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Ocean Warming & Acidification

OCEAN WARMING & ACIDIFICATION

OCEAN WARMING & ACIDIFICATION

Almost three-quarters of Earth’s surface is covered by ocean, and another 10% is covered by ice sheets and glaciers. Since the 1980s, the ocean has absorbed about 20-30% of humans’ carbon emissions, causing the ocean to become both warmer and more acidic. In addition, the ocean absorbs more than 90% of the heat that greenhouse gases trap in the atmosphere. And as the water warms, it expands: about half of the sea-level rise over the past 25 years is attributable to warmer oceans

The consequences are far reaching, and the 2019 UN IPCC report warns that we will see “unprecedented” changes to the oceans this century. Already since 2016, half of all the coral in the Great Barrier Reef has died due to acidification, and Australia has downgraded its outlook to “very poor.” States are experiencing a host of other issues like  disappearing whales, millions of dying starfish, and threats to fish species and the fishing industry

Although the oceans are warming about 40% faster than the UN had previously predicted, another report imagines the ocean as a powerful source of solutions, including off-shore wind, if action is taken now. Another solution, championed by Bren Smith, co-founder of GreenWave, sees kelp farming as a way to both restore our oceans and feed the planet. He points out that Seaweed harvesting once was a major industry in the United States. In the early 1900s, 1,500 workers produced 52 different products from kelp on the docks of San Diego. The industry died after WWII (due to over harvesting), one recent study estimates the industry will grow to 85Bn by 2026 across a diverse range of markets.

CURRENT NEWS

Climate change is hurting coral worldwide. But these reefs off the Texas coast are thriving

By Jamie Stengle and Others 11/18/23
Divers descending into azure waters far off the Texas coast dip below a horizon dotted with oil and gas platforms into an otherworldly landscape of undersea mountains crusted with yellow, orange and pink coral as…
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A ‘whole way of life’ at risk as warming waters change Maine’s lobster fishing

By Trevor Hughes 10/30/23
ABOARD THE FISHING VESSEL SHEARWATER ‒ Lobsterwoman Krista Tripp doesn't need a scientist to tell her the normally cold waters off the coast of Maine are warming. The submersible thermometer she takes on every fishing…
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Busted boats, stronger storms: Florida fishers face warming waters

By Trevor Hughes 10/30/23
ABOARD THE FISHING VESSEL MALOLO ‒ Icy vapor rises from the cargo hold of Capt. Logan Lyons' battered trawler as his crew hoists frozen shrimp onto the deck.
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Climb aboard four fishing boats with us to see how America’s warming waters are changing

By Trevor Hughes 10/30/23
Alaskan fisherman Garrett Kavanaugh anxiously awaits the first catch of the season, hoping the Dungeness crabs he's chasing haven't suffered the same fate as the vanished snow crabs.
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How hot seas may have fueled Hurricane Otis’s sudden intensification

By Scott Dance 10/26/23
Off-the-charts warmth in the world’s oceans, so widespread and so far beyond anything ever observed, has stunned climate scientists and meteorologists for months. It set the stage for deadly floods and put Earth on track…
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Ocean acidification set to triple by 2100—what this means for the US coast

By Jess Thomson 09/27/23
The acidification of the Earth's oceans is expected to triple by 2100, and could lead to major impacts on biodiversity across U.S. coastlines.
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The Beach Is Lovely. The Water, Maybe Not So Much.

By Roni Caryn Rabin 09/20/23
On a warm day in early July, Ed Houlihan guided kayakers on a four-mile trip on Cape Cod from Popponesset Bay up the Mashpee River to a freshwater pond. It was three hours of paddling…
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Climate change takes habitat from big fish, the ocean’s key predators

By Patrick Whittle 09/14/23
This year’s marine heat waves and spiking ocean temperatures foretell big changes in the future for some of the largest fish in the sea, such as sharks, tunas and swordfish.
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The Air Was Hot This Year, But It’s Nothing Compared to the Ocean

By Stephen Porder and Baylor Fox-Kemper 09/14/23
The news is full of record high temperatures. Phoenix broke 110 degrees for 31 straight days. July 3 was the hottest day on Earth since record keeping began, until July 4, then July 6, and…
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Earth had hottest three-month period on record, with unprecedented sea surface temperatures and much extreme weather

09/06/23
Earth just had its hottest three months on record, according to the European Union-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) implemented by ECMWF. Global sea surface temperatures are at unprecedented highs for the third consecutive month…
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Lobstermen Face Hypoxia in Outer Cape Waters

