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Global carbon dioxide emissions are triggering permanent and alarming changes to ocean chemistry along the North American West Coast that require immediate, decisive action to combat, including development of a coordinated regional management strategy, a panel of scientific experts has unanimously concluded.
A failure to adequately respond to this fundamental change in seawater chemistry, known as ocean acidification, is anticipated to have devastating ecological consequences for the West Coast in the decades to come, the 20-member West Coast Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Science Panel warned in a comprehensive report unveiled this week.
“Increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are not just responsible for global climate change; these emissions also are being absorbed by the world’s oceans,” said Dr. Alexandria Boehm, co-chair of the panel and a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University. “Our work is a catalyst for management actions that can address the impacts of ocean acidification we’re seeing today and to get ahead of what’s predicted as ocean chemistry continues to change.”
Because of the way the Pacific Ocean circulates, the North American West Coast is exposed to disproportionately high volumes of seawater at elevated acidity levels.
Already, West Coast marine shelled organisms are having difficulty forming their protective outer shells, and the West Coast shellfish industry is seeing high mortality rates during early life stages when shell formation is critical.
The acidity of the world’s oceans is anticipated to continue to accelerate in lockstep with rising atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions.
The panel was convened in 2013 to explore how West Coast government agencies could work together with scientists to combat the effects of ocean acidification and a related phenomenon known as hypoxia, or low dissolved oxygen levels.
The panel’s final report, titled “Major Findings, Recommendations and Actions,” summarizes the state of the science around this pressing environmental issue and outlines a series of potential management actions that the governments of the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, and the province of British Columbia, can immediately begin implementing to offset and mitigate the economic and ecological impacts of ocean acidification.
The panel is urging ocean management and natural resource agencies to develop highly coordinated, comprehensive multi-agency solutions, including:
- Exploring approaches that involve the use of seagrass to remove carbon dioxide from seawater.
- Supporting wholesale revisions to water-quality criteria that are used as benchmarks for improving water quality, as existing water-quality criteria were not written to protect marine organisms from the damaging effects of ocean acidification.
- Identifying strategies for reducing the amounts of land-based pollution entering coastal waters, as this pollution can exacerbate the intensity of acidification in some locations.
- Enhancing a West Coast-wide monitoring network that provides information toward development of coastal ecosystem management plans.
- Supporting approaches that enhance the adaptive capacity of marine organisms to cope with ocean acidification.
Although ocean acidification is a global problem that will require global solutions, the panel deliberately focused its recommendations around what West Coast ocean management and natural resource agencies can do collectively to combat the challenge at the regional level.
“One of the most exciting aspects of the Panel’s work is that it scales a challenging, global problem down to a local and regional level, providing a roadmap to guide measurable and meaningful progress immediately,” said Deborah Halberstadt, executive director of the California Ocean Protection Council, a government agency that served as the impetus for the Panel’s formation.
West Coast policymakers will use the panel’s recommendations to continue to advance management actions aimed at combating ocean acidification and hypoxia.
This work will be coordinated through the Pacific Coast Collaborative, a coalition of policy leads from the offices of the governors of California, Oregon, Washington, and the premier of British Columbia, which have been working together on West Coast ocean acidification since 2013.
The Pacific Coast Collaborative has been engaging state and federal agencies across multiple jurisdictions to elevate the need for action along the West Coast.
The panel, which was convened for a three-year period that ended in February 2016, also has recommended the formation of a West Coast Science Task Force to continue to advance the scientific foundation for comprehensive, managerially relevant solutions to West Coast ocean acidification.
“Communities around the country are increasingly vulnerable to ocean acidification and long-term environmental changes," said Dr. Richard Spinrad, chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “It is crucial that we comprehend how ocean chemistry is changing in different places, so we applaud the steps the West Coast Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Science Panel has put forward in understanding and addressing this issue. We continue to look to the West Coast as a leader on understanding ocean acidification.”
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Firefighters were able to save several homes involved in two separate fires on Wednesday.
The fires occurred in Clearlake early Wednesday morning and in Lower Lake shortly before noon.
Lake County Fire Protection District Battalion Chief George Murch said the first fire occurred at 3585 Ciwa and was dispatched just before 2:30 a.m.
It was dispatched as a possible structure fire. While en route firefighters found out it was an outbuilding on fire that was spreading into a nearby residence – a doublewide home – where an elderly woman was said to be trapped, Murch said.
Murch said fire personnel were able to get her out safely, and the fire ultimately was knocked down with some resulting damage to the woman's home and outbuildings.
He said Lake County Fire sent two chief officers and one engine, with Cal Fire responding with an engine.
Murch said firefighters cleared the scene at 4:46 a.m.
The cause is under investigation, he said.
