Free Fall at the Edge of Space: successful jump back to our home planet

A little piece of technological history was accomplished today high - very high - over the dry scrubland of New Mexico.  Felix Baumgartner, supported by the Red Bull Stratos team of scientists and technicians, was taken aloft in a helium balloon to an altitude of over 128,000 feet - 3 times the altitude of a jetliner and the highest for any human in a balloon.  He then did what he had set out to do beginning nearly seven years ago when this project started. He jumped from the capsule he was riding in to make a free fall descent in which he reached a speed in the thin outer traces of the atmosphere of 833 miles per hour, becoming the first human to break the speed of sound (without an aircraft) at 1.24 Mach.  Opening his chute at around 5,000 feet, he safely landed in the New Mexico desert and is concluding a press conference as I write this post.

Undoubtedly, this event will be the talk of many Internet circles today and will get several days worth of news coverage.  There will be talk of what scientific data was gathered by the many sensors and equipment that both Baumgartner and the Red Bull Stratos capsule was carrying.  And there will be those that will describe it as nothing more than a high-tech stunt, which to some degree is a valid comment, akin to why do we climb that mountain? Because it's there.  

An event like this taps into the little boy adventurer in all of us.  Growing up, I wanted to be an astronaut, I watched all the space movies, had all the space models, and never missed the coverage of every launch in the U.S. space program.  Reality, though, said that being strapped into the next Apollo moon flight wasn't going to happen.  However, that didn't stop me from channeling my adventurism into something that I found equally fulfilling: an aquanaut.  And as I grew older I realized that what I was becoming involved in - the oceans and our aquatic resources - had greater consequences for myself and the planet.

So, I found myself vicariously living Baumgartner's moment in history today (beamed with spectacular clarity via live Internet feeds) but without any sense of regret whatsoever.  The same thrill that people might get by watching events like today's jump into near space, I get every time I jump beneath the waves.

Interestingly, what I saw from the video cameras perched outside of the Red Bull Stratos capsule reminded me once again of how small planet Earth is in the grand scheme of things.  How this is our home base - enclosed, encapsulated within a thin sheet of atmosphere protecting us - a truly finite ecosystem moving through the void of space.  It's all we have.

This is something that Felix Baumgartner realized as he stood on the step, looking out at the blackness of space all around him and then turning to the bright blue planet beckoning him home.  Asked by a reporter what he was thinking at that moment, Baumgartner said he thought of how small we all are.

So, congratulations to Felix, his entire crew, and to the corporate sponsors who once again proved that, as with SpaceX (the private spacecraft company supplying the International Space Station) and other companies involved in science technology ventures, non-government enterprises can often accomplish great things for science and the environment.  Ocean research needs more of that kind of commitment - funding the Aquarius undersea research lab would be a good start - as the outlays are comparatively small and the returns can be enormous and truly live saving.  

Visit the Red Bull Stratos website.    

Earth's Magnetic Fields in Flux: poles move but the sky's not falling

There's a little bit of a Chicken Little groundswell running through the news and the blogospehere and probably by the end of the week, aliens from space, the CIA, or Mayan calendars will be fingered as the culprits. It all has to do with the Earth's shifting magnetic poles.

We think of the planet's magnetic fields as constant and dependable as the Northern Star. Every Boy Scout finds his way back to camp because he can count on his trusty compass to point North. And the magnetic fields also protect us. The entire magnetosphere helps to deflect much of the solar radiation emanating from the sun that bombards us in the form of solar winds.

But the Earth's magnetic fields are always in flux; the actual magnetic north and south poles are shifting, wobbling about on its axis due to forces taking place deep below the surface of the Earth where the fields are generated. Since the 19th century, when the position of the magnetic north pole was first identified, it has been moving from high in the North American Arctic towards Siberia. Through the 20th century, its movement was clocked at about 10 km a year, on average, but apparently it has been accelerating to around 40 km annually.

This movement can manifest itself as a real world consequence for us humans. It has been reported that an airport in Tampa, Florida had to close its runways so that they could be relabeled. Pilots use their magnetic compass instruments to determine which runway to use and so runway and taxiway signs apparently needed to be changed to properly coincide with aviation charts and the pilot's instruments.

"The Earth's poles are changing constantly, and when they change more than three degrees, that can affect runway numbering," FAA spokesperson Kathleen Bergen told Fox News.