By Georgia Hall 09/04/23
Alex Iacono, a lobsterman who says he favors lobsters and ocean solitude over people, is worried about the future of his business. Iacono, who lives in Truro and fishes out of Provincetown on the F/V…
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Warmer Waters Put Sea Turtles on a Collision Course With Humans

By Georgia Hall 08/31/23
Rising North Atlantic Ocean temperatures are causing increased numbers of threatened and endangered sea turtles to migrate through Massachusetts waters — heading north in search of food, then back south to their breeding grounds.
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KEY RESOURCES

Everything You Need to Know about Coral Bleaching—And How We Can Stop It

09/20/23
Coral bleaching happens when corals lose their vibrant colors and turn white. But there’s a lot more to it than that. Coral are bright and colorful because of microscopic algae called zooxanthellae. The zooxanthellae live…

Roadmap to Resources

08/15/23
These online resources are meant to guide students and educators to topics presented in the online coral tutorial. Many of the Web pages listed reside within larger Websites. You may wish to browse each Website…

What is Argo?

10/07/22
Argo is an international program that collects information from inside the ocean using a fleet of robotic instruments that drift with the ocean currents and move up and down between the surface and a mid-water…

OceanSITES 2022 meeting

10/04/22
The mission of OceanSITES is to collect, deliver and promote the use of high-quality data from long-term, high-frequency observations at fixed locations in the open ocean. OceanSITES typically aim to collect multidisciplinary data worldwide from…

Ocean Heat Content

07/12/22
Ninety percent of global warming is occurring in the ocean, causing the water’s internal heat to increase since modern record-keeping began in 1955, as shown in the upper chart. (The shaded blue region indicates the…

Marine Conservation Institute

06/20/22
Marine Conservation Institute is dedicated to securing permanent, strong protection for the oceans’ most important places – for us and future generations.

State Of The Beach Report

10/31/21
Greta is known for her famous speeches before world leaders. She recently spoke at COP 26 where delegates from around the world are charged with fulfilling goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework…

Igniting public support For a global network of Marine protected areas

07/05/21
“Mission Blue inspires action to explore and protect the ocean.”

Climate Change Indicators: Ocean Heat

05/18/21
In four different data analyses, the long-term trend shows that the top 700 meters of the oceans have become warmer since 1955 (see Figure 1). All three analyses in Figure 2 show additional warming when…

Oceans | The Pew Charitable Trusts

05/04/21
Pew’s ocean work includes efforts to create large marine reserves; end illegal fishing; protect key species such as penguins, sharks, tuna and forage fish; and establish policies that protect, maintain, and restore the health of…

Global warming impairs stock–recruitment dynamics of corals

10/06/20
Changes in disturbance regimes due to climate change are increasingly challenging the capacity of ecosystems to absorb recurrent shocks and reassemble afterwards, escalating the risk of widespread ecological collapse of current ecosystems and the emergence…

Mass balance of the Antarctic Ice Sheet from 1992 to 2017

10/01/20
The Antarctic Ice Sheet is an important indicator of climate change and driver of sea-level rise. Here we combine satellite observations of its changing volume, flow and gravitational attraction with modelling of its surface mass…

A Decision Framework for Interventions to Increase the Persistence and Resilience of Coral Reefs

10/01/20
Coral reefs are critical to ocean and human life because they provide food, living area, storm protection, tourism income, and more. However, human-induced stressors, such as overfishing, sediment, pollution, and habitat destruction have threatened ocean…

Assessing recent warming using instrumentally homogeneous sea surface temperature records

10/01/20
Accurate sea surface temperature (SST) data are necessary for a wide range of applications, from providing boundary conditions for numerical weather prediction, to assessing the performance of climate modeling, to understanding drivers of marine ecosystem…

Ocean Facts

02/06/20
Get the facts about our ocean and coasts.

IPCC report: The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate

09/24/19
The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report highlights the urgency of prioritizing timely, ambitious and coordinated action to address unprecedented and enduring changes in the ocean and cryosphere.

Ocean Media Institute

12/16/18
The Ocean Media Institute is a global media collective that serves to create, educate, and advocate for the protection of the ocean. As a creative hub for individuals and organizations worldwide, our goal is to…

Ocean acidification education

09/10/19
The ocean absorbs about 30% of the CO2 that is released in the atmosphere, and as levels of atmospheric CO2 increase, so do the levels in the ocean. When CO2 is absorbed by seawater, a…

MORE NEWS

Flesh-Eating Bacteria a Threat in Warm Water

By Christopher Walsh   08/24/23  
As if the extreme heat, exceptionally heavy rainfall events, and out-of-control wildfires that characterize the summer of 2023 were not adequate signals that the climate is changing, in recent weeks a deadly bacterium found in…
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As the Gulf of Maine warms, where are the mussels?

