Dauphin Island fish show up with lesions, BP oil spill link questioned

By Ben Raines, Press-Register 11 January 2012 DAUPHIN ISLAND, Alabama – More than half the fish caught Monday by Press-Register reporters in the surf off Dauphin Island had bloody red lesions on their bodies. Fishing along an uninhabited portion of the barrier island during a trip to survey beaches for tarballs, the newspaper caught 21 […]

Giant algae bloom destroys Texas oyster crop – ‘We’ve never seen anything like this before’

By Rick Jervis, USA TODAY13 December 2011 PORT LAVACA, Texas – In better days, the loading dock in this East Texas harbor city would be a bustle of activity: fishermen unloading sacks filled with fresh oysters, dealers paying by the sack for the bivalves, 18-wheelers hauling them to Florida, Virginia and other destinations. On an […]

Graph of the Day: Responses of Marine Benthic Microalgae to Elevated CO2

Relative composition of the periphytic diatom assemblages along the CO2 gradient, including all genera present over 1% and with all unidentified diatoms grouped as unidentified pennate or naviculoid. Between September 2009 and October 2010, mean surface seawater pH decreased with increasing proximity to CO2 vents (S1 = 8.18, S2 = 8.05, S3 = 7.49, n […]

Run-off, emissions deliver double whammy to coastal marine creatures

Athens, Georgia, October 26 (SPX) – Increasing acidification in coastal waters could compromise the ability of oysters and other marine creatures to form and keep their shells, according to a new study led by University of Georgia researchers. Their findings will be published in the November 2011 issue of Nature Geoscience. The researchers determined the […]

Image of the Day: Satellite View of Toxic Algae Bloom in Lake Erie

Caption by Holli Riebeek14 October 2011 The green scum shown in this image is the worst algae bloom Lake Erie has experienced in decades. Such blooms were common in the lake’s shallow western basin in the 1950s and 60s. Phosphorus from farms, sewage, and industry fertilized the waters so that huge algae blooms developed year […]

Shellfish harvesters plagued by acidic ‘dead muds’

By Seth Koenig, BDN Staff7 October 2011 SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — They’re called dead muds. Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere combined with unregulated nitrogen pollution are having a deadly effect on Maine’s shellfish, some researchers say. Scientists are starting to measure the impact of increasingly acidic waters on coastal organisms, and what […]

‘Exceptional’ Oklahoma drought has killed 16, burned 250 million acres, and broken 1,400 water mains

By Michael CrossAugust 16, 2011 from KOSU It’s been so hot and dry this summer that climatologists say the southern part of the United States is going through an “exceptional drought.” Parts of Oklahoma have seen little rain since October — not to mention a string of 100-degree days. The steamy conditions are pressuring the […]

Is La Niña or blocked jet stream frying Texas?

By Ferris Jabr16 August 2011 So far the relentless heatwave scorching Texas has killed numerous crops and dried up the reservoir in San Angelo State Park, leaving a shallow pool of blood-red water teeming with red bacteria that thrive in low oxygen. The drought in Lake Nacogdoches has exposed a piece of the space shuttle […]

Image of the Day: Blue-green algae bloom in Norfolk Broads

August 3 (BBC) – Holidaymakers have been warned to avoid contact with the blue-green algae which is turning some Norfolk Broads green. Aerial photographer Mike Page took pictures of the potentially hazardous bloom during a flight of the broads. Swimmers and dog owners have been warned to avoid contact with the affected water. “We get […]

Drought turns Texas lake blood-red

A Texas lake that turned blood-red this summer may not be a sign of the End Times, but probably is the end of a popular fishing and recreation spot. A drought has left the OC Fisher Reservoir in San Angelo State Park in West Texas almost entirely dry. The water that is left is stagnant, […]

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