Monday, 1 January 2018
Tuesday, 26 December 2017
Warmer oceans: 'We need to start planning for this now'
A report recommends sweeping changes to the
recreational fishing sector.
New Zealand's fishing industry could hit a snag if
it doesn't plan for warmer oceans significantly affecting marine life, say Niwa
scientists.
As the ocean gets warmer it could
affect phytoplankton - a key part of the oceans, seas and freshwater
basin ecosystems - and could see a reduction in food supply for fish.
"This has already happened in the water just
off Tasmania and the south-east corner of Australia, which is warming rapidly
as the East Australian current pushes warmer water further south causing huge
changes to the ecosystem," said Niwa
marine biogeochemist Professor Cliff Law.
Tasmania's coastal ecosystems were changing
with an increase in subtropical species, which can impact the economy, he said.
"The average warming around New Zealand is 2.5
degrees [Celsius] by the end of this century, which will affect how the
ocean mixes and the nutrients available for plankton growth, with knock-on
effects on the foodweb and fisheries.
"People tend to think of climate change from a
terrestrial angle but obviously, as the ocean is a big part of the globe, there
will be significant changes. As it's also a significant part of New Zealand's
Exclusive Economic Zone we need to start planning for this now."
Near-record sea surface temperatures described as "off the charts" were reported
on Monday.
A La Nina pattern and higher than normal atmospheric pressure
are warming sea surface temperatures by more than 6 degrees Celsius
in some areas, compared to the average for this time of year.
Saturday, 16 December 2017
Yellow-eyed penguins at risk due to set net fishery
Almost half the breeding population of yellow-eyed
penguins on Codfish Island, west of Stewart Island, have disappeared at
sea, most likely because of commercial set nets, Forest and Bird says.
Forest & Bird chief executive Kevin Hague said
the group was calling on the Government to gather those who work to protect the
penguins, but also the fishing industry to agree an immediate set of
actions to eliminate the risks from set netting in the penguins' feeding area.
"Unlike previous years where disease and high
temperatures caused deaths on land, this year birds have disappeared at sea.
There is an active set net fishery within the penguins' Whenua Hou foraging
ground, and the indications are that nearly half the Whenua Hou hoiho
population has been drowned in one or more of these nets.
"We are asking DOC and MPI what they intend to
do to save our hoiho from extinction, because at current rates of decline we
are on track to lose hoiho completely from mainland New Zealand. We have also
written to the Minister of Conservation, expressing our concern."
However, Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) says
it is stepping up monitoring of the set net fisheries.
Almost every penguin killed in the set net fishery
was killed on a boat that had an official observer on board, Hague said.
The first step was to get more observers onto set
net vessels and prioritise putting cameras on set netting boats, he said.
Department of Conservation information showed only
14 yellow-eyed penguins were found on Codfish Island, down from 24 the previous
year.
Forest & Bird said yellow-eyed
penguins had also declined elsewhere this year. The Catlins
had seen a drop of 10 per cent in nests and Otago Peninsula
saw a small decline but not all areas have been searched yet.
The estimate for the entire southern east coast of
the South Island was down 6 per cent.
However, it's not just yellow-eyed penguins at
risk.
Monday, 4 December 2017
Our scorching sea: Marine heatwave unfolding as hot temperatures continue
The warm weather is predicted to continue for the
rest of the week as a ridge of high pressure sits over the country.
The first weekend of summer was marked by scorching
temperatures nationwide, and Monday is expected to be even hotter.
Hanmer Springs was the hottest place in the country
on Sunday at 31 degrees Celsius, according to MetService.
It's not just air temperatures that have been hot.
According to NIWA's Ben Noll, ocean temperatures around New Zealand have been
on average 2C warmer than usual - and up to 6C warmer off the West Coast. Water
around the country has been warmer than average for
more than a month now.
MetService Meteorologist Ciaran Doolin
said: "It's good news for the working week. The (high pressure ridge
across the country) is set to persist until Friday, which means a continuation
of warm, settled weather."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/99491972/week-starts-with-a-scorcher-warm-weather-settled-in
Friday, 1 December 2017
What lies beneath: Why NZ's slice of Antarctica is at the centre of an eco-mystery
There's a problem in Antarctica.
Most climate change models say ice
around the southern continent should be decreasing. It should be melting
as the planet heats up.
But sea ice around Antarctica isn't shrinking. It's
been growing.
"Since the satellites went up – and that's
about 30 or 40 years of records – there's been a gradual trend toward more
sea ice around Antarctica," say Dr Natalie Robinson, a marine
physicist at Niwa, New Zealand's Institute for Water and Atmospheric
Research. "Which is not what you'd predict in a warming ocean."
Frozen icebergs in the Ross Sea. "There's
something particular going on with the Ross Sea," Robinson says.
This sort of thing makes climate change skeptics
shout from the roof tops. Obviously the world isn't heating up!
Sunday, 26 November 2017
More trees planted will boost NZ falcon's chances of survival
The threatened native falcon, one of the world's
fastest flying birds, should prosper if the new Government holds to its promise
to boost forest planting.
Under new Forestry Minister Shane Jones, the Government has set a target of an additional 50,000ha of planting a year, mostly radiata pine.
With a population of between 5000-8000, the karearea has thrived in pine forests, provided it has the right mix of mature trees from where it can see to hunt prey, and open spaces where it can nest.
Under new Forestry Minister Shane Jones, the Government has set a target of an additional 50,000ha of planting a year, mostly radiata pine.
With a population of between 5000-8000, the karearea has thrived in pine forests, provided it has the right mix of mature trees from where it can see to hunt prey, and open spaces where it can nest.
Chifuyu Horikoshi, who has just completed a PhD in
falcon behaviour and non-breeding ecology in Kaingaroa Forest in the central
North Island last breeding season, welcomed the promise of more trees, saying
the more the better for the raptor, one of New Zealand's few birds of prey.
"It's undoubtedly much better to plant more
forest because that's a more suitable breeding habitat for falcons than
farmland, and in the central North Island a lot of small areas of forest
have been converted to farms."
She also worked in Otago forests on karearea. The
two regions were in striking contrast. Kaingaroa, managed by Timberlands, is
one of the largest plantation forests in the world, whereas Otago features many
small forest blocks among farmland.
Wednesday, 22 November 2017
More big earthquakes in 2018 as Earth slows slightly, theory suggests
Two US scientists have come up with a theory that
suggests a big increase in devastating earthquakes, particularly near the
Equator, in 2018 following a tiny slowing in the Earth's rotation.
"The correlation between Earth's rotation and
earthquake activity is strong and suggests there is going to be an increase in
numbers of intense earthquakes next year," Roger Bilham of the
University of Colorado told The Observer.
Bilham and Rebecca Bendick of the University of
Montana presented a paper on the link between seismic activity and the Earth's
rotation speed at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America.
The slowdown in Earth's rotation is tiny - a
millisecond a day sometimes - which can be measured by atomic clocks.
Bilham and Bendick found that periods when the
number of intense earthquakes had increased followed periods of
about five years when the Earth's rotation slowed slightly.
Earth's rotation began one of the periodic
slowdowns more than four years ago.
"Next year we should see a significant
increase in numbers of severe earthquakes," Bilham said. "We
have had it easy this year. So far we have only had about six severe
earthquakes. We could easily have 20 a year starting in 2018."
The link between the Earth's rotation and the
number of big earthquakes was unclear, but slight changes in the behaviour of
the Earth's core could be causing both effects.
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