Harmful algal bloom management and response: assessment and plan

This report, "Harmful Algal Bloom Management and Response: Assessment and Plan" reviews and evaluates Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) management and response efforts, identifies current prevention, control, and mitigation programs for HABs, and presents an innovative research, event response, and infrastructure development plan for advancing the response to HABs. In December 2004, Congress enacted and the President signed into law the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Amendments Act of 2004, (HABHRCA 2004). The reauthorization of HABHRCA acknowledged that HABs are one of the most scientifically complex and economically damaging coastal issues challenging our ability to safeguard the health of our Nation’s coastal ecosystems. The Administration further recognized the importance of HABs as a high priority national issue by specifically calling for the implementation of HABHRCA in the President’s U.S. Ocean Action Plan. HABHRCA 2004 requires four reports to assess and recommend research programs on HABs in U.S. waters. This document comprises two linked reports specifically aimed at improving HAB management and response: the Prediction and Response Report and the follow-up plan, the National Scientific Research, Development, Demonstration, and Technology Transfer (RDDTT) Plan on Reducing Impacts from Harmful Algal Blooms. This document was prepared by the Interagency Working Group on Harmful Algal Blooms, Hypoxia, and Human Health, which was chartered through the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology of the National Science and Technology Council and the Interagency Committee on Ocean Science and Resource Management Integration. This report complements and expands upon HAB-related priorities identified in Charting the Course for Ocean Science in the United States for the Next Decade: An Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation Strategy, recently released by the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology. It draws from the contributions of numerous experts and stakeholders from federal, state, and local governments, academia, industry, and non-governmental organizations through direct contributions, previous reports and planning efforts, a public comment period, and a workshop convened to develop strategies for a HAB management and response plan. Given the importance of the Nation’s coastal ocean, estuaries, and inland waters to our quality of life, our culture, and the economy, it is imperative that we move forward to better understand and mitigate the impacts of HABs which threaten all of our coasts and inland waters. This report is an effort to assess the extent of federal, state and local efforts to predict and respond to HAB events and to identify opportunities for charting a way forward

Antarctic ice sheet discharge driven by atmosphere-ocean feedbacks at the Last Glacial Termination

Reconstructing the dynamic response of the Antarctic ice sheets to warming during the Last Glacial Termination (LGT; 18,000–11,650 yrs ago) allows us to disentangle ice-climate feedbacks that are key to improving future projections. Whilst the sequence of events during this period is reasonably well-known, relatively poor chronological control has precluded precise alignment of ice, atmospheric and marine records, making it difficult to assess relationships between Antarctic ice-sheet (AIS) dynamics, climate change and sea level. Here we present results from a highly-resolved ‘horizontal ice core’ from the Weddell Sea Embayment, which records millennial-scale AIS dynamics across this extensive region. Counterintuitively, we find AIS mass-loss across the full duration of the Antarctic Cold Reversal (ACR; 14,600–12,700 yrs ago), with stabilisation during the subsequent millennia of atmospheric warming. Earth-system and ice-sheet modelling suggests these contrasting trends were likely Antarctic-wide, sustained by feedbacks amplified by the delivery of Circumpolar Deep Water onto the continental shelf. Given the anti-phase relationship between inter-hemispheric climate trends across the LGT our findings demonstrate that Southern Ocean-AIS feedbacks were controlled by global atmospheric teleconnections. With increasing stratification of the Southern Ocean and intensification of mid-latitude westerly winds today, such teleconnections could amplify AIS mass loss and accelerate global sea-level rise

Role of ventilation in airborne transmission of infectious agents in the built environment - a multidisciplinary systematic review

There have been few recent studies demonstrating a definitive association between the transmission of airborne infections and the ventilation of buildings. The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003 and current concerns about the risk of an avian influenza (H5N1) pandemic, have made a review of this area timely. We searched the major literature databases between 1960 and 2005, and then screened titles and abstracts, and finally selected 40 original studies based on a set of criteria. We established a review panel comprising medical and engineering experts in the fields of microbiology, medicine, epidemiology, indoor air quality, building ventilation, etc. Most panel members had experience with research into the 2003 SARS epidemic. The panel systematically assessed 40 original studies through both individual assessment and a 2-day face-to-face consensus meeting. Ten of 40 studies reviewed were considered to be conclusive with regard to the association between building ventilation and the transmission of airborne infection. There is strong and sufficient evidence to demonstrate the association between ventilation, air movements in buildings and the transmission/spread of infectious diseases such as measles, tuberculosis, chickenpox, influenza, smallpox and SARS. There is insufficient data to specify and quantify the minimum ventilation requirements in hospitals, schools, offices, homes and isolation rooms in relation to spread of infectious diseases via the airborne route. © 2007 The Authors Journal compilation 2007 Blackwell Munksgaard