Ocean plastic pollution is less than 1% of what we’ve been screaming for decades, but is still as big a problem as ever
Category: Oceans
Scientists Use NASA Satellite Data to Track Ocean Microplastics From Space
Scientists from the University of Michigan have developed an innovative way to use NASA satellite data to track the movement of tiny pieces of plastic in the ocean.
ICCC-14 Preview, Ep. 4: Roy Spencer on “What Recent Ocean Warming Suggests About Future Warming”
The warming predicted by the latest climate models in response to a doubling of atmospheric CO2 averages close to 4C. Using an updated model – and even assuming all warming…
Good news for Australia’s Barrier Reef you’ll likely not hear about in the media
Dr. Peter Ridd writes on his Facebook page: In 2016, there was a major bleaching event in the northern section of the Reef. There were doom headlines around the world…
Claim: Climate change is making ocean waves more powerful, threatening to erode many coastlines
People in these nations may experience both sea level rise and increasing wave power on their coastlines, eroding land further up the beach and damaging property. These areas should be…
NASA’s S-MODE Takes to the Air and Sea to Study Ocean Eddies
After nearly a year and a half of delays due to the pandemic, the S-MODE team is excited to get their planes in the sky and the gliders in the…
Study first to explore combined impacts of fishing and ocean warming on fish populations
“We still do not fully understand why this happens, but our findings clearly show that protecting fish size diversity and large fish can increase their resilience to climate change. While…
URI oceanographers reveal links between migrating Gulf Stream and warming ocean waters
The URI research team noted the importance of finding that the satellite-observed signature of the Gulf Stream’s position relative to the Grand Banks precedes subsurface shelf warming by over a…
No Mention Of CO2: New Study Shows African Climate Variability Strongly Linked To Natural Cycles
A new study analyzes patterns of natural rainfall variability and can provide crucial assistance to African countries in seasonal rainfall forecasting for agriculture and protection against droughts & heavy rains.
A 30-year reconstruction of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation shows no decline
Climate model and paleo-oceanographic research suggests that the AMOC may have been declining for decades or even centuries before this; however direct observations are sparse prior to 2004, giving only…
Freshwater outflow from Beaufort Sea could alter global climate patterns
The Beaufort Sea, the Arctic Ocean’s largest freshwater reservoir, has increased its freshwater content by 40 percent over the last two decades, putting global climate patterns at risk. A rapid…
Claim: Marine heatwaves becoming more intense, more frequent
Thinning surface layer of ocean leaves waters more susceptible to extreme warming events UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER Research News When thick, the surface layer of the ocean acts as…
Modern microbes provide window into ancient ocean
Step into your new, microscopic time machine. Scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder have discovered that a type of single-celled organism living in modern-day oceans may have a lot…
Preventing Ecosystem Collapse 3: Seagrass
The good news is most of the human factors that have reduced seagrass meadows can be and are being remedied. Furthermore, rising levels of carbon dioxide will benefit their growth…
Preventing Ecosystem Collapse: Alaska’s Kelp Forests
Although these biological interactions control ecosystem shifts between kelp forests and urchin barrens, climate factors play a role, and in a most positive way. Otters are limited by ice. In…
Computational Hubris
Trillions of plastic debris fragments are afloat at sea, creating the “perfect storm” for microbial colonization. Introduced more than 50 years ago, plastic substrates are a novel microbial habitat in…
Claim: Marine heatwaves are human made
“The recent heatwaves have had a serious impact on marine ecosystems, which need a long time to recover afterwards – if they ever fully recover,” explains Charlotte Laufkötter.A huge increase…
Undersea earthquakes shake up climate science
In a new paper publishing in Science, the researchers show how they are able to make use of existing seismic monitoring equipment, as well as historic seismic data, to determine…
Ocean carbon uptake widely underestimated
Previous estimates of the movement of carbon (known as “flux”) between the atmosphere and oceans have not accounted for temperature differences at the water’s surface and a few metres below.
Algorithms in Ocean Chemistry: a review
For those wanting a deep dive on ocean physical chemistry, this new ebook is a much better and more detailed explanation than I could ever hope to provide
The Oceans Won’t Suffocate!
Unfortunately, scientific journals also succumb to the same profit incentives. Indeed, pictures of thousands of suffocated fish floating belly-up is very disturbing. However, media outlets amplified our fears with headlines…
Florida current is weaker now than at any point in the past century
A key component of the Gulf Stream has markedly slowed over the past century–that’s the conclusion of a new research paper in Nature Communications published on August 7.
Arctic Ocean changes driven by sub-Arctic seas
New research explores how lower-latitude oceans drive complex changes in the Arctic Ocean, pushing the region into a new reality distinct from the 20th-century norm.
First direct evidence of ocean mixing across the gulf stream
New research provides the first direct evidence for the Gulf Stream blender effect, identifying a new mechanism of mixing water across the swift-moving current. The results have important implications for…