By Sabrina Shankman   08/19/23  
A 2017 study found that as the gulf's waters have drastically warmed in the past 40 years, the population of wild blue mussels has dropped 60 percent along the coast. Since then, those who live…
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Oceans absorb 90% of the heat from climate change — here’s why record ocean temps are so harmful

By Catherine Clifford   08/16/23  
The oceans of the world absorb the overwhelming majority of the heat caused by global warming, creating serious consequences for life in and around them, including humans.
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What’s killing Florida’s coral reefs — and why you should care

By Dino Grandoni and Allyson Chiu   08/09/23  
“Off the charts.” “Disastrous.” “The worst bleaching event that Florida has ever seen.”
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High ocean temperatures are harming the Florida coral reef. Rescue crews are racing to help

By Daniel Kozin and Others   08/09/23  
Steps away from the warming waters of Florida Bay, marine biologist Emily Becker removed covers from the dozens of water-filled tanks under her watchful eye. Nestled in seawater carefully maintained at about 85 degrees Fahrenheit…
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Blazing Ocean Temperatures Threaten Critical Coral Reefs in the Florida Keys

By Angely Mercado   08/04/23  
Scientists and conservationists are working to observe and save coral reefs off the coast of Florida after a year of heat waves and alarming ocean temperatures.
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What This Year’s ‘Astonishing’ Ocean Heat Means for the Planet

By Elena Shao   08/03/23  
Brutal heat waves have baked the world this summer and they haven’t been contained to land. Earth’s oceans are the hottest they have been in modern history, by an unusually wide margin. The planet’s average…
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We’re Gambling With the Only Good Oceans in the Universe

By Marina Koren   08/02/23  
The ocean off the coast of southern Florida is having a long, hot summer. For weeks, surface temperatures hovered around 90 degrees Fahrenheit, before dropping to the 80s last week. The world’s third-largest barrier reef…
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Ocean temperatures are off the charts. Here’s where they’re highest.

By Tim Meko and Dan Stillman   07/28/23  
The Earth’s oceans have never been warmer. Every day since late March, the world’s average sea surface temperature has been well above the previous highest mark for that day. And there will be ripple effects:…
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101°F in the Ocean Off Florida: Was It a World Record?

By Hiroko Tabuchi   07/26/23  
The reading from a buoy off Florida this week was stunning: 101.1 degrees Fahrenheit, or just over 38 Celsius, a possible world record for sea surface temperatures and a stark indication of the brutal marine…
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Scientists detect sign that a crucial ocean current is near collapse

By Sarah Kaplan   07/25/23  
The Atlantic Ocean’s sensitive circulation system has become slower and less resilient, according to a new analysis of 150 years of temperature data — raising the possibility that this crucial element of the climate system…
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Department of Commerce, NOAA launch fund for ocean tech accelerators

By Leah Garden   07/17/23  
Last week, it was announced that the Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) launched the Ocean-Based Climate Resilience Accelerator program with $60 million focused on accelerating the blue economy.
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Ocean heat around Florida is ‘unprecedented,’ and scientists are warning of major impacts

By Eric Zerkel   07/16/23  
A sudden marine heat wave off the coast of Florida has surprised scientists and sent water temperatures soaring to unprecedented highs, threatening one of the most severe coral bleaching events the state has ever seen.
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Solar Farms Out at Sea Are Clean Energy’s Next Breakthrough

By Bloomberg News   07/14/23  
Buffeted by waves as high as 10 meters (32 feet) in China’s Yellow Sea about 30 kilometers off the coast of Shandong province, two circular rafts carrying neat rows of solar panels began generating electricity…
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Climate Change Is Shifting the Color of Earth’s Oceans

By Margaret Osborne   07/14/23  
More than half of the world’s oceans have changed significantly in color over the past 20 years, with climate change as the likely cause, new research suggests. Oceans around the equator have shifted to a…
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The Real Problem With Deep-Sea Mining Is It Won’t Make Money

By David Fickling   07/13/23  
As if the world wasn’t in enough trouble from the warmest week ever measured and record-low sea ice around Antarctica, big business is already gearing up to ransack yet another unspoiled corner of the globe:…
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Climate Change Is Likely Changing Color Of Oceans, Scientists Say—Here’s Why It Matters

