Science

Study suggests mid-Atlantic is getting lower, which may exacerbate effects of sea-level rise

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has some of the world’s most advanced satellites. At any given moment, our planet is circled by NOAA satellites that transmit detailed information back to Earth, informing weather forecasts, climatological research – and you.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The great white shark, one of the most fearsome predators in the world’s oceans in both fact and fiction, is a formidable creature — right down to its genes.

Current fishing and pollution regulations don’t help corals cope with climate change, study says.

We’ve spent hundreds of years trying to protect ourselves from the Earth’s waters. So why, in the 21st century, are wetlands being restored and how can they help us cope with global warming? Since 1700, the world has lost 87 per cent of its wetlands according to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in its 2018 Global Wetland Outlook (GWO).

Hurricanes are nothing new in many coastal vacation rental markets. But as vacation rental managers and DMOs learn new lessons with each storm, the industry’s response in the aftermath evolves.

In 2016 John Ackerman and other climate experts predicted warmer waters and storm surge from climate change would lead to stronger storms, setting off negative consequences for Bay County and other low-lying areas. Those predictions arguably came true in the worst way with Hurricane Michael and other devastating hurricanes like Harvey and Irma, Ackerman and other experts say.

Climate change and the loss of wetlands may contribute to increased levels of mercury concentrations in coastal fish, according to a Dartmouth College study.

The deep sea is a strange and scary place, being one of the last great unexplored habitats on our planet. But technology is developing that lets us glimpse the bottom of the ocean and even listen to its sounds.

As we prepare for our 2019, Gulf of Mexico, Deep-Sea, Wood-Fall Collection, Research Cruise Spectacular from February 11th-24th, enjoy these videos from our 2017 expedition. Also follow us on Instagram and Twitter under hashtag #woodfall to keep updated on our upcoming cruise.

Scientists point out the expediency of further research of marine invertebrates to isolate the antitumor compounds from them.

Abstract Currents, wind, bathymetry, and freshwater runoff are some of the factors that make coastal waters heterogeneous, patchy, and scientifically interesting—where it is challenging to resolve the spatiotemporal variation within the water column. We present methods and results from field experiments using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) with embedded algorithms that focus sampling on features in three dimensions.

CAMERON PARISH – On a late-winter night, a small group of mosquito-bitten scientists and college students drag paint cans full of BBs and bolts through a remote marsh south of Lake Charles. With spotlights and fishing nets at the ready, they take high steps over tangles of long grass, hoping the clattering will flush out their quarry—a red-eyed, sparrow-sized bird that few people have ever seen.

Bacteria living on microplastic pollution in tropical marine environments include a number of pathogenic species as well as a few that might be helpful

No matter how hard they tried, authorities in Hawaii just couldn't get rid of a giant floating marshmallowy creature that kept washing up on their coastline. Fortunately, since the blob was being so stubborn, it provided scientists with some solid insights into marine life and the local environment.

OSLO (Reuters) - Greenland could start to export sand in a rare positive spinoff from global warming that is melting the island's vast ice sheet and washing large amounts of sediment into the sea, scientists said on Monday.

Inside and outside the walls of the state legislature, there’s been a noticeable shift in the conversation about climate change and its impact on North Carolina.

Conservationists leaped from boats onto sheer rock faces and braved “10,000 dive-bombing Sooty Terns” to achieve the first successful eradication of invasive rodents on Teuaua Island, French Polynesia. This success paves the way for larger island restorations across the Marquesas Archipelago.

A new study has revealed how a group of deep-sea microbes provides clues to the evolution of life on Earth, according to a recent paper in The ISME Journal. Researchers from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) and others used cutting-edge molecular methods to study these microbes, which thrive in the hot, oxygen-free fluids that flow through Earth’s crust.

New GIS-based tool identifies best locations: Researchers have developed a mapping tool that identifies sites for re-establishing oyster reefs that maximize their ecological benefits -- such as water filtration. This Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based tool could inform restoration of other vital, sensitive coastal habitats.

Maj. Gen. Randy Taylor writes that Aberdeen Proving Ground takes its responsibility to the Chesapeake Bay seriously. "We recognize our streams and rivers do not stop at our boundaries, our more than 300 bald eagles are not restricted to our airspace ... "

Researchers in Sitka have been looking at the impact of microplastics on local shellfish. Their findings illustrate a possible connection between microplastics in butter clams and household laundry.

Throughout Virginia, most residents are worried about climate change, fear that it will harm people in the U.S. within a decade and want the government to do more to tackle the problem.

