Pacific Ocean
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 […]
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! […]
A New Tool for Understanding Where Carbon Dioxide Goes
We know that CO2 is being absorbed from the air by the ocean, but how can we measure how much of the carbon in the ocean comes from human activity? By examining carbon data in the Pacific Ocean, scientists show that the ratio of heavy to light carbon atoms in the water can help answer […]
Is the Deep Ocean Warming Too?
It’s been shown that the surface of the South Pacific Ocean has been warming by absorbing excess heat from the atmosphere, but is this heat making it down to the deep ocean? Deep-ocean warming can lead to more rapid global warming in the future, but detecting it is tricky. Despite the challenges, a team of […]
Small MPAs: the new all-you-can-eat buffets?
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a popular conservation tool and are in many situations very effective. Unfortunately, as with many plans, there may be some unintended consequences, as seen in the case of small MPAs in Fiji, where they appear to have attracted corallivorous crown-of-thorns sea stars (Acanthaster spp.). Find out more in today’s oceanbites! […]
Species respond differently to climate shifts over time
Large-scale climate variably is well-known to have impacts on marine ecosystems. However, the response of species over time is not as simple as it seems. This study reveals that the relationships between seabirds and Pacific climate varies over time. Hillary ScannellHillary received her MS in oceanography from the University of Maine in 2014 and works […]
A sticky situation: Old black carbon and sinking particulate organic carbon
The attachment of aged dissolved black carbon to sinking particles may be an important process for transporting organic carbon to deep marine sediments. Kari St.LaurentI received a Ph.D. in oceanography in 2014 from the Graduate School of Oceanography (URI) and am finishing up a post-doc at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (Horn […]
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