You are browsing the archive for Ocean sciences Archives - Page 4 of 15 - GeoSpace.
31 August 2017
Record-low 2016 Antarctic sea ice due to ‘perfect storm’ of tropical, polar conditions
While winter sea ice in the Arctic is declining so dramatically that ships can now navigate those waters without any icebreaker escort, the scene in the Southern Hemisphere is very different. Sea ice area around Antarctica has actually increased slightly in winter — that is, until last year. A new study shows the lack of Antarctic sea ice in 2016 was in part due to a unique one-two punch from atmospheric conditions both in the tropical Pacific Ocean and around the South Pole.
Low-frequency sea sounds ring clear at high altitudes
A new study shows microphones suspended from helium balloons in the stratosphere can detect low-frequency sounds from ocean waves. The new method shows promise for detecting acoustic signals from natural disasters and nuclear explosions that cannot always be reliably detected by sensors on the ground, according to the study’s authors.
28 August 2017
Biodegradable microbeads may clean sunblock chemical from seawater
By Madeleine Jepsen Beach-goers around the world who slather on sunblock before an ocean swim can unwittingly contribute to coral-reef bleaching. Oxybenzone, a chemical in many types of sunblock and some hair products, can cause coral bleaching and death by damaging the coral’s genetic material, according to researchers. A team of scientists has proposed a new way to remove oxybenzone from the ocean by using tiny, absorbent beads to soak …
8 August 2017
Tiny ocean waves could make large ice shelves crumble (plus VIDEO)
Small ocean waves could play a bigger role in breaking up ice shelves than tsunamis or other large waves, a new study suggests. A new study examining vibrations in Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf finds small waves continuously impacting the ice shelf may create enough strain to extend existing cracks in the ice and potentially create new ones. An ocean wave of 1 centimeter (0.5 inches) in height can cause vibrations that repeatedly move the ice more than 20 centimeters (8 inches).
27 June 2017
As climate stirs Arctic sea ice faster, pollution tags along
A warming climate is not just melting the Arctic’s sea ice; it is stirring the remaining ice faster, increasing the odds that ice-rafted pollution will foul a neighboring country’s waters, says a new study. The new study, which maps the movement of sea ice in the region, underscores the risk of contaminated sea ice drifting from the economic zone of one country to another’s.
21 June 2017
Extraordinary storms caused massive Antarctic sea ice loss in 2016
Antarctic sea ice – frozen ocean water that rings the southernmost continent – has grown over the past few decades but declined sharply in late 2016. By March of 2017 – the end of the Southern Hemisphere’s summer – Antarctic sea ice had reached its lowest area since records began in 1978. Puzzled scientists wanted to know why.
12 June 2017
New study evaluates efficiency of oceans as heat sink, atmospheric gases sponge (plus video)
A new study is one the first to estimate how much and how quickly the ocean absorbs atmospheric gases and contrast it with the efficiency of heat absorption. Using two computer models that simulate the ocean, scientists found that gases are more easily absorbed over time than heat energy.
5 June 2017
What caused the most toxic algal bloom ever observed in Monterey Bay?
In late spring 2015, the West Coast of North America experienced one of the most toxic algal blooms on record. A new study shows that, at least in Monterey Bay, California, the diatoms in this bloom became particularly toxic because of an unusually low ratio of silicate to nitrate in the waters of the bay.
10 May 2017
Research finds spike in dust storms in American Southwest driven by ocean changes
People living in the American Southwest have experienced a dramatic increase in windblown dust storms in the last two decades, likely driven by large-scale changes in sea surface temperature in the Pacific Ocean drying the region’s soil, according to new NOAA-led research. With the increase in dust storms, scientists have also documented a spike in Valley fever, an infectious disease caught by inhaling a soil-dwelling fungus found primarily in the Southwest.
9 May 2017
Paris 1.5°C target may be smashed by 2026
Global temperatures could break through the 1.5°C barrier negotiated at the Paris conference as early as 2026 if a slow-moving, natural climate driver known as the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) has, as suspected, moved into a positive phase.
GeoSpace is a blog on Earth and space science, managed by AGU’s Public Information staff. The blog features posts by AGU writers and guest contributors on all sorts of relevant science topics, but with a focus on new research and geo and space sciences-related stories that are currently in the news.