What caused Kelly Slater to so radically change his views about sharks? Or perhaps he did not change his views after all. In 2014, Kelly was quoted in the Australian media saying in response to Premier Colin Barnett’s plan to kill sharks in Western Australia: “I think it’s kind of silly. Humans want to control […]
English researchers have discovered an alarming amount of toxic pollution in the bodies of amphipods living in the deep sea trenches of the Pacific Ocean. The research team from Newcastle University, the James Hutton Institute and the University of Aberdeen caught and tested small crustaceans in the Mariana and Kermadec trenches, which reach about 30,000 […]
By Robert McSweeney The oceans are a hugely important “carbon sink,” helping absorb CO2 emissions from human activities. Without them, CO2 would accumulate more quickly in the atmosphere, raising temperatures more quickly. A new study, published in Nature, finds that recent changes in circulation patterns in the world’s oceans are playing a key role in […]
By Tim Radford Some time this century, if humans go on burning fossil fuels at the present rate, severe bleaching will hit 99 percent of coral reefs every year. Coral bleaching happens when the organisms become uncomfortably hot, and reject the algae on which their lives ultimately depend. By @dhlovelife 9 Ways to Stop the […]
By Clara Chaisson The image of a solitary polar bear stranded on a melting ice floe is the unofficial poster child of the climate movement. But the world’s climbing temperatures are threatening more than charismatic megafauna; people’s lives and cultural heritage are at risk, too. With his portraits, artist Sean Yoro is helping to put […]
By Claire Douglass The Obama administration formally denied today all pending permits to conduct seismic airgun blasting in the Atlantic Ocean. Seismic airgun blasting, an extremely loud and dangerous process used to search for oil and gas deposits deep below the ocean’s surface, was originally proposed in an area twice the size of California, stretching […]
Yes, Houston, we have a problem: Our oceans are dying. As the brilliant futurist Buckminster Fuller used to point out, our Spaceship Earth is hurtling through space at a great speed. Imagine if someone told you (a passenger on that ship) that the main oxygen systems were failing because of how food was being grown. […]
A new map released by the Australian Research Council shows unprecedented coral bleaching in the last nine months in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, resulting in the largest coral die-off ever recorded. ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies About two-thirds of reefs have died in the most-impacted northern region stretching 435 miles and researchers […]
By Neela Eyunni The Earth’s oceans are under siege. Human activity is wiping out coral reefs and marine life at a faster rate than ever before. As conservationists try to restore the health of our seas, one place may be key to turning the tide. The Verde Island Passage has the highest concentration of marine […]