Climate Change
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 […]
Holding fast: kelp in Nova Scotia tries to grow on turf algae after a period of decline
Kelp has had a few rough decades that have led to the decline that threatens not only kelp but the other species that use the algae for habitat. Researchers at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia set out to determine if kelp can make a comeback from seas filled with turf algae. What they found is […]
Antarctic Eddies Suck Carbon from the Atmosphere
A recent study from researchers at the University of Tasmania investigates the relationship between ocean eddies and phytoplankton growth in the Southern Ocean using satellite data. The results can help us understand and predict how the ocean’s ability to regulate climate might change in the future. Channing PrendI’m a physical oceanography PhD student at Scripps […]
Who Governs the Ocean Around Antarctica?
Antarctica is often considered an untouched wilderness. While its location is remote, the region is hardly undisturbed by human activity. Exploitation of marine species, tourism, scientific research activities, and anthropogenic climate change are all impacting Southern Ocean ecosystems. A recent policy paper examines the governance challenges for the Antarctic, particularly those due to climate change. […]
What’s happening to carbon in the warming Arctic?
The Arctic, warming at unprecedented rates, is undergoing profound changes. Using recent atmospheric CO2 measurements, Su-Jong Jeong and his colleagues investigate how the carbon cycling in the Arctic has been changing, and what it means for the future of the region. Julia DohnerJulia is a PhD student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, […]
The ongoing story of Hurricane Harvey
With the start of the 2018 hurricane season, we explore what happened last year during one of the costliest hurricanes in U.S. history – and why. 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 […]
Sea Ice Modifies Biological Processes
A recent study investigates the relationship between sea ice variability and phytoplankton growth in climate models. Phytoplankton are responsible for most of the transfer of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the ocean, therefore this work can help us understand and predict how the ocean’s ability to regulate climate might change in the future. Channing […]
The future according to the Paris Agreement? Not so simple.
Meet the Paris Agreement goal and limit the human-caused rise in average global temperature to 1.5 ˚C? Sounds good. Do we know what the world would look like if we reached this goal? Not really. Climate scientist Sonia Seneviratne and her colleagues dig into the large uncertainty in what a 1.5 ˚C-warmed world might look […]
When life gives you global warming, make pancake ice in ocean wave models
Sea ice is retreating, the Arctic is opening up, and wave activity is increasing. What does this mean for the ocean and atmosphere? The refreezing season of autumn may have some answers. 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 […]
Fixin’ to lose: Trichodesmium reacts to climate change
Nitrogen is vital for all life on the planet. One of the main global sources for nitrogen, the bacteria Trichodesmium, may stop providing nitrogen to the global cycle in an ocean affected by climate change. LeAundra JeffsI am a Master’s Candidate at University of Delaware where I study the evolution of microbes in the sediments […]
Sea Ice Drives Global Circulation
A recent study uses observational data from the Antarctic to show that sea ice processes help drive the global current system called the overturning circulation. This result suggests that changes to sea ice extent in the Antarctic could impact large-scale circulation as well as the ocean’s uptake of heat and carbon dioxide. Channing PrendI’m a […]
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