An international research programme has uncovered data that could transform scientists’ understanding of the Atlantic Ocean current – a circulation pattern that plays a central role in determining weather across the world. The warm water that the AMOC carries northwards releases heat into the atmosphere, which means it plays a crucial role in keeping western Europe warm.

Around 600 cities in the world generate half of the world’s GDP and have a combined population of about 1.7 billion. Most of these 600 cities are either coastal cities or on the bank of the river which make them highly vulnerable for flooding.

US: The USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) announced the availability of a new way to access and process lidar point cloud data from the 3DEP repository.

NOAA has announced that the National Centers for Environmental Information has updated the World Magnetic Model mid-cycle to reflect unexpected changes in the location of the magnetic north pole.

Rising temperatures can be charted back to the late 1950s, and the last five years were the five hottest on record

The past decade has not been good for Biscayne Bay: More than 25,000 acres of seagrass meadows have vanished as Miami boomed and climate change drove seas ever higher.

Jonathan Allen has good news and bad news for Australians regarding the crown-of-thorns sea star.

If you remember your high school biology lessons, you might recall that starfish aren’t really fish at all. Properly called sea stars, these spiny-skinned predators are an important part of ecosystems up and down North America’s west coast. In less than a decade, however, more than 20 species of sea stars—including the sunflower star, a keystone predator with a wide range—have been ravaged by a poorly-understood ailment known as sea star wasting disease.

Any number of studies will tell you — it’s a noisy sea out there, and there’s at least a couple decades of work to do something about it. The impact of sea noise was the subject of discussion Saturday at the Ritz Theatre following a screening of the documentary “Sonic Sea” as part of the 2019 Green Screen Film Festival.

Scientists find the ocean will look different in the future as a warming climate changes populations of marine microorganisms called phytoplankton.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The remote town of Barrow, Alaska, home to more than 4,000 people, touts picturesque views of the Arctic Ocean as well as an unparalleled connection to the Alaskan wild, but underneath its stunning beauty lies a major global crisis — permafrost coastal erosion — causing Barrow to gradually slip into the sea.

About a year ago, Philipp Schwabl, a research scientist and physician specializing in intestinal diseases at the Medical University of Vienna, read an article about plastic pollution and started to connect the dots. "Nanoplastic in seafood could easily be eaten by humans; there is no reason to doubt this is happening." Richard C. Thompson, professor of marine biology, University of Plymouth

Naval sonar has been linked to mass strandings of otherwise-healthy whales for nearly two decades, but the precise mechanisms of how it affects whales has eluded scientists. Now, researchers have explained key details of how this disruptive signal triggers behavior in some whales that ends in death.

Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar are home to the largest mangrove forests in SE Asia, but economic growth and illegal logging have damaged these forests, although better public awareness does offer hope

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — To a motorist, zipping south through Galveston County from Houston to Galveston Island, the surrounding landscape might look like a whole lot of nothing — flat land, scrubby grass and frontage roads edging up to open prairie.

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Warmer water temperatures, combined with low-level exposure to chemicals already known to be harmful to aquatic life, influence the expression of genes in the offspring of an abundant North American fish species – and threaten organisms whose sex determination is sensitive to water temperature.

Many types of marine plankton are either animal-like or plant-like. But a huge number are both, and they are upending ideas about ocean ecology.

For coastal communities, the sea level rise propelled by melting ice and warming oceans is bad enough. But people living on the soft, compressible sediments of river deltas have another factor to contend with: sinking land.

An “underwater zombie apocalypse.” That’s how wildlife veterinarian Joe Gaydos of the University of California (UC), Davis, describes “sea star wasting disease,” a blight that has decimated more than 20 species of sea stars from Mexico to Alaska since 2013.

Using data from underwater robots, scientists have discovered that beaked whales prefer to feed within parts of a Navy sonar test range off Southern California that have dense patches of deep-sea squid.

Christopher Clark, a senior researcher in the bioacoustics program at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, who has studied whale communication for 40 years, described the noise as a “living hell” for undersea life, which is exquisitely tuned to sound.

LOS ANGELES — Thirteen miles from the coast, marine biologist Bruno Pernet was himself surrounded by concrete, asphalt and an assortment of roughly 10,000 seashells. There were the iridescent shells of black abalone, the chalky shells of California Venus clams and the sun-bleached shells of Pismo clams.

As the human population has grown, our demands on the ocean have increased rapidly. These demands have similarly increased the pressure we place on these systems, and we now cause considerable damage globally. If we want to maintain healthy ocean ecosystems into the future, we must learn to use ocean resources in a sustainable way and facilitate recovery in regions that have declined.

