Hi science friends,
Spring is in the air! Here in St. Thomas that means the heat is coming. The nights aren’t as chilly anymore, and the daytime peaks are higher. I’m hoping my young garden survives to harvest.
The water is still cool though, and thankfully, the hurricane season is predicted to be below-average. The corals here in the Caribbean may do okay this year. Stay tuned…
Let’s get on to the science!
Turning the Tide
Well-written popular articles in marine science
In ecology, a regime shift is when an ecosystem that was previously stable in one condition changes, sometimes irreversibly, into a different type of stable state. A common example is when a coral-dominated reef becomes colonized by algae after a mass mortality event kills all the corals. A similar situation is now happening in Greenland’s waters, with rising temperatures and melting ice causing southern species to migrate north, pushing out endemic species like the narwhal.
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What scares me most about climate change is the likelihood that certain effects will compound and interact in ways we can’t predict. Over the past decade, sea levels have risen dramatically more than expected along the US Gulf Coast. Other research has suggested that rising seas also worsen storms. This means that big cities in this region like New Orleans, Miami, and Houston may be at a higher risk from natural disasters than expected.
Chris Mooney and Brady Dennis, The Washington Post
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One of the biggest challenges facing marine resource management and conservation is how to balance environmental benefits with human livelihoods. This is particularly important and difficult in Palau, where nearly 90% of households rely on fishing for food and/or money, and climate change is predicted to reduce some fish populations by as much as 75%. Researchers like Bianca Santos are studying how climate change affects small-scale fisheries, and how Palauans might be able to adapt to these changes.
Rebecca Beyer, Stanford King Center on Global Development
Some Science
Fresh discoveries and peer-reviewed papers
There’s a new record-holder for the ocean’s deepest-dwelling fish! During an expedition to a trench 5 miles under the sea near Japan, Australian scientists observed a snailfish, which looks a bit like a translucent tadpole. The previous record-holder was the same kind of fish in the nearby Mariana Trench, but over 500 feet shallower. The discoverers believe the new record may stand for a long time, as the depth is near the theoretical limit of fish physiology.
Tom Metcalfe, Scientific American
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While you may be most familiar with rising temperatures as a consequence of CO2 emissions, in the ocean we cannot forget the twin threat of ocean acidification. Increasingly acidified waters are a threat to species with calcium carbonate shells or skeletons. Corals, which have calcium carbonate skeletons are not able to grow if the ocean is too acidic, but different species of corals react differently. A new study has suggested that while some species do better than others, for the most part warming temperatures are a more imminent threat than acidification.
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Scientists on an unrelated expedition saw bubbles on their sonar and stumbled upon a hole in the ocean floor. While you might imagine water gushing down into it like a toilet flushing, the hole is actually leaking warm almost-fresh water up into the sea. This effect has never been observed before, and as water lubricates tectonic plates, the leak may mean impending earthquake activity in the area.
Fun and Fascinating
Thanks for reading! Remember to drink water, eat plants, and don’t be too salty.
Til next time,
Sarah
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