By William Skipworth   07/12/23  
Some 56% of the world’s oceans have become greener over the last two decades, and it's probably because of human-caused climate change, according to a new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature that could…
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Climate change to drive increasing overlap between Pacific tuna fisheries and emerging deep-sea mining industry

By Diva J. amon   07/11/23  
In ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction, various legal regimes and governance structures result in diffused responsibility and create challenges for management. Here we show those challenges are set to expand with climate change driving increasing…
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Seafood industry calls for a moratorium on deep-sea mining

By Robin Hicks   07/11/23  
As negotations get underway to establish the rules for mining minerals from the ocean floor, a coalition of seafood industry organisations has called for a moratorium on seabed extraction.
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Seafood industry joins chorus of groups calling for halt to deep-sea mining plans

By Karen McVeigh   07/11/23  
Seafood groups representing a third of the world’s tuna trade as well as major supermarket suppliers are the latest groups to call for a pause on deep-sea mining, after a new study published today showed…
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Florida ocean temperatures at ‘downright shocking’ levels

By Dan Stillman   07/10/23  
Not only is Florida sizzling in record-crushing heat, but the ocean waters that surround it are scorching, as well. The unprecedented ocean warmth around the state — connected to historically warm oceans worldwide — is…
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Sea lions are biting people. They’re sick from toxic algae, officials say.

By Kyle Melnick   07/07/23  
About a month ago, researchers knew there was a problem when hundreds of sea lions began surfacing on Southern California beaches. The charismatic but typically unaggressive sea mammals were biting people who approached them. To…
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Record-breaking North Atlantic Ocean temperatures contribute to extreme marine heatwaves

07/06/23  
Global average sea surface temperatures last month reached unprecedented levels for June. The north Atlantic Ocean recorded exceptionally warm sea surface temperatures, with several extreme marine heatwaves. These were related to short term changes in…
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‘Beyond extreme’ ocean heat wave in North Atlantic is worst in 170 years

By Dan Stillman   06/23/23  
The ocean waters surrounding the United Kingdom and much of Europe are baking in an unprecedented marine heat wave, which scientists say is being intensified by human-caused climate change. Scientists are astounded not only by…
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Sudden Heat Increase in North Atlantic Seas Could Have Devastating Effects

By Cristen Hemingway Jaynes   06/19/23  
Scientists have warned that an extreme marine heat wave off the UK and Ireland coasts is posing a major threat to marine species. According to the official blog of the UK’s Met Office, the global…
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Ocean Warmth Set a Record for May

By Delger Erdenesanna   06/15/23  
Temperatures are already breaking records this year: Last month was the warmest May for the world’s oceans since record-keeping began in 1850, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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Ocean temperatures are off the charts, and El Niño is only partly to blame

By Hayley Smith   06/13/23  
In a world of worsening climate extremes, a single red line has caught many people’s attention. The line, which charts sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic Ocean, went viral over the weekend for its…
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The race to map the world’s seagrass — before it disappears

By Allyson Chiu   06/08/23  
From the deck of a small blue and white boat, Bashiru Bangura leaned forward and peered into the ocean, his gaze trained on a large dark patch just beneath the jade green waves.
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3 Tragic Consequences of Global Warming on Ocean Biodiversity

By Dr. Erlijn van Genuchten   06/06/23  
Currently, our planet is suffering from the tragic consequences of three crises at the same time: the climate change, pollution, and biodiversity crisis. Biodiversity refers to the different plants and animals living in a certain…
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The off-the-charts rise of global sea surface temperature this spring has been eye-popping

By David Wallace-Wells   06/01/23  
There are a lot of unsettling signals coming from the world’s oceans right now. Even for those of us who watch things like temperature anomalies and extreme weather events as likely portents of the climate…
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Scientists detected 5,000 sea creatures nobody knew existed. It’s a warning.

By Dino Grandoni   05/25/23  
There are bright, gummy creatures that look like partially peeled bananas. Glassy, translucent sponges that cling to the seabed like chandeliers flipped upside down. Phantasmic octopuses named, appropriately, after Casper the Friendly Ghost.
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Can we fight climate change by sinking carbon into the sea?

