We provide here an article, based on a Smithsonian Institute background paper, which explains the process leading to the current reduction in the alkalinity of the ocean (acidification) and the related hypotheses and thinking about the consequences. This reduction in the ocean’s alkalinity is directly attributable to elevated levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, 50% […]
» Global Warming
- Ocean Acidification due to elevated atmospheric CO2 levels : an explanation
- “Marine snow” (carbon debris) functions to cool the planet, says study
- Climate Change related heatwaves are affecting not just the land but the oceans too
- Brussels Conference on the Ocean and Climate Change criticised by activists
- Marinet Briefing Paper considers the “sixth mass extinction” facing the ocean
- Warming oceans will turn more blue, say scientists
- Copernicus 2nd Ocean report reveals continuing changes in key measurements
- Coral reefs – can the Honduran reefs survive over-fishing, climate change and pollution?
- Scientists are trying to lab-breed corals that are resistant to global warming
- Great Barrier coral reef : Is it capable of regenerating itself?
- Worldwide coral “bleaching event” eases, until ocean temperatures trigger one again
- N. Teesside could be the hub of North Sea oil platform decommissioning
- Oxygen levels in the oceans are declining, say scientists
- Proposal to refreeze the Arctic artificially
- Huge Antarctic ice-shelf breakaway predicted, but “not climate related”
- Sea levels have risen more than earlier thought, says NASA report
- IUCN reports that oceans are disguising the full extent of global warming
- IUCN : Ocean surface waters warming by 0.1°C per decade
- Arctic sea ice declining by 13% per decade
- Microbes on ocean seafloor play a role in climate change
Phys.org reports, 13th March 2019: University of Sydney scientists have modelled how carbonate accumulation from ‘marine snow’ in oceans has absorbed carbon dioxide over millennia and been a key driver in keeping the planet cool for millions of years. The study, published in Geology, also helps our understanding of the ocean’s future capacity to store […]
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The Guardian reports, 4th March 2019: The number of heatwaves affecting the planet’s oceans has increased sharply scientists have revealed, killing swathes of sea-life like “wildfires that take out huge areas of forest”. The damage caused in these hotspots is also harmful for humanity, which relies on the oceans for oxygen, food, storm protection and […]
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The Brussels Times reports, 19th February 2019: Members of the citizen collective ‘Extinction Rebellion’ booed international leaders upon their arrival at the Palais d’Egmont palace. “They are preparing to sign a Declaration which in and of itself does not go far enough. We reject their lack of ambition for the sphere,” said one activist. The […]
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In the Marinet film WTF? – Where’s the Fish?, produced by Sarah Mallabar and narrated by Chris Packham, Marinet makes the forecast that the ocean could be facing a new mass extinction by 2050 where 94% of marine species have become extinct unless there is a fundamental change in mankind’s actions which impact on the […]
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BBC News, 4th February 2019, reports: Rising temperatures will change the colour of the world’s oceans, making them more blue in the coming decades say scientists. They found that increased heat will change the mixture of phytoplanktonphytoplankton Microscopic marine plants, usually algae. These microscopic plants are at the base of the food chain, and are […]
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The Copernicus Marine Service reports, October 2018: The Copernicus Marine Service has published the 2nd Ocean State Report (OSR), an extensive analysis on the state of the ocean over the last quarter of a century. An accompanying summary has also been published that highlights some specific key findings of the report along with scientific content […]
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The Guardian reports, 27th December 2017: “I’m like one of those old-school gangsters,” says Ralston Brooks, a park ranger on the island of Roatán off the coast of Honduras. “If you’re going to do it, do it. Pop a cap.” The 37-year-old boat captain says he faces regular death threats from local fishermen because of […]
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The Guardian reports, 23rd December 2017: New super corals bred by scientists to resist global warming could be tested on the Great Barrier Reef within a year as part of a global research effort to accelerate evolution and save the “rainforests of the seas” from extinction. Researchers are getting promising early results from cross-breeding different […]
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The Guardian reports, 29th November 2017: A group of “source” reefs have been identified that could form the basis of a life support system for the Great Barrier Reef, helping repair damage by bleaching, starfish and other disturbances. Researchers from the University of Queensland, CSIRO, Australian Institute of Marine Science and the University of Sheffield […]
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The Guardian reports, 20th June 2017: The worst coral bleaching event in recorded history, which has hit every major coral region on Earth since 2014, appears to be coming to an end, with scientists now worrying how long reefs will have to recover before it happens again. After analysing satellite and model data, and finding […]
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Ian Jack, The Guardian, reports 8th April 2017: To witness the beginning or end of a great industry or a way of living isn’t unusual. Each generation has its list of comings and goings — great grandfathers who remember the advent of the motor car, grandmothers who recall the last factory hooter in Accrington, fathers […]
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Time.com reports, 17th February 2017: Oceans across the globe are slowly losing oxygen, which poses a major problem for every living marine animal and underscores the serious consequences of climate change, researchers say. A new Nature study published this week found that oxygen levels in worldwide oceans have dipped by more than 2% in the […]
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The Observer reports, 12th February 2017: Physicist Steven Desch has come up with a novel solution to the problems that now beset the Arctic. He and a team of colleagues from Arizona State University want to replenish the region’s shrinking sea ice — by building 10 million wind-powered pumps over the Arctic ice cap. In […]
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BBC News reports, 6th January 2017: An iceberg expected to be one of the 10 largest ever recorded is ready to break away from Antarctica, scientists say. A long-running rift in the Larsen C ice shelf grew suddenly in December and now just 20km of ice keeping the 5,000 sq km piece from floating away. […]
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Alphr.com reports, 2nd November 2016: Previous estimates were that global sea levels rose by around 5.5in [14cm] over the 20th century, but researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of Hawaii at Manoa now believe that is “highly unlikely,” and the true figure is closer to 6.7in [17cm]. By applying established sea-level estimates […]
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With regard to the effect that global warming is having on the oceans and the planet, newsdeeply.com reports on evidence presented to the IUCN (international Union for the Conservation of Nature) World Conservation Congress, 8th September 2016. The report, released during the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii, highlights the impacts of ocean warming on […]
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Bill McKibben writes in The Guardian, 7th September 2016: So, just as a refresher, it’s always good to remember that we live on an ocean planet. Most of the Earth’s surface is salt water, studded with the large islands we call continents. It’s worth recalling this small fact — which can slip our minds, since […]
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The Guardian reports, 18th August 2016: Ice scientists are mostly cheerful and pragmatic. Like many other researchers coolly observing the rapid warming of the world, they share a gallows humour and are cautious about entering the political fray. Not Peter Wadhams. The former director of the Scott Polar Research Institute and professor of ocean physics […]
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The Guardian reports, 6th May 2016 : Microbes are hardly the poster-children of climate change, but they have far more impact than polar bears on Earth’s carbon cycle — and therefore on our climate. A new study published in Science Advances finds that seabed bacteria and archaea (which look like bacteria but have very different genetics […]
