Environmental

Recent Posts

Coast Guard stumbles as it tries to preempt Massachusetts state law
Posted on 27 May 2011 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

The Massachusetts Oil Spill Prevention Act (OSPA) was enacted following an oil spill in Buzzards Bay. [As the appellate court notes, Buzzards Bay is a scenically beautiful body of water. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Buzzards_Bay_map.png... Read More

Oil Field Service Company Settles Claims Related To Oil Spill Litigation
Posted on 22 Jun 2011 by Christopher Bauer

NEW ORLEANS - (Mealey's) Weatherford International Ltd. announced June 20 that it has reached a $75 million agreement with BP LLC to settle any claims between the companies relating to the Deepwater Horizon incident and oil spill ( In re: Oil Spill... Read More

Acidification of Oceans May Affect the Brains of Fish
Posted on 28 May 2012 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

Yesterday's post noted some of the adverse consequences that are likely to arise from acidification of oceans. Another recent study shows that such acidification can influence the behavior of fish because of impacts on their brains; the response of... Read More

Newly discovered deep-sea currents carry biota from one vent to another
Posted on 10 May 2011 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

The "accepted wisdom" for many years has been that the deep-sea ocean floor was boring; nothing much happened, including currents. Some areas were assumed to be so devoid to life and motion that they were considered as potential burial sites... Read More

Plastic garbage zones are not just in the Pacific
Posted on 6 Jun 2010 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

The plastic garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean has received substantial media attention. However, recent studies have shown that there are a number of such garbage patches, and that unfortunately they are larger than originally believed. The so-called... Read More

Fissures found in glaciers raise questions about future ice movement
Posted on 30 Nov 2010 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

Water is at the heart of the dynamic behavior of glaciers. Water located beneath a glacier is believed to "lubricate" its movement toward the sea. How glaciers melt and move is likely to have a major impact on sea levels. It thus came as... Read More

Oil Field Service Company Settles Claims Related To Oil Spill Litigation
Posted on 22 Jun 2011 by Christopher Bauer

NEW ORLEANS - (Mealey's) Weatherford International Ltd. announced June 20 that it has reached a $75 million agreement with BP LLC to settle any claims between the companies relating to the Deepwater Horizon incident and oil spill ( In re: Oil Spill... Read More

Arctic salt clouds are reducting the impact of Global Climate Change on the Arctic region
Posted on 15 May 2011 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

Prior posts have noted both the various impacts of Global Climate Change ("GCC") on various aspects of the Earth and its atmospheric systems, as well as the failure of many/most models to include such impacts within their parameters. For example... Read More

Movement of corals around Japan provides evidence of global warming
Posted on 27 Jan 2011 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

Prior posts have noted that in terms of ascertaining evidence of global warming, it may be worthwhile to assess the numerous studies of various potential indicators (e.g., migration patterns, drought, relocation of biota). Add another indicator. A... Read More

Coast Guard stumbles as it tries to preempt Massachusetts state law
Posted on 27 May 2011 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

The Massachusetts Oil Spill Prevention Act (OSPA) was enacted following an oil spill in Buzzards Bay. [As the appellate court notes, Buzzards Bay is a scenically beautiful body of water. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Buzzards_Bay_map.png... Read More

Newly discovered deep-sea currents carry biota from one vent to another
Posted on 10 May 2011 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

The "accepted wisdom" for many years has been that the deep-sea ocean floor was boring; nothing much happened, including currents. Some areas were assumed to be so devoid to life and motion that they were considered as potential burial sites... Read More

Creating protected zones helps the recovery of even migratory fish species
Posted on 30 Aug 2010 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

As noted in prior posts, the creation of protected zones in which fishing is prohibited has been shown to be an effective method for assisting the recovery of fish that do not migrate over great areas. For example, protected zones in the region of the... Read More

Oceans show warming in last two decades
Posted on 5 Jul 2010 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

Because water has a vastly larger capacity for heat storage than the atmosphere, eventually between 80 to 90 percent of the heat trapped by the greenhouse effects ends up being stored in the oceans. Thus, the trend in ocean temperatures is an excellent... Read More

What killed off much of the explosion of life following the Cambrian "explosion"?
Posted on 5 Feb 2011 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

Prior posts have discussed the Cambrian explosion, and noted the evidence suggesting that it was a more gradual process than stereotypically described. However, there has been little solid evidence to explain why, following this alleged burst of complex... Read More

Another potential sign of global warming: Crabs are invading the shallow waters of the Southern Ocean
Posted on 12 Mar 2011 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

Numerous past posts have noted that evidence for global warming can be found in the numerous reports on specific environmental conditions and events around the globe (for example, the migration of corals around Japan, the trend in lakes around the world... Read More