: BBC – Voyage confirms plastic pollution

images via Wikipedia and Inhabitat

1,700 miles of floating garbage – our garbage is a post from: The Inquisitr

If there is one label that get thrown out in just about every part of our social interactions it has to be the terrorist one. You sneeze the wrong way you can be a terrorist. You belch the wrong way and you can be a terrorist. Decided to do whatever you can to save whales from being slaughtered by Japanese <cough> research </cough> ships in the Antarctic and you will find yourself being called a terrorist.

At least that is the case with the Sea Shepherd and the people behind the organization. It is this organizations goal to stop any whaling operations in any of the worlds oceans – especially the Antarctic as this is where the Japanese whaling fleet has been operating lately. The Sea Shepherd organization has been so successful over the last year that the Japanese press has labelled them a terrorist organization.

Japanese research whaling in the Antarctic Ocean has been sabotaged by the radical US conservation group Sea Shepherd.
Japanese fishery officials say activists hindered the whaling ship Kaiko Maru by throwing bottles of strong-smelling liquid into it and banging a boat into it over about 3 hours on Friday. They say the ship was only slightly damaged and that no one on board was hurt.

Source: NHK World

You can also watch the exploits of the Sea Shepherd ships in the new reality television show The Whale Wars on the Animal Planet cable station. As well you can see back shows on the AnimalPlanetTV channel on YouTube

[hat to Treehugger]

Saving whales can get you labelled a terrorist is a post from: The Inquisitr