Tag Archives | Ocean

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Sudden increase in ice loss in Antarctica

An international group of scientists has observed a sudden increase in ice loss on the Southern Antarctic Peninsula, what was previously thought to be a stable region of Antarctica. Led by scientists from the University of Bristol (UK), the group has published their observations in the latest edition of Science. Using measurements of the elevation […]

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Mars’ missing water

University of Colorado at Boulder scientists have uncovered new evidence for a massive ocean that covered a third of Mars’ surface some 3.5 billion years ago. And now they want to know; “where did all the water go?” “While the idea of a large, ancient ocean on Mars has been repeatedly proposed and challenged over […]

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Jellyfish significant contributors to large-scale ocean mixing

Climate change scientists may need to rethink the factors governing the interaction of the world’s oceans, thanks to new findings published inNature that show the global power input from swimming creatures such as jellyfish is as much as a trillion watts of energy, comparable to that of wind and tidal forces. “The perspective we usually […]

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Dire outlook for shellfish in a high CO2 world

Shellfish living in the world’s temperate coastal ecosystems are under threat from increasing ocean acidification, says Smithsonian scientist Whitman Miller. The acidification is being caused by rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, Miller reported in the journal PLoS ONE. For shellfish and other organisms that have calcium carbonate shells, the problem begins when atmospheric CO2 […]

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Ocean acidification speeding up

University of Chicago scientists have established that as well as ocean acidification increasing much more rapidly than previously thought, there is also a strong correlation with rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. “Of the variables the study examined that are linked to changes in ocean acidity, only atmospheric carbon dioxide exhibited a corresponding steady change,” […]

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Mystery microbe forces rethink of ocean ecology

A newly discovered microorganism that lives in the open ocean is able to “fix” nitrogen but does not rely on photosynthesis for energy, forcing scientists to revise their understanding of how carbon and nitrogen cycle through ocean ecosystems. Researcher Jonathan Zehr, a marine scientist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, describes the organism as […]

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Southern Ocean Could Put Brakes On Warming Trend

Climatologists believe the Southern Ocean may slow the rate of global warming by absorbing significantly more heat and carbon dioxide than previously thought. The new study, appearing in the Journal of Climate, notes that westerly winds in the Southern Hemisphere have moved southward over the last 30 years. As the winds shift south, they can […]

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Jellyfish Squish Greenhouse Dogma

Vast swarms of small jellyfish-like creatures, known as salps, may have a greater impact on carbon cycling than previously thought, say scientists in the May issue ofDeep Sea Research. The discovery demonstrates that even the most unassuming of organisms can play a vital role in the stabilization of environmental systems. Oceans suck up a considerable […]

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World’s Fish Stocks Face New Danger

Much of the debate about the world’s fish stocks has focused on over-fishing, but a more insidious threat has largely gone unnoticed until now. A study by researchers from City University in Hong Kong raises new concerns about vast areas of the world’s oceans, known as “dead zones,” that lack sufficient oxygen to sustain most […]

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Alarm Over Rising Acidity Of Oceans

The Royal Society in the U.K. has issued a worrying report about rising acidity in the world’s oceans. “If CO2 [carbon dioxide] from human activities continues to rise, the oceans will become so acidic by 2100 it could threaten marine life in ways we can’t anticipate,” said report author Ken Caldeira, of the Carnegie Institution. […]

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