By Kate Yoder, Grist As restrictions spread, neighborhoods are getting quieter — and cleaner. For more than 100 million years, trees have dropped their leaves every fall, creating a protective layer of duff that provides cover for snails, bees, and butterflies. Decaying leaves fertilized the soil and gave nutrients back to the trees. Today, fallen …
Sea-Level Rise: West Antarctic Ice Shelf Melt ‘Unavoidable’
By Mark Poynting, BBC Increased melting of West Antarctica’s ice shelves is “unavoidable” in the coming decades, a new study has warned. These floating tongues of ice extend from the main ice sheet into the ocean, and play a key role in holding back the glaciers behind. But as ice …
New Method Proposed to Improve the Ocean Observational Network in the Tropical Western Pacific
Phys.Org In Figures (a) and (b), the colors depict the uncertainty levels before and after ENSO, short for the El Niño and Southern Oscillation, is the most influential interannual oscillation, and significantly impacts global climate. The Tropical Pacific Observation System (TPOS), including moored buoys, plays an important role in understanding, …
Why ‘it is Absolutely Not too Late’ for Florida’s Coral Reefs
By Kate Furby, Berly McCoy, and Regina G. Barber, NPR The marine heat wave this summer bleached Elkhorn corals at Horseshoe Reef in the Florida Keys. Shireen Rahimi Coral reefs in Florida have lost an estimated 90% of their corals in the last 40 years. This summer, a marine heat wave hit Florida’s …
A ‘Whalecam’, Seals v. Sharks and Fish that Play Dead: it’s Planet Earth III
By Tara Conlan, The Gurdian A southern right whale filmed in the shallow waters of Península Valdés, Argentina in a shot from the series. Photograph: BBC Studios As a new series promises breathtaking footage obtained by groundbreaking technology, children are the new target audience. A detachable “whalecam”, remote underwater cameras operated …
Fukushima: What are the Concerns Over Waste Water Release?
By Tessa Wong, BBC Japan’s controversial plan to release treated waste water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean has sparked anxiety and anger at home and abroad. Since the 2011 tsunami which severely damaged the plant, more than a million tonnes of treated waste water has accumulated …
App-based Tool Quantifies Pesticide Toxicity in Watersheds, Identifies Mitigation Opportunities
By Phys.Org Watershed applied toxicity. The heat map and legend values represent applied toxicity as the Net Toxicity Index (NTI), the total applied toxicity of pesticide applications to all aquatic taxa investigated over the simulation period, fish, invertebrates, nonvascular aquatic plants, and vascular aquatic plants. Results are displayed for each …
Ocean Heat Record Broken, with Grim Implications for the Planet
By Georgina Rannard, Mark Poynting, Jana Tauschinski, Becky Dale, BBC GETTY IMAGES The oceans have hit their hottest ever recorded temperature as they soak up warmth from climate change, with dire implications for our planet’s health. The average daily global sea surface temperature beat a 2016 record this week, according …
Florida in Race to Rescue Coral Bleached by Record Ocean Heat
By Maya Yang, The Guardian Noaa and marine rescue groups work together in effort to preserve Florida’s reefs as rising water temperatures cause concern Bleached coral in the Florida Keys. Record temperatures that have been arriving earlier in the year, warming the ocean significantly. Photograph: Coral Restoration Foundation A race is …
Gulf Stream Could Collapse as Early as 2025, Study Suggests
By Damian Carrington, The Guardian A collapse would bring catastrophic climate impacts but scientists disagree over the new analysis The Gulf Stream system could collapse as soon as 2025, a new study suggests. The shutting down of the vital ocean currents, called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (Amoc) by scientists, …