Icebreakers Aff.docx

8/10/2019 Icebreakers Aff.docx

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Icebreakers Aff


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1AC

Plan: The Unites States federal government should substantially increase the

National Science Foundations Antarctic icebreaking capabilities.


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Climate Change

The federal oceanographic fleets needs ship modernization now or faces

inability to researchCressey 13(Daniel, Reporter, London. Daniel joined Nature in 2007. He reports on chemistry, nanoscience,materials, business, US science fleet's future is far from ship-shape pg online athttp://www.nature.com/news/us-

science-fleet-s-future-is-far-from-ship-shape-1.13164//sd)

The icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer of the US Antarctic Program is part of a rapidly shrinking

fleet. They already have to contend with cruel seas and crueler grant reviewers, but American

marine scientists may face an even bigger problem: barring major investment, the federal

oceanographic fleet is going to be down to half its current size by 2026. At the end of May, the

White House released an assessment of the vessels run by its various agencies for research and

survey work. It shows a fleet battered by multiple issues. Government pressure on budgets has

led to a number of ships being sold or mothballed, staffing costs have increased and fuel costs

for research ships have risen fourfold since 2003. The community is deeply concerned that the

ability to go to sea will be significantly reduced in the next decade, as research ships are retired

or laid up, says Mark Abbott, dean of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at

Oregon State University in Corvallis. The average age of the ships is more than 23 years, and

many are scheduled to retire in the coming years. Unless new vessels are built, the total number

of vessels available to scientists will plummet (see graph). Abbott, who is president of the

Oceanography Society based in Rockville, Maryland, says that the community is also concerned

by the rising costs of operating ocean facilities, which restrict the money available for science.

Not all news about the fleet is bad. The Sikuliaq, a new vessel for use in polar regions, has been

funded, and two research ships are being built by the US Navy. The Neil Armstrong and the Sally

Ride will be operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and the

Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California, respectively. But these vessels,even if they enter service as scheduled, will not be sufficient to stem the decline of the fleet.

More help could come from the National Science Foundation, which is looking into

commissioning another three ships, currently called the Regional Class Research Vessels. But no

decision on whether these will actually be built has yet been taken. Fleet renewal efforts cant

stop with these acquisitions, says Clare Reimers, a marine biochemist at Oregon State

University and chair of the Fleet Improvement Committee run by the University-National

Oceanographic Laboratory System, which coordinates ship schedules and research. Reimers says

that the community is is quite concerned about the lack of growth in support for the core

disciplinary research and facilities but that some decrease in fleet capacity is viewed as

necessary to make way for more capable, modern vessels. The more aged parts of the fleet lack

features crucial for much research, such as the ability to stay exactly in position at sea. So a

decline in numbers may be in part offset by an increase in the capabilities of those vessels in

service. The report states that modernization efforts mean that there will be nine retirements

and six additional ships in the fleet up to 2022. With the introduction of highly advanced ships

and the retirement of older, less-capable vessels, the Fleet will become more efficient and

capable of supporting stakeholders demands over the next decade, it says. However, after

2022, the Fleet will experience a reduction in size and capacity due to several vessels nearing

their projected end of service life. For reasons that are not entirely clear, the number of

requests for ship time on the academic fleet also seems to be declining. However, demand still
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outstrips supply, and this disparity is likely to worsen. I foresee a continued demand for ships,

consistent with what its been in the past several decades, says David Checkley, a marine

scientist at Scripps. The decline in fleets thats projected is worrisome. We need an investment

that is congruent with very large projects that governments undertake if were to continue to

study the oceans.

NSF Icebreakers are key to research

Bement 6(ARDEN L. BEMENT JR., DIRECTOR, NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, U.S.REPRESENTATIVE FRANK LOBIONDO (R-NJ) HOLDS A HEARING ON THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF

SCIENCE ICEBREAKER REPORT pg online at proquestsd)

The Arctic and Antarctic are premier natural laboratories. Their extreme environments and

geographically unique AND

of polar icebreaker and ice-strengthened vessel services for

scientific research purposes.

Well isolate two impacts

Antarctic research is necessary to understand climate change and adopt best

mitigation and adaptation strategies

NRC 11(Committee on Future Science Opportunities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean;National Research Council, Future Science Opportunities in Antarctica and the Southern

Ocean, The National Academies Press, 2011. Pg online at

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13169//sd)

Antarctica and the surrounding Southern Ocean remains one of the worlds last frontiers.

Covering

AND

, an important step toward understanding present climate and predicting future climate change.

