Climate Change
One thousand ways to experience loss: a climate study
The experience of personal loss due to climate change is becoming ubiquitous. This study outlines how we can approach climate loss in the social sciences. Nyla HusainI’m a 4th year PhD student at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography. I use models to study small-scale turbulence at the air-sea interface induced by airflow […]
Ocean Acidification Reduces Habitat for Antarctic Organisms
A new study uses a climate model to predict that ocean acidification will reduce the viable habitat for many marine organisms in the Antarctic over the next century. This is because more acidic seawater dissolves the chemical compounds that the organisms need to form their shells. Channing PrendI’m a physical oceanography PhD student at Scripps […]
Is our plastic dependence accelerating climate change?
With our over-consumption of single-use plastics and lack of adequate recycling programs it is more important than ever to understand the impacts of these actions. For the first time, scientists find a link between plastic pollution and climate change! Brandy BiggarAs a grad student, I study marine biology at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. My […]
Sailing the Seven Seas with Argo
The ocean is widely considered to be the Final Frontier. How exactly can we study such an immense system? One way is with an army of underwater robots which is advancing our understanding of the ocean, one profile at a time. Emily ChuaI am a PhD candidate in the Earth & Environment department at Boston […]
A call for clouds in climate models
A new study suggests that clouds might play a bigger role regulating our climate than previously believed, and that they may disappear if carbon emissions continue to rise. Nyla HusainI’m a 4th year PhD student at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography. I use models to study small-scale turbulence at the air-sea interface […]
Rainwater floods an ecosystem of productivity
Phytoplankton fuel the productivity of the marine ecosystem. They need nutrients to carry out their cellular functions and, in most estuaries, nutrients can come from riverine outflow. However, how do phytoplankton receive nutrients in regions where freshwater river inflow does not exist? Scientists observed the influence of rainfall on phytoplankton community composition in Sydney Harbor, […]
What does it mean when scientists disagree?
In 2015, Senator James Inhofe brought a snowball onto the floor of the US Senate to demonstrate his skepticism of the widely held belief that the Earth’s climate is warming. While the stunt was lauded as ridiculous by the scientifically-literate community and generated a number of lasting cartoons and memes calling out the Senator’s obvious […]
Join Oceanbites on Twitter for a Climate Chat this Friday!
Climate change? Let’s chat. Join us for the next three Fridays to discuss the global impacts of climate change, potential solutions, and the call for political action by youth around the world. Nyla HusainI’m a 4th year PhD student at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography. I use models to study small-scale turbulence […]
Is the Deep Pacific Cooling?
Observations from the past several decades show that the ocean is currently warming in response to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. A recent study suggests that the deep Pacific may actually be cooling however. This is because of ocean transport pathways, which dictate that the waters in the deep Pacific have not been at the […]
Changing Oceans May Confuse Critically Endangered European Eels
European Eels are in trouble, and a warming, acidifying ocean might make survival even tougher for the critically endangered species. New research breaks down how a changing ocean could confuse these long-distance swimmers as they navigate to their migration destinations. Sierra GarciaI am a master’s student from Monterey, California studying environmental and science communication at […]
OSNAP! This is what we know about global ocean circulation
At the beginning of February, oceanographers published the first data from an ocean observing array 12 years in the making. The surprising results mark a turning point in our understanding of global ocean circulation. Oh snap. Nyla HusainI’m a 4th year PhD student at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography. I use models […]
Why Are Some Icebergs Green?
If someone asked you to imagine an iceberg, chances are you’d picture something big and white. However icebergs actually come in a range of colors from white, to blue, and even green. A recent study looks into what gives certain icebergs a unique green coloration. They find that iron oxide minerals are responsible, which could […]
Hawksbills in hot water? Temperature and Precipitation Impacts on Hawksbill Sea Turtle Nests
Climate change is already having effects on sea turtles. All seven species of sea turtle are dependent on temperature for habitat selection and physiology. The impacts of temperature and moisture on hatchling development have real long-term impacts on marine turtle populations. Matthew LarsenI am a second year master’s student at Coastal Carolina University in the […]
Climate-driven events leave an imprint on corals in the Great Barrier Reef
Last year, it was reported that half of the Great Barrier Reef had just died after heat stress caused severe coral bleaching in 2016 and 2017 back-to-back. Now, researchers believe that the way to study coral loss going forward is to understand how one climate-driven disturbance relates to those that came before it. Nyla HusainI’m […]
Antarctic Ice Key to the Carbon Cycle
A recent study suggests that nutrients from glacial melt and icebergs supports a significant portion of the biological production in the Antarctic. This in turn has implications for the global carbon cycle, since photosynthesis by microorganisms is one of the ways the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Channing PrendI’m a physical oceanography PhD […]
Coral Cultures- A Test of Strength
What corals can best tolerate the effects of climate change? Check out this review of a recent paper by Yuan et al. to find out! Melanie FeenI am a first year graduate student at the Graduate School of Oceanography at University of Rhode Island. I use robots and satellites to research the biological carbon pump, […]
Pacific flushing leads to carbon dioxide surges
While it might seem silly to care about what the ocean was doing 10,000 years ago, these old oceans impacted how Earth’s climate is today! Read more here to find out about what might have caused the Pacific Ocean to ‘burp’ the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which helped end the ice age! […]
Ecology of Fear: Current Implications of Orca Presence on Narwhal Behavior and Future Trends
The ecology of fear is a hypothesis that predators drive habitat use and behavior in prey species. In the Arctic, the orca drives behavioral changes in a variety of species including narwhals. Analyzing a narwhal population in a Fjord in Greenland researchers were able to look at how fear drives narwhal behavior. Article Breed, Greg […]
Do we know what it means to engineer the climate?
At this point, it’s undeniable that the climate is changing rapidly. What are our options for mitigation? Many scientists are considering strategies that involve engineering the climate – also known as geoengineering. Nyla HusainI’m a 4th year PhD student at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography. I use models to study small-scale turbulence […]
Phytoplankton Expanding Northward as Arctic Sea Ice Retreats
A recent study uses satellite data to show that Arctic sea ice retreat is causing changes in the timing and location of spring phytoplankton blooms, which play a large role in the regional ecosystem and carbon cycle. Channing PrendI’m a physical oceanography PhD student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California. I use […]
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