Study links warmer water temperatures to greater levels of mercury in fish

By Darryl Fears13 October 2013 (Washington Post) – Under the watchful eyes of scientists, a little forage fish that lives off the southern coast of Maine developed a strangely large appetite. Killifish are not usually big eaters. But in warmer waters, at temperatures projected for the future by climate scientists, their metabolism — and their […]

Radiation level hits two-year high in seawater near Fukushima reactor

By Yuka Obayashi and Mari Saito; Editing by Michael Perry10 October 2013 TOKYO (Reuters) – Radiation levels in seawater just outside one of the damaged Fukushima reactors spiked this week to the highest level in two years, the operator of the crippled Japanese nuclear plant said on Thursday. Radiation levels on Wednesday, the day six […]

Vancouver Aquarium ‘alarmed’ at mass die-off of sea stars on ocean floor – ‘Whatever hit them, it was like wildfire and just wiped them out’

By Dene Moore7 October 2013 VANCOUVER (The Canadian Press) –Last month, a diver alerted Vancouver Aquarium staff that he had found a number of dead and decaying sunflower sea stars in the cold Pacific waters of a popular dive spot just off the shore of West Vancouver. Within weeks, the tentacled orange sea stars had […]

Graph of the Day: Comparison of observed and simulated climate change based on three large-scale indicators in the atmosphere, the cryosphere, and the ocean

27 September 2013 (IPCC) – [This graph shows a] comparison of observed and simulated climate change based on three large-scale indicators in the atmosphere, the cryosphere and the ocean: change in continental land surface air temperatures (yellow panels), Arctic and Antarctic September sea ice extent (white panels), and upper ocean heat content in the major […]

Sonar used by oil company caused mass whale stranding in Madagascar

By Katie Moore, Program Director-Animal Rescue 26 September 2013 (IFAW) – Four years ago I rushed to Madagascar to help stop over 100 melon-headed whales from stranding and dying along the islands’ shores. Like most cetacean species, melon-headed whales are very social animals. They rely on sound for communication and echolocation that are essential to […]

Ocean species relocate in response to climate change, study finds

By Melissa Pandika13 September 2013 (Los Angeles Times) – As climate change heats our oceans, you’d expect temperature-sensitive marine species to flee poleward to cooler waters. So why have some headed to warmer regions toward the equator? Scientists have solved the puzzle. For the most part, these animals are relocating to cooler waters. But since […]

Massive molasses spill devastates Honolulu marine life – ‘Everything down there is dead’

By Mark Memmott12 September 2013 (NPR) – “Everything down there is dead.” That’s one stunning quote from Hawaii News Now’s latest report about the devastating damage that’s been done to the marine life off Honolulu’s Sand Island by 233,000 gallons of molasses that were spilled into Honolulu harbor on Monday. Gary Gill, deputy director of […]

Japan pledges $470m for giant underground ‘ice wall’ to stop radioactive water flow from Fukushima nuclear plant

3 September 2013 (BBC News) – Japan is to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into building a frozen wall around the Fukushima nuclear plant to stop leaks of radioactive water. Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said an estimated 47bn yen ($473m, £304m) would be allocated. The leaks were getting worse and the government “felt it […]

Fukushima’s radioactive ocean plume due to reach U.S. waters in 2014

By Jeremy Hsu31 August 2013 (LiveScience) – A radioactive plume of water in the Pacific Ocean from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant, which was crippled in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, will likely reach U.S. coastal waters starting in 2014, according to a new study published in Science. The long journey of the radioactive particles could […]

Fukushima meltdowns have not polluted the entire Pacific Ocean, no need to panic!

By Candace Calloway Whiting28 August 2013 (Seattle PI) –  From NOAA: This image was created by NOAA’s Center for Tsunami Research and graphically shows maximum wave heights (in centimeters or cm) of the tsunami generated by the Japan earthquake on March 11, 2011. It does NOT represent levels of radiation from the damaged Fukushima nuclear […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial