Biology Chemistry
Hired Mussels: Mussel Farming to Clean Up Excess Nutrients
Plants need nitrogen and phosphorous to grow, and humans need plants to survive. In our quest to produce more and…
Category: Chemistry
Chemistry
The pH of the North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre has been dropping since 1981
Has the pH of our oceans decreased significantly? Lauvset and Gruber say yes, for the North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre.
Biogeochemistry Chemistry Ecology Hazards Human impacts Pollution
Time for an oil change: How filter feeders avoid feeding on oil
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Here, a pair of researchers investigates the…
Biogeochemistry Chemistry Pollution
On a mission to partition: the likelihood of flame retardants to bind to marine organic matter
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are flame retardants found in the environment all over the globe, including the Arctic. Here, scientists…
Biology Chemistry
Baby Beluga is at Heightened Risk: Pollutant Accumulation in Arctic Predators Affects Gene Expression
Analyzing changes in gene transcription is a way to detect adverse effects in organisms before they are observable on the…
Chemistry technology
DIY Science: Scientists create a LED photometer that can measure the pH of seawater with an accuracy of 0.01, for under $50
Do you own an aquarium with high-maintenance saltwater fish that are happy within a narrow pH range? Maybe you just…
Aquaculture Biology Chemistry Fisheries Hazards Human impacts Pollution
Increasing fiber in your diet… microplastic fibers, that is
Microplastics constitute the large majority of plastic pollution in our global oceans. Microplastic fibers are small fibers that might not…
Atmospheric Chemistry Biology Chemistry Remote Sensing
A break-up in the relationship between organic carbon in sea spray and chlorophyll-a concentrations
The transfer of organic matter from the surface sea water to sea spray aerosols appears constant despite the concentration of…
Chemistry
Sea sponges soak up pollutants
Biomonitoring can be a great tool for measuring pollutants in marine ecosystems, but not all organisms accumulate chemicals equally. The…
Chemistry
From Your Sofa to the Sea
Oceanographers from Spain have measured several commonly used (and potentially harmful) organophosphate ester flame retardants in the air over the…
Biogeochemistry Chemistry Human impacts
Sticking to it – Sediments act as a “sink” for pollution
POPs, or persistent organic pollutants, are manmade chemicals that don’t break down in the environment and are found nearly everywhere…
Chemistry Climate Change
Reevaluating of Hydrate-Controlled Methane Seepage from Study off Svalbard
Methane, which is an even more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, has been a great concern as climate change…
Biology Chemistry Fisheries
Big Fish Eats Little Fish: Biomagnification of Natural Toxins
Naturally occurring poisons produced by some microorganisms can concentrate to dangerous levels in carnivorous fish, just like man-made pollutants do.…
Chemistry Geology
A Song of Ice, Fire, and Climate: Could Warming Seas Release Methane from Beneath the Seafloor?
In 2008, scientists were troubled to find methane bubbling up from marine sediments off the coast of a string of…
Chemistry
Sea ice leads cause changes in mercury and ozone levels in the Arctic
In our changing climate, the opening and closing of sea-ice is occurring more frequently, resulting from thick perennial Arctic sea…
Chemistry
Double Trouble: Marine Plastic Debris Absorbs Toxic Pollutants
Recently, you may have heard that scientists have discovered small plastic particles floating in the open ocean and in the…
Biology Chemistry Climate Change
Is Aragonite Saturation State (Ωa) the Best Way to Describe Calcification Rate?
Nearly every scientific report concerning the effects of ocean acidification on coral reefs describes changes in calcification as a function…
Biology Chemistry
Like Mother, Like Son: Stingrays Pass Toxic Pollutants on to Their Offspring
Animals in early stages of development are particularly susceptible to harmful effects of toxic pollutants. For this reason, the transfer…
Biology Chemistry
Is the Oil Sands Industry in Canada Linked to Mercury Levels in Birds?
The oil or "tar" sands in Alberta, Canada are the third largest known reserves of accessible oil in the world.…
Chemistry
Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) Entering Deeper Ocean via Vertical Eddy Diffusion
The ocean is home to many creatures: plankton, fish, mammals, etc. But it is also ‘home’ to a number of…