Science

Tropical Depression Cristobal is preparing to invade the United States this weekend, and while meteorologists continue to analyze its strength and track and await its possible hurricane status, residents across Louisiana and throughout the Gulf Coast began their preparation days ago.

Research funded through Ocean Frontier Institute

Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), and an international research team have predicted that by 2050, mangroves will not be able to survive rising sea-levels if global carbon emissions are not reduced.

New pathways and new and more distant places are leading to additional scientific findings on impacts of melting Arctic ice.

A study from the University of Kerala found that the rapid spread of the new species may affect the presence of Kallumakkas.

Though corals worldwide are threatened due to climate change and local stressors, the front lines of the battle are microscopic in scale. Under stress, many reefs that were formerly dominated by coral are shifting to systems dominated by turf and fleshy algae. A new study, published in PNAS on June 1 and led by researchers at the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Mānoa and San Diego State University (SDSU), found that the outcome of the competition between coral and turf algae is determined by the assemblage of microbes at the interface where the contenders meet.

If you’re an oyster lover, seeing a shaggy worm slither across your appetizer is revolting – even though such worms are harmless to people. An internet search using the keywords “oyster” and “worm” will bring up a large cache of images, each one less palatable than the next.

CIMEAS supports ongoing collaboration between UC Santa Cruz and the National Marine Fisheries Service Southwest Fisheries Science Center

Great Lakes waters are starting to warm up. Here’s a look at current water temperatures on our big lakes.

Also in City Watch: Volusia County's grant assistance program for nonprofits opens.

You may have heard about minerals on the bottom of the ocean. The UK Government sponsors several exploration contracts for UK Seabed Resources (a subsidiary of the American aerospace and security company Lockheed-Martin) in the Pacific Ocean to look for them. These minerals come from the so-called ‘Area’, the deep seafloor beyond the limits of national jurisdiction and far out in the global ocean.

With the Atlantic hurricane season set to begin June 1, NC Coastal Review Online is examining how attitudes toward climate science in eastern North Carolina have changed during the past decade.

Grover Fugate said goodbye to the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) last month at his final meeting as executive director of the Rhode Island agency that achieved many milestones under his three-decade watch.

The horn is believed to have belonged to an auroch, a grazing creature which is thought to have stood around two metres tall

Researchers who had made maps of 70 coral reefs in the bahamas prior to Hurricane Dorian, have gone out to survey 26 of those reefs post Dorian.

An MIT-developed technique could aid in tracking the ocean’s health and productivity.

The most common group of organisms in the ocean and perhaps on the entire planet thrives despite of, or perhaps because of, the ability to host viruses in their DNA, report researchers.

Scientists gather around a conductivity, temperature, depth (CTD) rosette, a machine used during the West Coast Ocean Acidification Cruise, to collect samples that measure concentrations of oxygen, pH, and carbon, salinity, chlorophyll and nutrients. Credit: University of Delaware

The University of Alaska Fairbanks is one of three universities to form a new cooperative institute aimed at scientific collaboration.

New study underscores need to conserve and restore mangroves, coral reefs

A study by the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country establishes 12 former coastlines under the sea off the Basque coast

A new study suggests tyre particles released from vehicles could be a significant and previously largely unrecorded source of microplastics in the marine environment.

In the face of accelerating climate change, future shark conservation strategies will need to consider how marine animals deal with the forecasted environmental changes our oceans will undergo. It has been shown that the ocean absorbs most of the excess heat from increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows that the average global sea surface temperature has increased by approximately 32°F (0.13°C ) per decade over the past 100 years. This has led to rising ocean temperatures, which in turn impacts marine ecosystems and species, like sharks.

DALLAS — While many weddings, birthdays and graduations have been put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters don’t wait.

Sea turtles are nesting in near-record numbers along Georgia’s coast this season, continuing a trend that started about a decade ago as the sizable creatures stage a comeback.

An interdisciplinary research study of the University of Barcelona identified two potential candidates to treat Alzheimer's disease. These are two marine molecules, meridianine and lignarenone B, able to alter the activity of GSK3B activity, a protein associated with several neurodegenerative diseases.

The main stem of the Mackenzie River flows wild and uninterrupted by dams across Canada, as it has since the recession of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Draining the eastern end of the Great Slave Lake, the river meanders for more than 1,600 northwesterly kilometers through gnarled stands of black spruce before fanning out across the treeless arctic tundra, depositing sediment in a delta stretching from the Yukon territories in the west to the hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk on its east branch. At its terminus, the Mackenzie finally discharges more than 325 cubic kilometers of fresh water into the Arctic Ocean each year, accounting for roughly 11 percent of the world's total river flow into the Arctic Ocean.

