Tag: the oceans

Thawing permafrost is roiling the Arctic landscape, driven by a hidden world of changes / Researchers identified over 5,500 new viruses in the ocean

Across the Arctic, strange things are happening to the landscape. Massive lakes, several square miles in size, have disappeared in the span of a few days. Hillsides slump. Ice-rich ground collapses, leaving the landscape wavy where it once was flat, and in some locations creating vast fields of large, sunken polygons. It’s evidence that permafrost,… Read More Thawing permafrost is roiling the Arctic landscape, driven by a hidden world of changes / Researchers identified over 5,500 new viruses in the ocean

Dilip

Douglas McCauley: As the ocean industrial revolution gains pace the need for protection is urgent /Jeff Sparrow: Is battling back-to-back disasters distracting us from fighting the climate crisis?

The ocean is often seen as the last wild frontier: a vast and empty blue wilderness where waves, whales and albatrosses rule. This is no longer true. Unnoticed by many, a new industrial revolution is unfolding in our seas. The last several decades have seen exponential growth in new marine industries. This includes expansion of offshore oil… Read More Douglas McCauley: As the ocean industrial revolution gains pace the need for protection is urgent /Jeff Sparrow: Is battling back-to-back disasters distracting us from fighting the climate crisis?

Dilip

The wreck of Endurance is a bridge to a bygone age, and a reminder of Antarctica’s uncertain future

Superbly clear images of the shipwreck Endurance, 3,000 metres below the ocean’s surface in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea, were this week broadcast around the world. Found by the Endurance 22 Expedition using a state-of-the-art autonomous underwater vehicle, we now have images almost as iconic as those taken of the stricken ship by Australian photographer and expedition… Read More The wreck of Endurance is a bridge to a bygone age, and a reminder of Antarctica’s uncertain future

Dilip

An icefish colony discovered in Antarctica is world's largest fish breeding ground

A breeding colony of 60 million fish has been discovered in Antarctica’s ice-covered Weddell Sea — a unique and previously unknown ecosystem that covers an area the size of Malta. The fascinating find shows how little is known about the ocean depths. The vast colony, believed to be the world’s largest, is home to the… Read More An icefish colony discovered in Antarctica is world's largest fish breeding ground

Dilip

Last year the oceans absorbed heat equivalent to 7 Hiroshima atomic bombs detonating each second

I was fortunate to play a small part in a new study, just published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, which shows that the Earth broke yet another heat record last year. Twenty-three scientists from around the world teamed up to analyze thousands of temperature measurements taken throughout the world’s oceans. The measurements, taken… Read More Last year the oceans absorbed heat equivalent to 7 Hiroshima atomic bombs detonating each second

Dilip

US is world’s biggest plastic polluter // Nurdles: the worst toxic waste you’ve probably never heard of

The advent of cheap, versatile plastics has created “a global scale deluge of plastic waste seemingly everywhere we look”, the report states, with the US a leading contributor of disposable plastics that ends up entangling and choking marine life, harming ecosystems and bringing harmful pollution up through the food chain. Plastic waste has increased sharply… Read More US is world’s biggest plastic polluter // Nurdles: the worst toxic waste you’ve probably never heard of

Dilip

Ghoramara island has been shrinking: living on the frontline of global heating

Sunil Kandar, Ghoramara Island, India: I live in the Hatkhola locality of Ghoramara. I remember how on this island, during my childhood, I had a very happy and enjoyable life. We had a big mud-walled house. We also had large farmland of our own where rice and other vegetables grew. We sold a big part of… Read More Ghoramara island has been shrinking: living on the frontline of global heating

Dilip

Robin McKie: Is deep-sea mining a cure for the climate crisis or a curse?

Trillions of metallic nodules on the sea floor could help stop global heating, but mining them may damage ocean ecology   In a display cabinet in the recently opened Our Broken Planet exhibition in London’s Natural History Museum, curators have placed a small nugget of dark material covered with faint indentations. The blackened lump could easily be mistaken… Read More Robin McKie: Is deep-sea mining a cure for the climate crisis or a curse?

Dilip

Gabrielle Canon: The disastrous impact of heatwaves on plants and animals

More than a billion sea creatures across the Pacific north-west perished in this year’s heatwave. And it’s just a taste of what’s to come.    When forecasts foreshadowed the Pacific north-west’s devastating heatwave at the end of June, marine biologist Christopher Harley was alarmed and intrigued. Then came the smell, and his feelings somberly shifted.… Read More Gabrielle Canon: The disastrous impact of heatwaves on plants and animals

Dilip

A floating device created to clean up plastic from the ocean is finally doing its job, organizers say

A huge trash-collecting system designed to clean up plastic floating in the Pacific Ocean is finally picking up plastic, its inventor announced Wednesday. The Netherlands-based nonprofit the Ocean Cleanup says its latest prototype was able to capture and hold debris ranging in size from huge, abandoned fishing gear, known as “ghost nets,” to tiny microplastics as small… Read More A floating device created to clean up plastic from the ocean is finally doing its job, organizers say

Dilip