Having successfully completed the pioneering science programme at the Larsen C Ice Shelf, the Expedition enters its exploration phase with the aim of locating the wreck of Ernest Shackleton's lost ship 'Endurance'

Predicting the paths of hurricanes has improved in recent years. It is predicting their intensity that remains tough and problematic. That was one of the takeaways from a recent forum sponsored by the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association — better known as SECOORA — held in Jacksonville.

A researcher’s decision to put an underwater drone in Hurricane Irene’s path is helping to transform the science of hurricane intensity prediction.

From New Orleans to the Florida panhandle, many have built up psychological resilience after living through years of extreme weather

A new tool which helps land managers assess the costs and benefits of re-introducing valuable saltmarsh, has been developed by economists and environmental scientists from the South West Partnership for Environmental and Economic Prosperity (SWEEP) at the University of Exeter.

Researchers at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland have developed a new and more accurate method for estimating the probability of extreme events, such as storms, floods and earthquakes. The new method will be used in updating building codes and land-use regulations, and is applicable also in developing artificial intelligence, as well as in economics and medical data analysis.

Limiting nutrient pollution into waterways is the best way to prevent toxic red tide and blue-green algae blooms, two state agencies told Florida lawmakers Wednesday. However, they didn't address the primary sources or suggest specific solutions, only said they're working on the issue with other state and federal agencies.

Home to vibrantly colored, tiny creatures, the ecosystems floating on the ocean’s surface remain all but unknown.

Marine scientists join an international team to uncover the origins of symbiotic organs

You may have heard a lot of talk about king tides. But what are they exactly? Well in this Virtually Rick we’re going to take a dip into what they are and what they do.

New research shows that the degree to which aerosols cool the earth has been grossly underestimated, necessitating a recalculation of climate change models to more accurately predict the pace of global warming.

When the water temperature drops below 50 degrees off North Carolina’s Outer Banks, volunteers on the barrier islands go on alert, the Ocracoke Observer reports.

A Florida red tide outbreak close to 16 months old has killed more sea turtles than any previous single red tide event on record, and manatee deaths are not far behind.

Hurricane Katrina was the costliest storm in U.S. history, and its effects are still felt today in New Orleans and coastal Louisiana.

A research team drilling thousands of feet under the Antarctic Ice Sheet has found new evidence of microbial life there — life forms not known to exist elsewhere.

Earth’s oceans had their warmest year on record in 2018, a stark indication of the enormous amount of heat being absorbed by the sea as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, scientists reported Wednesday.

Biologists have modeled the hagfish's gag-inducing defense mechanism mathematically.

URBANA, Ill. - Every summer, a "dead zone" forms in the Gulf of Mexico. Plumes of oxygen-robbing algae, fed by excess nitrogen coming in from the Mississippi River, kill off marine life and threaten the livelihoods of those who fish the Gulf.

The dwarf lantern shark is among the smallest species of fish in the world. The name of the shark comes from the fact that they are a small (dwarf) shark and are bioluminescent (lantern) in the dark environment of the deep sea level (Benthic zone) where they dwell. The Dwarf lantern shark was recently discovered in 1964.

Antarctica experienced a sixfold increase in yearly ice mass loss between 1979 and 2017, according to a study published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

This is whole new tone for a governor's office that told Floridians, basically, that we couldn't afford to both create jobs and protect the environment.

In this Aug. 1, 2018, file photo, debris washed into the Chesapeake Bay from record rainfall accumulates around a sailboat in Annapolis, Md. An annual report on the Chesapeake Bay says pollution from unusually heavy rains in 2018 contributed to the first decline in a decade in the overall health of the nation's largest estuary.

Benthic foraminifera are widely used as paleoenvironmental proxies because of their high sensitivity to environmental changes and excellent preservation potential in sediment. Affected by global changes, environmental factors such as seawater temperature and salinity are changing, which will affect the distribution and species composition of benthic foraminifera. A recent study revealed how the benthic foraminiferal community respond to the change of temperature and salinity.

A new study suggests the mollusks may widen and narrow their shells depending on movement of plankton, which shifts with the lunar cycle

We usually think of whales as serene, gentle creatures, but a new study on an ancient species paints a different picture. Around 35 million years ago, in the late Eocene, a giant whale roamed the oceans, feasting on large fish and, the new evidence suggests, other smaller whales. Yikes.

As the country’s lowest-lying state, Delaware is especially vulnerable to rising sea levels — and the influence of saltwater on the wildlife that depends on freshwater wetlands. What’s more, water quality throughout the state is poor.

As oceans warm, coral reefs are suffering not only from bleaching but from deadly outbreaks of disease. Researchers are developing remedies, but the key question is whether these solutions can work on a large-enough scale to save vast reef systems from Florida to Australia.