Aspiring ecologist's work off Florida's west coast could help inform fisheries policy

The Baker-Polito Administration, in partnership with the State of Rhode Island and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), have announced grants worth US$ 1.1 million to four institutions to support regional fisheries studies that will collect data vital to the ongoing development of the offshore wind industry in North America.

A new study by researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) found that New England’s historic lobster fishery may turn a higher profit by operating with less gear in the water and a shorter season. The findings could provide a path forward for the lobster fishing industry, which is under pressure to move away from traditional pot fishing that uses long vertical lines of rope known to entangle and kill endangered North Atlantic right whales and other protected species. The study was published this week in the journal Marine Policy.

The Kohala Center says reef-friendly sunscreen initiatives have had a positive effect on water quality, but continued efforts are needed to save coral reefs.

DNA scientists sampling the New Jersey shore bottle the changing ranges of marine life predicted a decade ago; Fishing DNA from seawater: a harmless, economical way to study marine animals’ movements, diversity, distribution … and perhaps abundance.

A Siberian heatwave and an early melting season in Greenland are worrying developments as summer approaches in the Arctic, researchers said Friday. The start of the melting season in Greenland -- defined as when the melting extends over five percent of the ice sheet -- was registered on May 13, according to the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI).

Coastal Review Online is examining how attitudes toward climate science in eastern North Carolina have changed during the past decade. This story is the first in a special series that is part of the Pulitzer Center’s nationwide Connected Coastlines reporting initiative.

Merlie the turtle has massive powers of endurance and a pretty special sense of timing too.

A new study by the Nanyang Technological University has been studying melting polar ice sheets and predicts that ocean levels will rise by as much as 1.3 metres by 2100.

A Florida State University researcher has used new detection methods to identify 85 previously unknown submarine landslides that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico between 2008 and 2015, leading to questions about the stability of oil rigs and other structures, such as pipelines built in the region.

Marine Biologist Marissa McMahan takes a three-pronged approach: stop green crabs, improve the lives of fishing communities and teach children science.

The giant tectonic plate under the Indian Ocean is going through a rocky breakup … with itself. In a short time (geologically speaking) this plate will split in two, a new study finds.

A species of parchment tubeworm can exude slime that can glow a blue hue that lasts for days. Predators can get this sticky mucus with a blue glow on them if they tread upon these tubeworms.

A University of Miami interdisciplinary team is seeking permits from the State of Florida and US Army Corps of Engineers to deploy three “hybrid” structures in waters off Miami Beach to gather evidence on how best to protect the shoreline from damaging wave energy.

Discussions of drought often center on the lack of precipitation. But among climate scientists, the focus is shifting to include the growing role that warming temperatures are playing as potent drivers of greater aridity and drought intensification.

“What are the fastest warming places on Earth and why are they warming so fast?” — John, Grass Valley, Calif.

Earlier this week, Tropical Storm Arthur skirted North Carolina’s coast before veering into the Atlantic. While damage was minimal, this marked the sixth straight year that a named storm developed in the Atlantic before the official start of hurricane season on June 1.

Nursery-bred staghorn corals off the Upper Keys have about a 10% chance of surviving past seven years, according to a newly published scientific paper.

Finding a species like Hippocampus nalu also shows how little we know about Africa’s marine biodiversity, and how much more is left to discover

The latest mystery to wash up on North Carolina’s Outer Banks came Tuesday in the form of something resembling a big, black shark’s tooth.

A slump in shipping traffic during the lockdown has resulted in a marked decline in noise levels across the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) – which includes Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean – a study by Pune’s Maritime Research Centre (MRC) has revealed.

The event reflects a 2.2-degree increase in local ocean temperatures over the past century

Oregon State University, the University of Washington and University of Alaska, Fairbanks will receive up to $300 million to lead a new institute focused on climate, ocean and coastal challenges that demand collaboration and sharing of scientific resources.

The University of Washington has scored big in two fields in which its research enjoys international renown -- ocean and climate research.

In the US, the most exposure people usually have to dolphins in aquariums or on TV, but along India’s west coast, interactions with the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin (Sousa plumbea) are reasonably common – and can lead to conflict.

While the global average number of tropical cyclones each year hasn’t budged from 86 over the last 4 decades, climate change has been influencing the locations of these deadly storms.