Antarctica is a biodiversity hotspot

Griffith 2010, (Huw Griffiths created and manages SOMBASE, the Southern Ocean MolluscanDatabase. He represents BAS on the SCAR-MarBIN steering committee and is an active

participant in the Census of Antarctic Marine Life. His interests include large-scale biogeographic

and ecological patterns in space and time. His focus has been on molluscs, bryozoans and

pycnogonids as model groups to investigate trends at high southern latitudes. He completed a

PhD in Southern Ocean marine biogeography with the British Antarctic Survey and Open

University, Antarctic Marine Biodiversity What Do We Know About the Distribution of Life in

the SouthernOcean?, http://www.plosone.org/article/info3Adoi2F10.13712Fjournal.pone.0011683#s3 ,hss

-RJ)

Groups that are clearly underrepresented in existing databases include the species-rich

nematodes, AND

show the highest levels of benthic sampling and the highest numbers of

species.
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Damaging hotspots risks global extinction.

C.I. 14(Conservation International (CI) is a nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in

Arlington, Virginia. FWIW, it is right near the Georgetown camp and we may visit them. CI is one

of the largest conservation organizations headquartered in the United States, though its field

work is done in other countries. It has 900+ employees, more than 30 global offices, and morethan 1,000 partners around the world. CI has evolved into an international organization with

influence among governments, scientists, charitable foundations, and businessHotspots

http://www.conservation.org/How/Pages/Hotspots.aspx)

To stem this crisis, we must protect the places where biodiversity lives. But

AND

of the ecosystem services that vulnerable human populations depend on.,

Adaptation strategies create resilience to prevent ecosystem collapse

Doney, 8-(Senior Scientist Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department Woods HoleOceanographic Institution) Scott Doney, The Federal Ocean Acidification Research and

Monitoring Act: H.R. 4174 Written testimony presented to the Committee on Science and

Technology, Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, United States House of Representatives

6/ 5/08,http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=8916andtid=282andcid=43766,{seakitten} Major

gaps exist in our current scientific understanding, limiting our ability to forecast the AND

) to

increase ecosystem resiliency as well as local-scale mitigation efforts.

Second- Antarctic research unlocks resistant species for new medicinal

genomics

NRC 11(Committee on Future Science Opportunities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean; National

Research Council, Future Science Opportunities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, The

National Academies Press, 2011. Pg online at


Organisms native to Antarctica have evolved characteristics that allow them to thrive in the

regions

AND

survive and prosper in the frigid and inhospitable Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments.

Mutating viruses coming. We should maximize knowledge from medicinal

biodiversity to lower the risks.

McNeely 6Jeffrey A McNeely Chief Scientist IUCN. Gland. Switzerlandfrom the chapterRisks to People of Losing Medicinal Species from the bookConserving medicinal species :

securing a healthy future p. 22-24

Human diseases, and the species to treat them, are influenced profoundly by the

AND

biodiversity would seem a sound risk-adverse strategy in maintaining future options.
http://www.conservation.org/How/Pages/Hotspots.aspx)http://www.conservation.org/How/Pages/Hotspots.aspx)http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=8916andtid=282andcid=43766http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=8916andtid=282andcid=43766http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=8916andtid=282andcid=43766http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13169//sd)http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13169//sd)http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13169//sd)http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=8916andtid=282andcid=43766http://www.conservation.org/How/Pages/Hotspots.aspx)


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Those outbreaks risk extinction.

Yule 13(et al; Jeffrey V. YuleHerbert McElveen Professor of Applied and NaturalSciences At the School of Biological Sciences, Louisiana Tech University, Published April 2nd

Humanities 2013, 2, 147159; doi:10.3390/h2020147)

Since the 1940s, humans in industrialized nations have been relatively sheltered from the threat

ANDnot, and the potential failure of our species has considerable biological implications.

We have the tech for research, its a matter of accessibilitymore icebreakers

are key

NRC 11(Committee on Future Science Opportunities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean;National Research Council, Future Science Opportunities in Antarctica and the Southern

Ocean, The National Academies Press, 2011. Pg online at


Advances related to energy and technology have the potential to facilitate scientific research in

AntarcticaAND

fuel and materials, can be met by secure and reliable icebreaking capacity.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13169//sd)http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13169//sd)http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13169//sd)


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Taiwan

AND

intensifying bilateral strategic competition would likely make managing such a

crisis more difficult.

Extinction

Wittner, 11-( Emeritus Professor of History at the State University of New York/Albany)Lawrence S. Wittner, "Is a Nuclear War With China Possible?", Huntington News, 11/18/11,

www.huntingtonnews.net/14446,{seakitten }

While nuclear weapons exist, there remains a

danger that they will be used. ANDdestroying agriculture, creating worldwide famine, and

generating chaos and destruction.

Ice breakers are key to year-round polar presence thats key to future

Antarctic cooperative initiatives

Spotts 5(Peter, staff writer for Christian Science Monitor, Icebreakers - on thin ice ; It is a priority to

shore up the old US fleet as research demands grow, scientists say pg online at

proquestsd)

Yet the ships' importance is expected to grow as climate change turns the ocean at

AND

US researchers to take part in international work, researchers say.

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