By Alison F. Takemura   05/11/23  
Two Israeli companies are betting that by trapping biomass deep underwater, they can keep gigatons of CO2 out of the atmosphere.
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What a responsible future for ocean carbon removal looks like

By Naim Merchant   05/11/23  
We continue to see growing interest in enhancing the ocean's ability to remove and store carbon dioxide. In the last month alone, we've seen the largest investment to date in an ocean-based carbon removal startup,…
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Why We Need To Reimagine Our Oceans

By Ian Urbina   05/04/23  
Two-thirds of the planet is covered by water, and much of that space is ungoverned. Human rights and environmental crimes occur often and with impunity in this realm, because the oceans are sprawling and what…
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The most mysterious forests on Earth are underwater

By Benji Jones   05/03/23  
A few miles west of San Diego is a stretch of ocean that’s rather unremarkable from the surface. The water is cold and blue. There’s some green seaweed peeking out.
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Those Seaweed Blobs Headed for Florida? See How Big They Are.

By Elena Shao   04/19/23  
The amount of Sargassum drifting toward North America is a record for the month of March....
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Google wants you to save coral reefs (with AI’s help)

By Ayurella Horn-Muller   04/18/23  
Google has teamed up with marine biologists in launching a new citizen-science, AI-powered platform allowing you to help save the world’s coral reefs — from the comfort of your couch.
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California Salmon Stocks Are Crashing. A Fishing Ban Looks Certain

By Catrin Einhorn   04/03/23  
This week, officials are expected to shut down all commercial and recreational salmon fishing off California for 2023. Much will be canceled off neighboring Oregon, too.
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A 5,000-Mile-Wide Blob of Stinky Seaweed Is Headed Straight for Florida

By Lauren Leffer   03/13/23  
Sargassum algae is having an early, potentially record-breaking bloom in the tropical Atlantic this year. It's a problem for tourism and coastal ecosystems.
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Visualizing Coastal Ocean Acidification

02/28/23  
Since the industrial revolution began a little over 200 years ago, the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has increased due to the burning of fossil fuels, cement production, and land use change.…
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Gulf of Maine sees second-hottest year on record, report shows, ‘getting to the edge of habitability’

By Sonel Cutler   02/24/23  
Already one of the fastest-warming bodies of water in the world, the Gulf of Maine recorded its second-hottest year ever in 2022, another ominous indicator of how global warming threatens the rich marine world off…
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How to pull carbon dioxide out of seawater

By David M. Chandler   02/16/23  
A new method for removing the greenhouse gas from the ocean could be far more efficient than existing systems for removing it from the air.
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Warming seas are carving into glacier that could trigger sea level rise

By Chris Mooney   02/15/23  
Rapidly warming oceans are cutting into the underside of the Earth’s widest glacier, startling new data and images show, leaving the ice more prone to fracturing and ultimately heightening the risk for major sea level…
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A Look Back: 2022’s Temperature Record

01/12/23  
2022 effectively tied for Earth’s 5th warmest year since 1880, and the last 9 consecutive years have been the warmest 9 on record. NASA looks back at how heat was expressed in different ways around…
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2022’s Series of Disasters Could Be Linked to a New Ocean Record

By Lauren Leffer   01/11/23  
California is in its third week of back-to-back-to-back extreme weather events. The Pacific coast has been drenched by consecutive atmospheric rivers spanning from the end of last year into the present, with precipitation totals 400%-600%…
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A Toxic Stew on Cape Cod: Human Waste and Warming Water

By Christopher Flavelle   01/01/23  
Climate change is contributing to electric-green algae blooms. Massachusetts wants a cleanup of the antiquated septic systems feeding the mess, but it could cost billions....
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Want to save the planet? Saving whales could help, scientists say.

By Rachel Pannett   12/15/22  
Restoring the population of whales — which are still being killed in high numbers — could help reduce carbon in the Earth’s atmosphere, according to a new study....
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Indigenous ‘sea gardens’ could protect shellfish in an acidifying ocean

By Jen Schmidt   12/08/22  
It’s low tide in Bodega Bay, north of San Francisco, California, and Hannah Hensel is squishing through thick mud, on the hunt for clams. The hinged mollusks are everywhere, burrowed into the sediment, filtering seawater…
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Climate risks for Gulf of Mexico coral reefs spelled out in study

11/15/22  
Ocean temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea are on pace to surpass critical thresholds for coral health by mid-century, but rapid action to significantly reduce emissions could slow warming, giving corals…
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Oceans are warming faster than ever. Here’s what could come next.

By Brady Dennis   10/19/22  
The world’s oceans have been warming for generations, a trend that is accelerating and threatens to fuel more supercharged storms, devastate marine ecosystems and upend the lives and livelihoods of millions of people, according to…
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