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Ocean Drilling Destroy New Species

Posted by amir on Wednesday, 11 April 2012 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

The lure of deep sea mining in the Pacific and Indian oceans could mean the destruction of species only just discovered on the ocean floor Before the late nineteenth century, most people believed the deep sea was a barren wasteland, unable to support life even in its simplest form. After se...

The Navy and Rare Whales

Posted by Angel on Thursday, 29 March 2012 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

Environmentalists asked a federal judge Thursday to decide whether the Navy must halt plans to build a $100 million offshore training range because of potential threats to endangered right whales. The Navy wants to install an undersea array of cables and sensors for training warships, sub...

Lawsuit Seeks Plan to Save Florida's Corals

Posted by Wolf on Thursday, 15 March 2012 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

The Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal notice of intent to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service today for failing to develop a recovery plan for two species of coral, elkhorn and staghorn, that live off the coast of Florida and in the Caribbean. Although these corals have been prote...

Ocean Temperatures Harm Protected Coral Reefs

Posted by Aaron on Thursday, 15 March 2012 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

Special conservation zones known as marine protected areas provide many direct benefits to fisheries and coral reefs. However, such zones appear to offer limited help to corals in their battle against global warming, according to a new study. To protect coral reefs from climate change, marine prote...

British scientist warns AAAS of the threat posed by ocean acidification

Posted by bensor on Monday, 20 February 2012 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

Dr Jason Hall-Spencer, of Plymouth University, says that the combination of ocean acidification and rising water temperatures kills off corals, shellfish and other valuable marine life – posing a risk to industries such as fishing and tourism. Dr Hall-Spencer addressed the Annual Meeti...

Emissions link to ocean acid levels

Posted by Wolf on Thursday, 09 February 2012 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

Man-made carbon emissions since the industrial revolution have acidified the oceans far beyond natural levels, research suggests. Ocean acidity makes it harder for organisms such as molluscs and coral to construct the shells they need to survive. In some regions, acidity rose faster in t...

Rising ocean acidity worst for Caribbean and Pacific

Posted by bensor on Wednesday, 08 February 2012 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

The current trend of increasing ocean acidification, which threatens fisheries around the world, is driven mainly by man-made changes and is higher even than that seen at the end of the last ice age, some 11,000 year ago, a study has said. Much of the carbon released by human activity ends up in the...

Man Made Trends in Oceans Acidity

Posted by EarthDude on Friday, 27 January 2012 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

Nearly one-third of CO2 emissions due to human activities enters the world’s oceans. By reacting with seawater, CO2 increases the water’s acidity, which may significantly reduce the calcification rate of such marine organisms as corals and mollusks, resulting in the potential loss of ecosystems. The...

As oceans grow more acidic, marine life suffers

Posted by Angel on Wednesday, 18 January 2012 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

If you drive, fertilize your lawn, or buy sushi, you could be contributing to the demise of coral reefs. Scientists call coral reefs the rainforests of the ocean, because these vibrant habitats support so much and such diverse life. But worldwide, coral reefs face serious threats. Paulo Maurin, e...

Can we keep discussions about ocean acidification honest?

Posted by Angel on Monday, 16 January 2012 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

In his article, ‘Taking Fears of Acid Oceans with a Grain of Salt’, Matt Ridley recycles the standard arsenal of invalid climate ‘skeptic’ arguments and tactics, but applies them to ocean acidification, the lesser known global impact from rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The result is a...

CO2 threatens fish's very survival in oceans

Posted by amir on Monday, 16 January 2012 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

Can you imagine seas and oceans completely bereft of colourful fish? The possibility may not be all that far-fetched, thanks to rising carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. By the end of the century, CO2 concentrations in seas will interfere with fish's ability to hear, smell, turn and evade predators, sa...

Coral Disease Hits the Reefs of Kane'ohe Bay, O'ahu

Posted by Wolf on Saturday, 07 January 2012 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

In March 2010 an outbreak of a disease called acute Montipora White Syndrome (MWS) was discovered affecting coral reefs in Kaneohe Bay, Oahu. Follow-up surveys found that the disease left trails of rubble in its wake. It was estimated that over 100 colonies of rice coral (Montipora capitata) died du...

Thailand Bans Diving

Posted by Wolf on Saturday, 07 January 2012 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

Thailand officials have now officially made it illegal for tourists to dive in its many marine parks. These parks have been available to the public and to tourists for years, but this ban is an active attempt by the government to try and limit access to these marine parks in an effort to save the co...

Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Alaska Fish

Posted by Wolf on Sunday, 18 December 2011 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

West Coast shellfish growers have learned to work around upwellings of corrosive waters and save the lives of their bivalve stocks. Increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere are changing the chemistry of the oceans, making it more acid. The CO2 surge stems mostly from coal and to a...

South Florida Reefs Coral Bleaching

Posted by Wolf on Sunday, 18 December 2011 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

An ashy pallor has spread across South Florida's coral reefs over the past few months, as stressed corals expelled the algae that gives them color. The worst case of coral bleaching since surveys began in 2005 struck reefs from the Florida Keys through Martin County, harming the base of the region'...

Will Alaska voters establish a new coastal management program?

Posted by amir on Tuesday, 11 October 2011 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

Alaska has given up local input on federal projects off state shores, according to a coalition of lawmakers from coastal boroughs. And absent leadership from the Alaska Legislature, they're determined they have a say on development that's proposed -- or planned. Juneau Mayor Bruce Botelho and other...

Nitrate Pollution in Pacific Ocean

Posted by bchristo on Tuesday, 27 September 2011 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

Rising nitrate levels in the northwest Pacific Ocean could alter the makeup of marine plants and influence marine ecology, U.S. and Korean researchers say. Atmospheric and riverine pollution off the coasts of Korea and Japan that is changing the ratio of nitrate to phosphorus has researchers sa...

Ocean Acidification Threatens World's Oceans

Posted by bchristo on Monday, 19 September 2011 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

The rise in human emissions of carbon dioxide is driving fundamental and dangerous changes in the chemistry and ecosystems of the world's oceans, international marine scientists have warned. "Ocean conditions are already more extreme than those experienced by marine organisms and ec...

Understanding Methane's Seabed Escape

Posted by amir on Monday, 19 September 2011 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

ScienceDaily (Sep. 19, 2011) — A shipboard expedition off Norway, to determine how methane escapes from beneath the Arctic seabed, has discovered widespread pockets of the gas and numerous channels that allow it to reach the seafloor. Robot carrying seismic recorder is launched towards the seabed...

Scientists Call for Better Management of the Deep Sea

Posted by bensor on Sunday, 28 August 2011 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

The deep sea is in trouble. A recent study has found that it's being damaged by human activities, and that this is only likely to get worse. Scientists are now calling for better management and conservation of entire deep-sea ecosystems. It's so 'out of sight, out of mind' that people have used the...