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No more Arctic ice
The Independent and The Washington Times report that the arctic seawater ice is rapidly disappearing. In some areas the ice cover has thinned as much as 40% between the 1960s and the early 1990s. New satellite based data has just been published which shows that within 100 years there may not be any arctic ice left, with dire consequences for polar bear and seal populations. The melting of massive amounts of fresh water in the arctic could also have serious impact on the Gulf stream.

In further news the Independent reports that scientist think that the massive Larsen ice shelf in the Antarctic may well be gone in 70 years. Scientists say that its loss may trigger a release of ice from the peninsula's mainland, causing global sea levels to rise by 1 meter (3ft 3in).
posted by bjelkeman at 12:27

The end of the oil age?
The Economist has an opinion piece about The end of the oil age. The soundbite is ' “The Stone Age did not end for lack of stone, and the Oil Age will end long before the world runs out of oil.” This intriguing prediction is often heard in energy circles these days.' Interestingly, The Economist who are not usually a publication to argue for higher taxes say: "By introducing a small but steadily rising tax on petrol, America would do far more to encourage innovation and improve energy security than all the drilling in Alaska's wilderness. Crucially, this need not be, and should not be, a matter of raising taxes in the aggregate. The proceeds from a gasoline tax ought to be used to finance cuts in other taxes—this, surely, is the way to present them to a sceptical electorate."
posted by bjelkeman at 14:17

Could 'Liquid Metal' technologies transform the economics of OTEC components?
'Liquid Metal' is a revolutionary new metallic alloy that offers properties tailored to the end application such as seawater corrosion resistance, thermal conductivity and hardness. Most interestingly it can be shaped and moulded like conventional plastics using lower temperature methods while still offering metallic properties. Titanium is the current metal of choice for -for example- the plate heat exchangers for an OTEC, however the metal has high costs associated with shaping the end product. More information at Liquidmetal Technologies web site.

From our reporter: Nick Outram
posted by bjelkeman at 10:28

Current state of OTEC, overview by Xenesys
Xenesys has a nice web based presentation about the current state of OTEC in the world.
posted by bjelkeman at 12:58

Over optimism on North Atlantic cod stock recovery
Jake Rice, of the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, warns that collapsed cod stocks do not recover as quickly as previously thought. There seem to be several reasons for this, one is that the depleted stocks spawn young in a less efficient way and they are more vulnerable to predators, but also that even very limited cod fishing doesn't allow for the stock to recover. The fishing fleets have also been upgraded, so even if there are smaller fleets now, they are able to fish 20% more often, not bothered by fog for example because of new GPS systems. CBC news has an article. Things are not looking good for European cod either as New Scientist previously has reported.
posted by bjelkeman at 12:54

Pollution creates measurable acidification of the oceans
Ken Calderia, a climate specialist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and his collegue Michael Wickett has created scenarios showing that with current rate of CO₂ emissions pH levels in the oceans could hit levels only seen during global catastrophes. Nature has an article (or PDF file) and CDNN has an article as well.
posted by bjelkeman at 12:42