Crystal+&+Michelle

=Ocean Drones 1ac=

Congress has to act promptly to authorize, appropriate and coordinate a //comprehensive national program// for AUVs to work
FIND 14 – Federal information and news dispatch (FIND, “House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Hearing”, federal press release, [|http://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/2014/02/07/house-transportation-and-infrastructure-subcommittee-on-coast-guard-and-maritime-a-457472.html#.U6xpufmICQo], HW) The AUV's evolution is taking place at an amazing rate of change. At the recent Coast Guard NAVSAC meeting in Norfolk, VA, the ... In summary, the ATON of the future can and should be smaller, lighter, more agile and more self-sustaining than the current LNB's we know today. A new public-private partnership is the key to such success.

U.S. federal investment key to development
Avery, 13 —President and Director Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, June 11 2013 [Dr. Susan K., Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Published June 11 2013, []] JB Frontiers in the Ocean Jim Cameron is a visionary who is capable of looking beyond what we are currently able to see. Let me tell you about another visionary. .... It also remains the bellwether by which philanthropic entrepreneurs judge the long-term viability of the impact their investment will have on the success that U.S. ocean science research will have around the globe.

Federal support is the seed for national spillover and widespread deployment
Avery, 14 — Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution President and Director, April 29 2014 [Susan K. Avery, April 29, 2014, “Driving Innovations through Federal Investments” United States Senate Committee on Appropriations Written Testimony, []] JB //Huge dividends from initial federal support// To Ewing, the watery part of the ocean was annoying. … [It] enlarges the realm of the possible.” Unconstrained by expected results in the next quarter, and beholden to seek wider benefits for a broader group of shareholders—everyone in this nation— //federal funding for basic research is the seed for innovation and continues to enlarge the realm of the possible.//

Current ocean exploration is inadequate in climate data collection—AUVs are the key first step
McNutt, 13 —Marcia, Executive Chair of Oceans 2020, a group of more than 110 ocean explorers gathered at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California, “Accelerating Ocean Exploration” SCIENCE 341:937 (30 August 2013). Reprinted with permission from AAAS in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “The Report of Ocean Exploration Exploration 2020; A National Program,” July, []. Page 13-14 //BR Last month, a distinguished group of ocean researchers and explorers convened in Long Beach, California, at the Aquarium of the Pacific to assess progress and future prospects in ocean exploration .... Exploration of this frontier needs to happen now to provide a useful informational baseline for future decisions.

In this chapter I discuss visible surface features of cold vents and attempt to explain what mechanisms exist in the subsurface to generate these features. Backscatter recordings are examined qualitatively for the acoustic signature of cold vents ... Shallow AUV sub-bottom imaging allows the examination of discrete cold vent communities to be extended into the subsurface.
 * AUVs are key to __cold vent monitoring__ **
 * Furlong 13 **– Masters student, University of Victoria (Jonathan, “Characteristic Morphology, Backscatter, and Sub-seafloor Structures of Cold-Vents on the Northern Cascadia Margin from High-Resolution Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Data” UMI Dissertations Publishing. ProQuest)

The co-deposition of organic carbon with inorganic seafloor sediments is considered to remove carbon from the rapid-cycling biogeosphere. ... A debate exists over whether the source of methane is derived from marine sediments (O’Hara, 2008) or sourced from the continent (Etiope et al., 2008).
 * __ Methane seepage __**** from cold vents trigger __immediate climate tipping events__ that cause extinction **
 * Furlong 13 **– Masters student, University of Victoria (Jonathan, “Characteristic Morphology, Backscatter, and Sub-seafloor Structures of Cold-Vents on the Northern Cascadia Margin from High-Resolution Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Data” UMI Dissertations Publishing. ProQuest)

AUVs are a pre-requisite to //effective// environmental policy—in-situ processing radically reframes our understanding of key environmental dynamics
NRC ‘96 [National Research Council. “Undersea Vehicles and National Needs”. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 1996, [|http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=5069&page=]55] While scientists have been studying oceanic communities for more than a century, the perspective afforded by research vessels //at the surface// has //biased our knowledge substantially// ..... hold s promise for enhancing the understanding of how individual species exist in their environments on very small scales and the time series changes that take place over periods of months or years .2

AUVs are key to understanding and mitigating huge environmental threats—oil spills, coral reefs and biodiversity loss
Bluefin robotics, 12 —AUV Technology Company, September 2012 [Bluefin robotics is a Battelle company who develops, builds, and operates Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and related technologies for defense, commercial, and scientific customers worldwide, [], accessed 26 June 2014] JB Sampling and persistent monitoring of undersea habitats provide baseline information and important data characterizing change related to events ... Another mission to Pulley Ridge was scheduled for September to November 2012, with plans to pilot the glider toward deeper water to the southeast where other deep coral reef ecosystems are known to exist. n

Biodiversity loss causes extinction – we’re at the tipping point – crossing the threshold in the next 10 years
Walsh, 10 —Bryan, “ Wildlife: A Global Convention on Biodiversity Opens in Japan, But Can It Make a Difference?” Ecocentric Blog @ TIME, 10-18, [|http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2010/10/18/wildlife-a-global-convention-on-biodiversity-opens-in-japan-but-can-it-make-a-difference/#ixzz131wU6CSp]. //BR// // The story of non-human life on the planet Earth over the past few decades is a simple one: loss. .... //We're losing nature. And that loss really is forever.//

Environmental destruction is the greatest threat to survival
Coyne and Hoekstra 7 – *professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago, **Associate Professor in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University (Jerry and Hopi, The New Republic, “The Greatest Dying,” 9/24, []) But it isn't just the destruction of the rainforests that should trouble us.//...//Global warming will seem like a secondary problem when humanity finally faces the consequences of what we have done to nature: not just another Great Dying, but perhaps the //greatest dying of them all//.

