By CARL HARTMAN, For The Associated Press Mon Aug 2, 6:53 am ET The Weather of the Future: Heat Waves, Extreme Storms, and Other Scenes From a Climate-Changed Planet (Harper, $25.99), by Heidi Cullen: Climatologist Heidi Cullen was taken aback at her lecture on the prospects for global warming when a member of the audience […]
Carbon dioxide emissions are making the oceans more acidic, imperiling the growth and reproduction of species from plankton to squid By Marah J. Hardt and Carl Safina “Slow sperm … now that’s a problem,” said Jonathan Havenhand, his British accent compounding the gravity of the message. “That means fewer fertilized eggs, fewer babies and smaller […]
Coral reefs are suffering widespread damage in what is set to be one of the worst years ever for the delicate and beautiful habitats. By Richard Gray, Science CorrespondentPublished: 9:30AM BST 18 Jul 2010 The phenomenon, known as coral bleaching because the reefs turn bone white when the colourful algae that give the coral its […]
By Sean Mattson; editing by Catherine Bremer CARTI SUGDUB, Panama, June 12 (Reuters) – Rising seas from global warming, coming after years of coral reef destruction, are forcing thousands of indigenous Panamanians to leave their ancestral homes on low-lying Caribbean islands. Seasonal winds, storms and high tides combine to submerge the tiny islands, crowded with […]
If you think the stars of Pixar’s Finding Nemo had it rough, spare a thought for the plight of real clownfish. These popular fish may struggle to survive in oceans that are becoming enriched with carbon dioxide. High levels of CO2 dissolved in the water can muddle a clownfish’s sense of smell, preventing it from […]
Coral reefs support a quarter of the world’s marine life, but rising ocean temperatures are killing them. The impact of their decline could be huge, says marine biologist Olivia Durkin A a result of rising sea temperatures, we are seeing the degradation and eventual destruction of one of the most beautiful ecosystems on Earth. Corals […]
Time series of (top) atmospheric CO2 and surface ocean pCO2 and (bottom) surface ocean pH at the atmospheric Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO) on the island of Hawai‘i and Station ALOHA in the subtropical North Pacific north of Hawai‘i, 1988–2008. Doney, 2010, adapted from Dore et al, 2009. Ocean acidification is documented clearly from ocean time-series […]
By Michael Perry, ReutersJune 17, 2010 SYDNEY (Reuters) – The world’s oceans are virtually choking on rising greenhouse gases, destroying marine ecosystems and breaking down the food chain — irreversible changes that have not occurred for several million years, a new study says. The changes could have dire consequences for hundreds of millions of people […]
By Emily SohnFri Jun 18, 2010 10:29 AM ET Unlike the well-publicized turmoil of pelicans, turtles, fish and other obvious animal victims of the Gulf oil spill, the fate of corals more than 1,000 feet below the surface remains unknown. While scientists haven’t been able to visit the Gulf’s deep-water coral since oil started gushing […]
Cambridge, Md. (June 10, 2010) – Acidity is increasing in some regions of the Chesapeake Bay even faster than is occurring in the open ocean, where it is now recognized that increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolve in the seawater thereby making it more acidic. These more acidic conditions in key parts of Chesapeake […]
