Articles by Andrew Sharpless

New report documents water pollution

It's hot. Not "well, duh, it's August" hot -- I mean really hot. I mean having a barbeque in Zimbabwe hot. But this isn't a global warming post; I leave that to the more-than-capable climate bloggers. I'm an oceans guy and this post is about the oceans, or rather, the beaches.

If you're like me, you endure the baking temperatures by reminding yourself that the beach is only a work week away. The thought of a dip in the Chesapeake Bay helps me feel a little cooler (but just a little). So it's no surprise that last week's Washington Post article on the Bay's pollution caught my eye.

Five-part ocean series exceeds expectations

It's hard enough to get reporters to write a story on the threats facing our oceans -- but five? The L.A. Times did just that this week with its "Altered Oceans" series (also discussed by Kif here). And I'm not just talking about a couple hundred words buried on page seven; they brought out the big guns for this one. This series is a full multimedia package: videos, graphs, and enough photos to fill the national gallery of art.

Ocean victories underreported

Last week, USA Today's Nick Jans reported on the triple ocean victory in the last four months -- three closures of federal waters totaling an area twice the size of Texas. Nick wonders how the largest act of conservation in our nation's history could have slipped below our collective radar screens. Don't blame us, Nick. We issued press releases, emailed our supporters, and I even blogged about it. Twice.

Since other news agencies treated the victories as "snoozers," Nick took it upon himself to emphasize the importance of these closures, and the threats still facing our oceans in this succinct yet informative article. Thanks, Nick.

Break in Doha talks leaves fate of fisheries uncertain

One of this week's dramas on the world stage was the news from Geneva that the World Trade Organization was forced to break off the trade negotiations known as the Doha Development Round. Key players had reached an impasse on ever-prickly agriculture tariffs and farm subsidies, and it was clear a breakthrough was not in sight. So the Director-General of the WTO recommended the move, which he later likened to a "time out" at a sporting event.

We can only hope that this is merely a time out. That's because the Doha Round contains what is in our view the single biggest thing that could be done right now to save world fisheries from irreversible collapse: eliminating government subsidies that build overcapacity and drive overfishing around the globe.