Defer Aff—coral reef and ocean ecosystem collapse is an invisible threshold for extinction—it also flips all of their environment Ks
Watston, 2K— founder Sea Shepherd conservation Society. Founding Director Greenpeace, MA Environmentalist[Paul, “The Politics of Extinction,” []] Individual humans are for the most part insulated from the reality of species loss .... And that will be the price of progress -- ecological collapse, the death of nature, and with it the horrendous and mind numbing specter of massive human destruction.

Port security is at a crossroads—the July deadline to search all inbound cargo is impossible to meet with current technology and complacency, even though the threat of terrorism is adaptive
Marcario, 6-4 -14—John, Associate Editor of Seapower Magazine, “Lawmakers Question Port Security and Delays of TWIC Reader, Cargo Scan Mandate,” []. //BR Port securityhas been steadily improving over the last decade, but challenges remain...“If that is the case, we must look for a better way to address security risks while preserving the necessary speed of moving containers through the ports,” Carper said.

Terrorists can get a hold of a nuclear weapon and smuggle it into a U.S. seaport—they’re key targets
Abt, ‘3 – Ph.D., Clark C., Risk analysis prepared for US DOT/RSPA/Volpe National Transportation. “The Economic Impact of Nuclear Terrorist Attacks on Freight Transport Systems in an Age of Seaport Vulnerability,” Apr 23, []. International terrorists have asserted their intention to acquire nuclear weapons... Aim Points The aim points for nuclear weapons detonation, within the priority target cities, are either dockside at container ports (so they don’t risk inspection of container delivery vehicles after unloading), or the center of the most valuable targets accessible by container-bearing truck, such as the 14 th Street Bridge in DC, or midtown Manhattan

Nuclear terror is the most dangerous nuclear threat because deterrence fails
Sid-Ahmed, ‘4 – Mohammed, political analyst, “Extinction!” al-ahram weekly, []. The most critical moment was the one when the Soviet Union collapsed and fragmented into a number of independent republics....When nuclear pollution infects the whole planet, we will all be losers.

Containers are easy vessels for bioweapons
Bakir, ‘7 – Niyazi Onur, Postdoctoral Research Associate at University of Southern California Center for Homeland Security, “A Brief Analysis of Threats and Vulnerabilities in the Maritime Domain, Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE) Research Archive Non-published Research Reports, http://research.create.usc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=nonpublished_reports) There is no effective detection equipment for bio logical and chemical weapons .... Gaps in ensuring security of export cargo and empty containers should be minimized to reduce terrorism at US ports.

Human extinction
Parson, ‘6 – Ed, University of Michigan, “The Big One: A Review of Richard Posner’s Catastrophe: Risk and Response,” []. For his fourth risk, in case you are not scared enough, Posner turns to bioterrorism. ... About ten countries are known or suspected to have bioweapons programs, and terrorist organizations have tried to develop them. Suitable lab facilities exist in //dozens// of countries.

Invasive species at ports //wreck// biodiversity and disease prevention
Leggiere, ‘10. Phil, citing a study from professors at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. “Agroterror Prevention in Need of Overhaul,” HS Today, 9-4, [] When one thinks of border protection thoughts naturally focus on illegal immigration, drugs, and weapons smuggling. ...Potentially useful applications of this approach might further include border inspections for smuggled contraband, general law enforcement problems, and the //early detection// and control of infectious //diseases//.

Pandemics at ports //instantly// kill billions
Greger, ‘6 **–** Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at The Humane Society of the United States. Michael, graduate of the Cornell University School of Agriculture and the Tufts University School of Medicine. Also an internationally recognized lecturer, he has presented at the Conference on World Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, and the International Bird Flu Summit, among countless other symposia and institutions. “Population Bust” http://www.Birdflubook.com] A pandemic today could be many times worse than the pandemic of 1918, the world’s greatest medical catastrophe. …. We are half a step away from a worldwide pandemic catastrophe.”579

Pandemics outweigh on probability and size
Zakaria, ‘5. Fareed, “A Threat Worse than Terror,” 10-31, Newsweek, []. A flu pandemic is the most dangerous threat the //U// nited //S// tates faces today," says Richard Falkenrath, who until recently served in the Bush administration as deputy Homeland Security adviser. ... These "tabletop exercises" were conducted so thatif and when a real crisis hit, policymakers would not be confront ing critical decisions for the first time//. No such expertise exists// for today's deadliest threat.

AUVs are vital to port security—they provide inspection advantages
Bluefin 14 [Bluefin Robotics, “Port and Harbor Security”, http://www.bluefinrobotics.com/applications/port-and-harbor-security/] There has been dramatic development of autonomous systems in the last two years to address specific issues in port and harbor security. ... Further, such systems are readily deployable to allow prudent and selective pre-positioning or re-positioning.

Only AUVs can solve because they improve speed, efficiency and safety of operations
Bovio ‘6 [Edoardo, “Autonomous Underwater Vehicles for Port Protection”. NATO Undersea Research Centre, July 2006] The experimental program demonstrated that off the shelf AUV tech nology, used in conjunction with EOD divers, and, if feasible...s hort range side scan sonars of the REMUS vehicles as shown in Figure 3, or alternatively by synthetic aperture sonar techniques which also allow higher area coverage rate per unit system.