OSLO (Reuters) - The oceans are warming faster than previously estimated, setting a new temperature record in 2018 in a trend that is damaging marine life, scientists said on Thursday.

“The science is advancing fast, and that may surprise a lot of people.”

Silica, a common ingredient in sand, concrete and glass, may have its origins in supernovae

Earth had its fourth-warmest year on record in 2018, capping off a run of four years in row where global temperatures were the highest on record, according to Europe's Copernicus Climate Change Service.

A group of more than 1,400 iguanas have been reintroduced to an island in the Galápagos archipelago nearly two centuries after they disappeared from there, authorities said on Monday.

Cold waters that sank in polar regions hundreds of years ago during the Little Ice Age are still impacting deep Pacific Ocean temperature trends. While the deep Pacific temperature trends are small, they represent a large amount of energy in the Earth system.

In January 2019, a Dutch marine charity, the Flotilla Foundation, is due to send a major international expedition to Antarctica with the aim of exploring the remote, harsh and little studied Weddell Sea, one of the most pristine marine ecosystems in the world.

Faculty in the Department of Mechanical Engineering are developing technologies that store, capture, convert, and minimize greenhouse gas emissions.

Rattlesnakes, bears, hurricanes, and freezing weather haven’t stopped ecologist Jeff Atkins from taking weekly hikes into Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park for the past 8 years to collect water samples from remote streams. But Atkins is now facing an insurmountable obstacle: the partial shutdown of the U.S. government, in its third week.

An international team of scientists is heading to the Gulf of Alaska for a ground-breaking research survey to uncover the secret lives of Pacific salmon in the winter.

MASONBORO ISLAND, NC (WECT) - A team with the UNCW Marine Mammal Stranding Program were called to Masonboro Island Sunday after reports of a stranded whale. Upon arrival, the team encountered a young Sei Whale, which is a type of Baleen Whale. The young, very thin whale should've been with its mother and hadn't eaten for a while. The marine biology professor says a plastic garbage bag was found in the animal's mouth during a necropsy.

Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A new survey shows 10 times more trash ends up on the shores of Texas than any other state along the Gulf of Mexico.

The number of southern residents is now 74 in three pods, whose population has fluctuated from 70 to 99 individuals since 1976.

Widespread red tide algae blooms proved devastating for Florida’s manatees in 2018, helping boost the total number of manatee deaths statewide to the second highest on record.

Trash, particularly plastic, in the ocean and along the shoreline is an economic, environmental, human health, and aesthetic problem causing serious challenges to coastal communities around the world, including the Gulf of Mexico.

As the sea level rises due to climate change and the land turns more saline, farmers in Tamil Nadu on India’s Bay of Bengal coast are forced to give up rice cultivation

Ancient hand grenades and cannons from the wreck of a former pirate ship have been found along the coast of Cornwall in the U.K.

Like most of their stout-bodied, flippered kin, Magellanic penguins spend much of their lives in the ocean. From late autumn through winter and into spring in the Southern Hemisphere, these South American penguins swim off the coast of southern Brazil, Uruguay and northern Argentina in search of anchovies, sardines and squid.

Earlier this year, scientists were surprised to discover a huge forest of coldwater corals off the coast of South Carolina. A scientist aboard the expedition discusses the find.

Conservationists hope the research inspires governments to do more to protect sea grass beds and related habitats. Jan. 2 (UPI) -- New research suggests sea grasses can protect beaches at a discount. Beaches are beautiful. They're also a valuable commodity for many places, including the Caribbean, where island economies rely on tourist dollars. It makes sense to spend money to ensure the beaches don't go anywhere.

U.S. equity-firm founder piloted the craft to the bottom of the Puerto Rico Trench, in a bid to reach the deepest spot in each of the world’s oceans

Up to 93% of green turtle hatchlings could be female by 2100 – as climate change causes “feminisation” of the species, new research suggests.

A stunning shortage of Bering Sea ice in spring and record warmth in autumn marked what scientists say will be one of the warmest years recorded in Alaska, raising questions about everything from the future of commercial fishing to new agricultural opportunities.

Motivated by events like Hurricane Harvey, researchers are trying to determine how climate change interacts with agriculture, energy, transportation and other human systems

Clean, green New Zealand. With a dirty little secret. We are on track to becoming the first country in the world to cause the extinction of a marine dolphin. The smallest in the world - the Māui Dolphin.

Over the course of 2018, we have seen how human impacts and global climate change are rapidly altering the world's oceans.

Just off our shores, not much more than a good swim from the sand, you could, until recently, find the most majestic of creatures, on land or at sea. Scientists named it orbicella faveolata. But a dive boat captain would tell you to look for the mountainous star coral, a name befitting its stature.