Once in the news, the change in magnetic fields is rippling through the air and has been linked by some to the mysterious bird and fish deaths that took place recently in Arkansas and Delaware. I'm afraid soon we'll hear reports of a coming Armageddon, compliments of the Earth's magnetic field.

Well, what is happening? The Earth's magnetic fields are generated by the movement of the molten iron outer core around the planet's solid iron inner core. This movement, much like the movement of an electric motor, produces magnetic fields that extend thousands of miles beyond the planet forming our magnetospehere. The molten outer core is a very turbulent mass.

As described by NASA, "Sitting atop the hot inner core, the liquid outer core seethes and roils like water in a pan on a hot stove. The outer core also has "hurricanes"--whirlpools powered by the Coriolis forces of Earth's rotation. These complex motions generate our planet's magnetism through a process called the dynamo effect."

Could this movement of the magnetic poles be an indication of some major event? Scientists have been able to determine that there have been complete reversals of the magnetic poles throughout time - and I suspect this will put some doomsday theorists into a lather with pronouncements of catastrophic upheavals akin to the movie mayhem seen in "2012". However, these reversals occur roughly every 300,000 years on average, with the last one taking place over 780,000 years ago. According to scientists, it takes thousands of years for a reversal to take place, and they theorize that it would be less of a complete reversal as it would be a fragmented disruption that would leave the Earth temporarily with several poles around the globe, not just a single North and South. And through it all, the Earth's geographic North/South pole, the axis on which it spins, would remain stable.

You just might find your GPS acting a little funny and, as NASA mentioned, you might find Tahiti as the new go-to location to watch the Northern lights.

Read about the Tampa airport runways on YahooNews.
Read about the magnetic fields in NASA Science.

From RTSea Blog: Happy Holidays

On December 24th, 2010,

“This is my wish for you: peace of mind, prosperity through the year, happiness that multiplies, health for you and yours, fun around every corner, energy to chase your dreams, joy to fill your holidays!” – D.M. Dellinger

And let's not forget, the wisdom and passion to do what is right for the oceans and the planet.

Happy Holidays!

Richard Theiss
RTSea Blog
RTSea Productions

Scientists Under Pressure: seeking answers in unprecedented times

I was reading a collection of abstracts covering scientific articles and studies involving climate and climate change, and it made me reflect on the enormous pressure that our scientific community is under. We, as a global society, are slowly becoming more and more aware of the many environmental challenges we face - from global warming to fossil fuel dependence to, well, you name it - and we are turning to science to provide the answers. But true science is very methodical, cautious, and perhaps even slow by our standards in analyzing, predicting, and developing solutions or alternatives in dealing with the issues we face.

But that desire for the quick fix, the silver bullet, is not the only complication to the scientists' work. They must also contend with the fact that we are in unprecedented times. The various impacts of human activities and the ripple or cascade effects they have on ecological and geological systems continually skew prediction models and analysis in new directions almost daily. Critics question the credibility of the scientific community because of changing models regarding polar ice melts, ocean acidification, or future species populations.

• A study, reported in Ecological Complexity, addresses the problem in defining the impact on environmental systems with the conversion to "clean" energy because of the overall growing demand for energy, whether clean or not.

• An article on climate modeling in Annual Review of Environment and Resources applauds the ability to predict past, present and future climate patterns. But it also points out the computational limitations as prediction models try to include more and more Earth-system processes.

• In Climactic Change, an article discusses the challenge in predicting climate change accurately, despite compiling extensive data over long periods of time (to average out seasonal or spurious fluctuations) because of the increasing demand for energy (specifically coal) which skews the analysis in unforeseen ways.

With our current worldwide economic difficulties, economists and decision-makers are trying solutions that are new and untested to combat problems that are unique in our economic history. This leaves them open to criticism or questions as to the likelihood of success.

Scientists find themselves in the same situation but with the added burden that the issues they are addressing will effect more than just the health of our pocketbooks - they will determine the health and future of this planet.

Let's make sure they have the tools and support to succeed.

Antarctica redux: climate change

My previous post discussed a report that was meant to verify that overall temperatures in Antarctica were slowly on the increase. The report, featured in the journal Nature, has come under considerable scrutiny and the methodologies used to derived the results are being questioned.