Hawaii is home to the the red volcano sponge, and they cover the sea floor on certain reefs, and look like six-inch-tall, mini red volcanoes erupting.

Coral reefs that are turning white due to rising sea temperatures, caused by climate change, could be saved by cultivating more heat resistant algae, researchers claim.

Climate scientists use mathematical models to project the Earth’s future under a warming world, but a group of the latest models have included unexpectedly high values for a measure called “climate sensitivity”.

A new study reveals clear evidence highlighting the importance of fish biodiversity to the health of spectacular tropical coral reef ecosystems. However, the study's results show that even though strong relationships between diversity and a healthy ecosystem persist, human-driven pressures of warming oceans and invasive species still diminish ecosystems in various ways.

A retreating glacier is increasing the risk of a catastrophic landslide and tsunami within a few decades, researchers say.

Public Can Help Document Spawning Sites

If you’re lucky, you will see them.

Rising ocean temperatures will alter the distribution and life cycles of Antarctic krill in the coming decades, according to a new study led by the University of Tasmania.

The “sequoias of the sea” suck up carbon and shelter special species. They’ve been hit hard, but scientists, surfers, and more are banding together to save them.

Studies off the west coast of North America add to a growing body of evidence that the ability to breathe will shift the future distribution of marine species, potentially compromising their ability to weather further climate change, researchers say.

(NOAA) – April became the third month in a row to rank second-hottest on record for the globe after the year kicked off with the hottest January ever recorded in 141 years of record-keeping, according to scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.

The odds slightly favor a La Niña forming next winter, enhancing the chances of a good Northwest snowpack, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said May 14.

As a component of many biomolecules, nitrogen is a crucial element for life, especially in nutrient-poor environs such as the open ocean. Atmospheric dinitrogen gas (N2) is abundant but must be fixed by reduction to ammonia, a process limited to certain organisms and environments. Zehr and Capone review changes in our understanding of what marine microorganisms are fixing N2, where they live, and what environmental features influence their activity. N2 fixation is more widely distributed than previously thought, and we still have much to learn about the physiology and regulation involved. We now have better estimates of global- and basin-scale inputs and outputs, but questions remain as to whether the oceanic N cycle is balanced. New tools are enabling better understanding of ocean N2 fixation despite disruptive consequences from human activities, including ocean acidification and warming.

In the last 40 years, the East Coast, including Florida, has been hit by dozens of hurricanes. New NOAA research suggests human pollution may have increased the likelihood of those Atlantic basin storms, but not in the way you might expect.

Hannah Walker, a graduating mechanical engineering major and winner of the USC Discovery Scholar Prize, has created a device to inexpensively map the ocean’s underwater topography.

How do humans affect the ways that Asia’s mega rivers deliver sediment and dissolved matter to farms, river deltas, and, eventually, the sea? A proposed study would construct an integrated picture.

Structures, such as vessels, concrete pipes, and bridge pieces, are intentionally placed on the seafloor as artificial reefs. These artificial reefs can be effective tools for enhancing fish communities, but solutions are not “one size fits all”, a new NOAA study suggests.

Western Lake Erie is expected to experience a lower than average harmful algal bloom (HAB) this summer, according to the 2020 Lake Erie Harmful Algal Bloom Early Season Projection issued by NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) earlier today.

Newly released genomes from Neolithic East Asia have unveiled a missing piece of human prehistory, according to a study conducted by Prof. Fu Qiaomei's team from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

A spring storm had retreated inland during the night, leaving a canopy of unbroken clouds over Mission Bay. About 20 engineering students and others gathered in the morning chill to launch a cockeyed-looking vessel, mechanical guts fully visible, into the still water.

The team included researchers from CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and the University of Melbourne.

A new research project from MIT could help save small islands and coastal towns threatened by rising sea levels around the world.

Amanda Vincent, professor at UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and director of Project Seahorse, has been announced as the 2020 winner of the Indianapolis Prize, the world’s leading award for animal conservation.

If global temperatures rise by another 3.5 degrees Celsius, drastically altering the climate, sea levels could rise by an additional 4 feet by the end of the century and 16 feet by the year 2300, a new study suggests.

As Matt Wolf’s documentary Spaceship Earth is released digitally, one of the founding members of Theatre of All Possibilities, Kathelin Gray tells her story

The population exposed to one or more extreme weather events each year could more than double by mid-century

Congressman Ed Case (HI-01) introduced in the US House of Representatives his bipartisan Coral Reef Conservation Reauthorization Act on Friday to continue, update and improve our national commitment to save our endangered coral reefs as first set forth in a measure enacted twenty years ago.

