Scripps scientists study depletion of marine life
A recent study by scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography found that the warming ocean temperatures could be the reason for the depletion of marine life on the West Coast for the past 25 years. The trend shows that the numbers of fish, seabirds, kelp beds and zooplankton have also plummeted. John McGowan and other scientists from Scripps used data from the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations to examine the changes in the California current. The current originates from the northern Pacific Ocean and passes along the North American west coast. According to McGowan, data shows that the most likely cause of the change is a shift in the upper-ocean heat content.
McGowan and his colleagues also recently published a report of the study results in “”Deep Sea Research Part II.”” The paper was co-written by Steven Bograd and Ronald Lynn of the National Marine Fisheries Service and Arthur Miller from Scripps. The scientists caution that similar forces affecting marine life could appear elsewhere if ocean temperatures continue to rise.
McGowan and his colleagues also looked for different possibilities for the decline in marine life, but according to his conclusions from the tests, other possible causes are not likely. The paper highlights a “”regime-shift”” to warmer ocean temperatures, which lead to a disturbance in the process in which lower, nutrient-rich water mixes with the upper ocean. In turn, the thickening of a warmer water layer causes the nutrient-rich waters to deepen, disturbing the food supply of plankton and other sea life.
The CalCOFI program was first launched 50 years ago to study the California current. Though CalCOFI initially focused on the disappearance of sardines along the California coast, participants in the program also collect data on ocean circulation, temperature, oxygen levels and other observations of marine life.
Founder to discuss Teach For America
Teach For America founder Wendy Kopp will speak on Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. at Price Center Theater. Kopp will discuss the existing achievement gap within the public school system between high and low income areas. The lecture follows a student leader brunch with Kopp, also to be held on Nov. 13.
The idea for the program first came to Kopp during her senior year at Princeton University when she started looking at disadvantages that children from low-income families faced. She developed her idea as her undergraduate senior thesis and received a grant from Mobil Corporation to start the program. Joined by a small staff of recent college graduates, Kopp launched Teach for America in 1990 and placed 500 men and women in teaching positions in the Los Angeles, New York City and New Orleans areas. Today, Teach For America continues to place members in 20 cities around the country, including Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Miami. In 2004, the program will expand to 21 regions, adding South Dakota to its list.
College celebrates Thurgood Marshall Week
Thurgood Marshall College’s community service organization, Active Community at Thurgood, will sponsor an outreach event to help students from Preuss School work on their college applications. The event kicks off Thurgood Marshall Week, a weeklong celebration in honor of the college’s namesake. Sponsored by the Marshall College Dean of Student Affairs Office, the week will be marked by various activities including “”Give me 5,”” a free lunch event on Nov. 17 featuring the dean and other staff members from the Marshall administration. There will also be a lecture by UCSD Professor Peter Irons on Nov. 18 to discuss his new book.
Students Against Animal Suffering save turkeys
The Students Against Animal Suffering will have a table set up on Library Walk until Nov. 26 starting at 10 a.m. each day to collect donations for the Farm Sanctuary. Farm Sanctuary is a nonprofit organization working to provide shelters for ex-farm animals.
Farm Sanctuary’s Adopt-A-Turkey Project saves turkeys from being killed on breeding factory farms and provides shelters for them in New York and California. The program, which began in 1986, gives two ways for people to adopt turkeys in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. A sponsor can adopt a turkey living in a Farm Sanctuary shelter by donating a $15 dollar adoption fee. Some also offer their homes to provide permanent shelter for two or more turkeys. Qualifications for those who want to offer homes to the animals include being a vegetarian or vegan.
According to Farm Sanctuary’s Web site, 268 million turkeys are killed each year, with 45 million killed for Thanksgiving.