Should it be proved that the researchers involved in the report chose to stretch the limits of sound, solid research and analysis, that would be unfortunate as it provides fodder for critics of climate change. In the end, the extremist positions taken on any issue never seem to help the various camps on either side of the debate.

Some critics of climate change seem to take the position that it doesn't exist at all, that it's a total fabrication amounting to some elaborate conspiracy theory to make money or gain political power.

Others seem to accept that the climate is changing but that it is due to a natural cycle, not influenced by man-made activities, and therefore there is nothing that can be done about it (unfortunately, I do not hear much from them in the way of suggestions on how to deal then with the inevitable consequences).

Something is happening to the planet's climate. And with a population of over 6.5 billion, we are definitely having an impact on the depletion of many natural resources - from water to timber to wildlife and sealife. After two centuries of dependence on fossil fuels, resulting in vast and verified quantities of greenhouse gases being generated, it doesn't take a phenomenal leap of faith or judgment to consider that our quality of life would be improved by developing alternatives to our current consumption habits.

For the brief time I have remaining on this planet, I would like to think I can make a positive difference in my life, the lives of my children, and the planet. Go ahead, call me an optimistic dreamer. I don't mind.

Nature and the Seas: steps forward and challenges in 2009

Covering a range of conservation and environmental issues, here are a few success from 2008, compliments of the World Wildlife Fund:

• Sumatran elephant and tiger habitat protected in Indonesia, doubling the size of Sumatra's Tesso Nilo National Park.
• U.S. Congress extended tax incentives for individuals and businesses to install renewable energy systems and build energy-efficient buildings.
• United States became first country to prohibit import and sale of illegally-sourced woods - the loss of which has impacted forest animal habitats.
• U.S. House of Representatives passed the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act, to protect lions, leopards, cheetahs and other imperiled species.
• The House also passed important legislation to protect tropical forests and coral reefs. Similar legislation passed a key senate committee.

Now, turning to our oceans, here are some challenges we face in 2009:

• Overfishing - We are still faced with losing most commercial fish species within 40 years (swordfish and tuna populations have already been reduced by a whopping 90%). The Magnuson-Stevens Act must be implemented. (Info on the M-S Act.)
  
• Bycatch - Commercial fishing still discards up to one million tons of fish each year, not to mention the countless numbers of marine mammals, turtles, and more. (Previous post on subject.)
  
• Sea Turtles - Even though listed as endangered or threatened in U.S. waters, sea turtles are still exposed to harm from fisheries and loss of nesting and foraging habitat. (More info on sea turtles.)
  
• Sharks - The slaughter continues, up to 100 million sharks per year. While governments need to exercise greater effort in management and/or prohibition of species, continued efforts must be made to enhance public awareness and reduce demand for shark products. (Previous post on subject.)
  
• Seafood Contamination - Mercury levels in many types of seafood is increasing. Government efforts must be increased to curb industry's use or disposal of this dangerous neurotoxin. (Mercury calculator for seafood.)
  
• Climate Change - We are continually learning more about the man-made effects of global warming, not only in terms of increased temperatures, but in its many byproducts like ocean acidification. And we are finding that the effects, like changes in Arctic, are accelerating faster than previous models predicted. (Previous post on subject.)
  
• Offshore Drilling - Many moratoriums on offshore drilling are set to expire soon. Before billions of dollars are spent to extract a diminishing resource, governments need to pressure the energy industries in refocusing their efforts. The U.S. needs a coherent energy policy based on long-term, not short-term, goals. (Previous post on subject.)
  

Time to roll up our sleeves, everyone.

TIME's "Living Wonders": marvels and mysteries of life on Earth

About a year ago, TIME magazine issued a terrific book on Global Warming in both soft and hard cover. It was both very thorough and readable - providing readers with the issues, causes and solutions surrounding one of the most critical issues facing mankind today.

To balance that somber subject, they have just released a new volume: Living Wonders, The marvels and mysteries of life on Earth. Currently available in soft cover (I picked up a copy today at my local supermarket for $12.00) and soon to be available in hard cover at Amazon and perhaps other retail book outlets.

This publication is a delight to read, as it lectures or admonishes not, but instead simply presents many of the incredible forms and adaptions of life on Earth, above and below the waves - from whales to desert cactus, from eagles to bioluminescent deep sea fish, and much more. Pick up a copy for yourself or make it a gift to someone who may be inclined to view Nature with an indifferent eye.

You'll go "oooh" and "aaah."