“It is the second fire that we've had on that property, so it is suspicious,” he said.
The previous fire, which Murch estimated occurred about a month ago, involved a debris trailer that was parked on the property, which was being cleaned up. He said someone threw something into it, catching it on fire.
Murch said the home didn't have a smoke alarm, and he took the opportunity to remind people to not only have the alarms but to check them, especially if living in mobile homes, which can burn more quickly.
The afternoon fire, which Murch said was dispatched at 11:57 a.m., occurred at the Westwind Mobile Park, located at 11270 Konocti Vista Drive.
He said a Cal Fire hand crew got on scene first, followed by Lake County Fire and Kelseyville Fire, which came on a mutual aid request.
“While en route, we could see heavy smoke,” Murch said.
Altogether the fire burned a quarter-acre of vegetation, and did moderate damage to two mobile homes and minor damage to a third. Murch said the damage primarily was to deck structures.
It took about 20 minutes to contain and 30 minutes to mop up, he said, with units clearing at 1:45 a.m.
That fire resulted from a maintenance person burning weeds. Murch said the weeds caught nearby junipers on fire, which led to the blaze spreading.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – One of the county's regular animal adoption events is continuing through Saturday at Lake County Animal Care and Control.
This week, the $30 county adoption fee for dogs and the $20 county adoption fee for cats is being waived, along with the $20 microchip fee, according to Director Bill Davidson.
As of Wednesday, Davidson said five dogs had been adopted, with many more applications coming in.
“Considering we average about 20 (adoptions) a month, that's pretty good!” Davidson said.
Community members who want to microchip their pets also will get a discount this week – the normal cost of $20 will be cut in half and offered for $10, according to Davidson.
Animal Care and Control's shelter this week is filled with dogs that are mixes of American Bulldog, boxer, cattle dog, Chihuahua, Doberman, hound, Labrador Retriever, mastiff, pit bull, Rottweiler and shepherd, plus a few cats.
When dogs or cats are adopted from Animal Care and Control, they are spayed or neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, licensed and given a heartworm test if it's appropriate for their age.
This week, cat adoption fees are $56 for males and $66 for females.
For dogs, total adoption costs this week are $111 to $126 for females, depending on weight, and $101 for males.
Visit Lake County Animal Care and Control online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm , call 707-263-0278 or drop by the shelter at 4949 Helbush Drive in Lakeport during kennel hours, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – People in Lake County remember where they were and what they were doing when the Valley fire struck on Sept. 12, 2015. For most of Lake County, that day is seared into memory.
Seven Lake County residents will tell their Valley fire stories as part of the Lake County Library’s free lecture series “Know Lake County” at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 16, at the Lakeport branch of the Lake County Library, 1425 N. High St.
Saro Deacon and Darlene Hecomovich lost their homes in the fire and are looking forward to settling into their new permanent homes.
Deacon and her husband Reikor weren’t home when the fire barreled through Cobb and so had no chance to save anything from their home, including Saro’s treasured harps, one of them a gift from her grandfather.
She said she will “highlight the healing process and some blessings that arose from it. One blessing was that I received two harps and purchased one to the replace the two that I lost. I will play a couple of tunes on the harp.”
Linda Green is a Cal Fire division chief who was on duty on Sept. 12 when the Valley fire started and was an incident commander on the fire.
After the fire, she, along with Michael S. Green and Kimberly Minich, formed a story project called “Valley Fire Stories” to help firefighters who lost their homes to the fire.
Tom Patton and Lorrie Gray are Cal Fire volunteers in prevention who provided information to the public and the media at the Cal Fire command center in St. Helena.
John Hamner will make a presentation regarding the impact and aftermath of the Valley fire on the Callayomi Water District which serves Middletown.
Hamner is the manager of the district which lost its office, including decades of documents and history, its water treatment plant and 35 to 40 percent of its customer base.
Elizabeth Larson of Lake County News covered the fire zone along with her husband and business partner John Jensen, providing thorough, current fire news for the people of Lake County during and after those chaotic days.
The Valley fire has affected nearly everyone in Lake County in one way or another, on a larger scale than anything before it. The Lake County Library and its partners in the Lake County Museums recognize that the fire memories should be preserved.
This month Know Lake County intersects with another library program, Book-to-Action, which is teaching volunteers how to record oral histories and matching the volunteers with people who want to tell their stories.
For more information about how to participate in Book-to-Action or to receive a free copy of the Book-to-Action book, The Oral History Workshop, inquire at your local branch library.
People who have stories to tell can contact the Lake County Library at 707-263-8817 if they want to be interviewed or to share their stories about the recent fires. They will be matched with trained interviewers to record their stories.
