20 March 2013 (Practical Fishkeeping) – A study has found that, weakened by microscopic borers, the world’s coral reefs will erode more rapidly as the oceans warm and acidify. This phenomenon, combined with a slower growth of coral reefs due to ocean acidification, may make reefs more vulnerable to storms and cyclones, says Ms Catalina […]
By Michael McCarthy 18 February 2013 (The Independent) – The world is facing a fertiliser crisis, with far too little in some places, and far too much in others, a new report from the United Nations says today. The mass application of nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients needed for plant growth has had huge benefits for […]
By Jeff Hecht9 February 2013 (New Scientist) – Geoengineering is being tested – albeit inadvertently – in the north Pacific. Soot from oil-burning ships is dumping about 1000 tonnes of soluble iron per year across 6 million square kilometres of ocean, new research has revealed. Fertilising the world’s oceans with iron has been controversially proposed […]
Bremerhaven, 15 January 2013 (AWI) – The Arctic sea ice has not only declined over the past decade but has also become distinctly thinner and younger. Researchers are now observing mainly thin, first-year ice floes which are extensively covered with melt ponds in the summer months where once metre-thick, multi-year ice used to float. Sea […]
By FELICITY BARRINGER31 December 2012 (The New York Times) – The record-setting disappearance of Arctic sea ice this fall was an indication to many climate scientists and ice experts that the pace of climate change was outstripping predictions. Now a new study published this week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters provides a look at […]
By Kathryn Doyle28 November 2012 It’s hard to stop a bad idea with enough money behind it—even rogue science on the high seas. Russ George, a wealthy American businessman with a history of big, controversial ideas, launched his latest one this October: dumping 200,000 pounds of iron sulfate into the North Pacific. His aim was […]
By Larry O’Hanlon 6 December 2012 This year’s record ice melts in Greenland and the Arctic ocean aren’t flukes, but confirmation that the Arctic is racing ahead into a new and unknown climate state, said top US climate scientists today. The announcement came with the release today of the 2012 Arctic Report Card, which calls […]
24 October 2012 (PhysOrg) – It is tragic whenever any species is lost. Now it appears that the impact of species loss is far-reaching, much more than previously thought. The symbiotic relationships that develop in the environment as a result of high biodiversity make ecosystems more resilient to change. The loss of a species can […]
By Rhian Waller of NG Explorers18 October 2012 (National Geographic) – Unbeknownst to most scientists until a few days ago, two hundred thousand pounds of iron sulphate were dumped into North Pacific Ocean in July, with the aim to trigger a large plankton bloom. This experiment was conducted by the Haida Salmon Restoration Corporation, under […]
Record drought across the United States in 2012 followed a year of record flooding in the Mid-West in 2011, producing two very different areas of hypoxia, or oxygen deficient water, on the Louisiana continental shelf. The 2012 area of low oxygen, commonly known as the ‘Dead Zone,’ measured 7,480 square kilometers (= 2,889 square miles) […]
