Great Barrier Reef saw huge losses from 2016 heatwave – “The study paints a bleak picture of the sheer extent of coral loss on the Great Barrier Reef”

By Quirin Schiermeier 18 April 2018 (Nature) – Extreme heat in 2016 damaged Australia’s Great Barrier Reef much more substantially than initial surveys indicated, according to ongoing studies that have tracked the health of the coral treasure. The heatwave caused massive bleaching of the corals that captured worldwide attention.In a paper published on 18 April […]

Ocean plastic predicted to triple within a decade

By Lauren Said-Moorhouse 21 March 2018 (CNN) – Without intervention soon, the amount of plastic littering the world’s oceans is expected to triple within a decade, a new UK government report warns.The Foresight Future of the Sea report from the UK Government Office for Science said our oceans have seen “unprecedented change as a result […]

Great pacific garbage patch growing exponentially – “The amount of hazardous microplastics is set to increase more than tenfold, if left to fragment”

Delft, the Netherlands, 22 March 2018 (The Ocean Cleanup) – 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic weighing 80,000 metric tons are currently afloat in an area known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – and it is rapidly getting worse. These are the main conclusions of a three year mapping effort conducted by an international team […]

Atlantic circulation that helps warm Europe is at its weakest for more than 1500 years

12 April 2018 (UCL News) – In the first comprehensive study of ocean-based records, published in Nature, scientists have observed a marked weakening of Atlantic circulation over the past 150 years. This weakening correlates with the end of the Little Ice Age, around 1850 AD, and the onset of the industrial revolution when glaciers and […]

What gave the U.S. West its soggiest winter-type atmosphere on record?

By Bob Henson  9 April 2018 (Weather Underground) – If you love atmospheric extremes, but you hate to see people in harm’s way, you couldn’t ask for a more pleasing event than the phenomenal infusion of moisture into the western U.S. from Friday into Saturday. No deaths or serious injuries were reported from the weekend […]

Ocean heatwaves becoming longer and more frequent – “With more than 90 percent of the heat from human-caused global warming going into our oceans, it is likely marine heatwaves will continue to increase”

11 April 2018 (University of Tasmania) – An international study in Nature Communications co-authored by researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes and the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) reveals that marine heatwaves have increased globally over the past century in number, length and intensity as a direct result of […]

Nearly 150 beached whales die after mass stranding in Australia

By Amy B Wang 23 March 2018 (The Washington Post) – More than 150 short-finned pilot whales stranded themselves Thursday on the southwestern tip of Australia, stunning parks officials and prompting a massive rescue effort to save as many as possible. The mass beaching likely took place sometime Wednesday night to early Thursday morning, local […]

A weaker Gulf Stream means trouble for Coastal New England – “The storms we’re seeing now, people thought this was decades in the future”

By Bob Henson 5 March 2018 (Weather Underground) – The rugged coast of New England has never recorded a one-two high-water punch like it’s gotten this winter with the nor’easters dubbed Grayson (4 January 2018) and Riley (2-3 March 2018). These storms produced two of the three highest water levels ever measured in Boston Harbor, […]

Tens of thousands of starfish wash up on British beach following extreme change in temperature

By Lewis Pennock 4 March 2018 (The Independent) – Thousands of dead starfish washed up on a British beach following the ‘beast from the east’ weather snap.The spectacular scene in Ramsgate, Kent, was described as “like the armageddon” by wildlife enthusiast Lara Maiklem, 47, who photographed the phenomenon.She estimated “hundreds of thousands” of starfish and […]

Video: Massive plastic debris field in ocean near Bali – “It’s the worst it’s ever been”

6 March 2018 (NBC News) – New video taken by diver Rich Horner off the tourist island of Bali show an abundance of plastic in the form of bags, bottles, and buckets. Experts are calling the influx of trash in the ocean a global threat. Stunning new video shows massive plastic debris in ocean

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