The Lake County Library is on the Internet at http://library.lakecountyca.gov and Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LakeCountyLibrary . The Lake County Museums are on the Internet at http://museums.lakecountyca.gov .
For more information about Know Lake County and other library programs call 707-263-8817.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Two men – one of them from Clearlake – were arrested by authorities Tuesday evening for assaulting and robbing a man in a Chico park.
David Milliron, 25, of Clearlake and William Forward, 24, of Chico were arrested in the case, according to a report from Sgt. Mike Rodden of the Chico Police Department.
Rodden said that at 6 p.m. Tuesday the victim – whose name was not released – was riding his bicycle into the south One Mile Recreation Area when a vehicle pulled up behind him and began honking its horn. The victim waved for the vehicle to pass him.
Words were exchanged between the occupants of the vehicle and the victim. Rodden said two occupants of the vehicle exited the vehicle and assaulted the victim, forcibly taking his phone from him during the assault.
Responding Chico Police officers were alerted by witnesses to a vehicle leaving the area, and Rodden said officers subsequently stopped that vehicle in the area of Sycamore and W. Eighth streets.
Rodden said all occupants of the vehicle were detained and the victim identified Forward and Milliron as his assailants.
Both Forward and Milliron ultimately were booked into Butte County Jail and the other occupants of the vehicle were released after providing statements, Rodden said. The victim's phone also was recovered.
The victim was transported to a local hospital for treatment for his injuries. He is expected to make a full recovery, Rodden said.
The intersection at W. Eighth and Sycamore streets was shut down during the vehicle stop, but it was reopened after a few minutes, according to Rodden.
Concerns that teens are among the drivers most likely to be distracted, coupled with the fact that car crashes are the number one killer of teens in the United States, have led to the designation of April 4 to 10 as California Teen Safe Driving Week to draw attention to this serious problem.
The California Highway Patrol (CHP), Impact Teen Drivers (ITD), California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), and national traffic safety leaders are collaborating in April to focus on the serious issue of teen driver safety.
The partners behind California Teen Safe Driving Week emphasize that many of the collisions involving teens are preventable.
“Teen drivers are distracted about a quarter of the time they are behind the wheel,” CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow said. “The possibilities for distraction are only getting worse. This should be a sobering thought for any parent, or anyone else with teens in their lives. We all must be the best example we can for our newest, most vulnerable drivers.”
The month of April is also recognized as National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
In California, the CHP, OTS, ITD, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), as well as law enforcement throughout the state, are working together to focus on education as well as enforcement.
A study by the American Automobile Association (AAA) Foundation presents chilling conclusions about teen drivers: Every day, car crashes end more teen lives than cancer, homicide and suicide combined.
Based on miles driven, teens are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers. Although teens represent 7 percent of the licensed population, they are involved in almost 20 percent of all fatal crashes.
The AAA Foundation also found that distraction due to cell phone use appears to be much more prevalent than is reflected in official government statistics.
“Most people do not reveal they were distracted by social media or texting before they crashed. Therefore, we know distracted driving is grossly underreported in official reports,” Commissioner Farrow said. “Driver education and awareness are increasingly important, which is why the CHP works with Impact Teen Drivers to promote California Teen Safe Driving Week.”
One of the best tools available to combat teen distracted driving is parental role modeling. The driving behaviors and attitudes of parents are the best predictors of a teen’s driving behavior.
“Teens have been observing their parents’ driving behavior for 15 years, so if the parents are speeding down the road while talking on the phone, sipping a latté, and steering with their knee, why would we expect teens to drive any differently?” Kelly Browning, executive director of ITD, said. “Parents who actively teach their teens safe driving behaviors and make good choices behind the wheel themselves have teens who make better driving choices.”
Nationwide, 3,154 people were killed and an estimated additional 424,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers in 2013, NHTSA has reported.
NHTSA has also found that at any given moment during the daytime, an estimated 660,000 drivers were using hand-held cell phones. In 2013, 10 percent of all drivers 15-19 years old involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crashes.
“New teen drivers already had two strikes against them with their lack of driving skills and susceptibility to in-car peer pressures,” said OTS Director Rhonda Craft. “The explosion of teens’ almost constant mobile device use during the last decade has perilously upped their distraction level. This is a problem that no family can ignore.”
Preliminary data from the National Safety Council indicate that for the first time in over 50 years, traffic deaths increased eight percent in 2015 despite decades of vehicle design improvements and traffic safety advancements.
This increase indicates that no amount of technology, safety features, or enforcement can protect us from ourselves.
Instead, the choices behind the wheel make the biggest difference when it comes to the safety of everyone on our roadways.
Drivers need to keep both hands on the wheel, both eyes on the road, and, most important, their mind focused on one thing – their driving.