Oceans

By Jonathan Bamber, University of Bristol | – The Earth is approximately 1.1℃ warmer than it was at the start of the industrial revolution. That warming has not been uniform, with some regions warming at a far greater pace. One such region is the Arctic. A new study shows that the Arctic has warmed nearly […]

Arctic

Greenland loses 6 Billion Tons of Ice in Three Days, harbinger of Unprecedented Coastal Flooding

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – CNN and The Independent reported this week on a massive ice melt in Greenland, with on the order of 6 billion tons of ice lost in three days. The melting was because of a heat wave at the top of the world, caused by our burning coal, gasoline and methane […]

Climate: Scientists Stunned to Find Atlantic Plankton 90% Gone; Marine Life, our Oxygen Imperiled

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – (Note: After publication, Jonathan Gitlin at Ars Technica took issue with the below on the grounds that it is based on a preprint and not a peer-reviewed academic journal article. He implies that Dryden’s study did not have enough data points to support his conclusions. I’ll let readers judge how […]

Now the Climate Emergency is changing Ocean Waves, Menacing Coasts with Rapid Erosion

By Thomas Mortlock, Macquarie University; Adrean Webb, Tokyo Institute of Technology; Itxaso Odériz, Universidad de Cantabria; Nobuhito Mori, Kyoto University; Rodolfo Silva, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), and Tomoya Shimura | – The world’s coastlines are at the forefront of climate change. That’s because they’re constantly changing, and respond quickly to changes in climate. […]

Antarctica

Ice world: Antarctica’s riskiest glacier is under assault from below and losing its grip

By Ted Scambos, University of Colorado Boulder | – Flying over Antarctica, it’s hard to see what all the fuss is about. Like a gigantic wedding cake, the frosting of snow on top of the world’s largest ice sheet looks smooth and unblemished, beautiful and perfectly white. Little swirls of snow dunes cover the surface. […]

The last Time our Atmosphere had 421 ppm of Carbon Dioxide, Florida was under Water and Giant Camels and Rhinoceri roamed Indiana

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced on Friday that in May, carbon dioxide peaked at 421 parts per million, a level not seen since the Pliocene Climatic Optimum between 4.1 and 4.5 million years ago. Human civilization developed during a long period when carbon dioxide was between 270 […]

Electricity from the cold Ocean Depths could One day Power Island States

By Rosalind Archer, Griffith University | – In the tropics, the deep sea is cold and the sea surface is very warm. That temperature difference can be harnessed and turned into electricity. If we can improve the technology, this method of producing power could be a godsend for island nations reliant on expensive and polluting […]

Will Japan be the Godzilla of Deep Sea Current Energy?