Over the past quarter-century, changes in Antarctic sea-ice cover have had profound impacts on life on the ocean floor. As biologists from the Alfred Wegener Institute report in the latest issue of the journal Nature Communications, between 1988 and 2014, total benthic biomass on the continental shelf of the northeast Weddell Sea declined by two thirds. In addition, the composition of the benthos changed drastically, and the ecosystem's productivity suffered. This period coincides with a significant increase in sea-ice cover in the region, a trend that peaked in 2014.

El Niño is one of the most familiar climate patterns on Earth. Pools of water in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean become abnormal warm, triggering changes in global weather patterns.

As the COVID-19 pandemic reshapes human activity, the health of the environment remains an issue of importance for the long-term well-being of people and the climate. Researchers with the University of Virginia’s Environmental Resilience Institute are continuing their work, and are expanding their efforts to include working to understand how the pandemic affects human interactions within the context of the environment and its longer-term sustainability.

The Journal of Environmental Pollution has published a study by scientists at CSIRO, Australia's national science agency; Project AWARE, a global non-profit connecting community action and policy; and Ocean Conservancy, a US-based advocacy non-profit, that evaluated the relationship between land-based debris and what is found on corresponding seafloors.

FFAW disagrees with assessment, says there has been 'incredible growth' in biomass

Even the anti-freeze frog is not invulnerable to stress, according to a new study led by Washington State University researchers.

Experts found 14 millimeters of sea-level rise between 2003 and 2019 caused by the overall ice losses from Greenland and Antarctica. However, the data gathered is just one-third of the total amount of the recorded sea-level rise in the world's oceans within this period. NASA launched the "Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite 2" also called "ICESat-2" in 2018 to conduct detailed and accurate global elevation measurements.The researchers made a comparison of the data gathered between 2003 and 2009 using the original ICESat and the measurements acquired using ICESat-2 to create a comprehensive portrait of ice sheet changes in Antarctica and Greenland.

The American West – California included – may be in one of the most severe droughts in the region’s history.

Today and as sea level continues to rise in the future, extreme high tide events cause Honolulu, Hawai'i's primary urban center to experience flooding not just from water washing directly over the shoreline, but also from groundwater inundation as the water table is pushed toward the surface, and reverse flow through the municipal drainage system.

For people who live in the Arctic, sea ice that forms along shorelines is a vital resource that connects isolated communities and provides access to hunting and fishing grounds. A new study by Brown University researchers found that climate change could significantly reduce this "shorefast ice" in communities across Northern Canada and Western Greenland.

Climate change is having a bigger impact on animals and plants in the ocean than those on land, according to new research.

Everyone knows that sharks have an amazing sense of smell. Toss a chunk of salmon into the shark tank at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, and you can see it in action.

If you head to the beach this weekend, keep your eyes open; along with recently cooped-up quarantiners, you may encounter other coastal dwellers who have ventured into new territory during the closures.

As sea level continues to rise at an accelerated rate, California’s intensive coastal development and infrastructure is coming under an increasing threat. Whether low-elevation shoreline areas that are subject to flooding at extreme tides and times of storm wave run-up, or construction on eroding bluffs or cliffs, the risks will continue to increase from extreme events but, over the longer term, from continuing sea level rise. Future sea level rise values under different greenhouse gas scenarios have recently been projected and adopted by the state to be used in coastal land use planning and decision making. While beach nourishment can provide very short-term protection, and seawalls and revetments can provide somewhat longer-term protection, they both come with significant costs and also environmental impacts. The era of routine armor emplacement is coming to an end in California, and whether designated as relocation or managed retreat, now is the time to make the difficult decisions on how this will be accomplished and what the trigger points will be to initiate the response.

VANCOUVER, CN —The waters off the coast of British Columbia are quiet these days. So quiet, the whales don’t have to shout to be heard over the loud hum of noise we humans make with our boats.

Only a few years ago, scientists estimated there were between 300 and 500 great white sharks in South Africa's False Bay. Now, they have completely disappeared.

He was known by a number in life. In death, he became a statistic.

It comes around like clockwork every year. The start of the Atlantic hurricane season begins on June 1st, and many tropical meteorology experts are forecasting above-normal activity.

Hemp Research Hopes To Show Way To Defeat Green Slime

Warmer waters, heavier storms and nutrient pollution are a triple threat to Great Lakes cities' drinking water. The solution: Cutting nutrient releases and installing systems to filter runoff.