Wednesday, February 19, 2025

California News

Celine Mouginot / UC Irvine

Climate Change is Changing Marine Phosphorus Cycles

University of California, Irvine researchers have reported evidence that marine nutrient cycles – essential for sustaining ocean ecosystems – are changing in unexpected ways as the planet continues to warm.“Model studies have suggested that when the ocean warms it gets more stratified, which can drain certain parts of the surface ocean of nutrients,” said Professor Adam Martiny, one of the study’s lead authors.Although models suggest a connection between ocean temperatures and surface ocean nutrients, this is the first study to confirm climate change’s impacts on

Numerical weather model (Credit: NOAA)

Padilla, Murkowski Introduce Bill for Atmospheric River Forecasting

Atmospheric River Forecasts Act would require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish a forecast improvement program within the National Weather Service. The legislation was announced as major atmospheric river storms bring high winds, heavy rain, and snowfall to California.Atmospheric rivers - often described as “rivers in the sky” that are hundreds of miles wide and can carry water vapor equivalent to multiple Mississippi Rivers - cause more than 80 percent of flood damage across the West. Climate change will only make these storms increasingly

Image courtesy Glosten

Shipbuilding RFP Issued to Build Hydrogen-Hybrid Research Vessel

, who oversees ship operations.The vessel’s preliminary design was approved by the American Bureau of Shipping in June 2024, followed by U.S. Coast Guard approval in November—confirming it meets safety and technical standards for zero-emission hydrogen propulsion. CCRV aligns with California’s climate action goals, supporting the state’s commitment to reducing air pollution and advancing a carbon-neutral economy.Dedicated to California-based research, CCRV will support scientific missions to study marine ecosystems, ocean acidification, sea-level rise, severe El Niñ

© GeraldRobertFischer / Adobe Stock

There’s Plenty More “Fish” in the Sea

jellyfish robots designed to rid the ocean floor of plastic without disturbing coral-reef species.Yale researchers have created an amphibious robot turtle with limbs that can adapt their shape, stiffness and behavior depending on whether they are on land or in the water.Engineers at the University of California San Diego have built a squid-like robot that can swim untethered, propelling itself by generating jets of water.According to da Vinci: “All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions.”So, what will be next? As many as 20,000 marine species are described every decade – so

Podcast: Fascinated by Shipwrecks; USS Monitor Digitally Reimagined

and recreational uses in and around the sanctuaries. Tane’s specialties include 19th-century warships and deep-water archaeology, as well as building collaborative partnerships, public outreach and exhibit design. He has led NOAA archaeological expeditions in the Florida Keys, the Great Lakes, California, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Alaska, and USS Monitor. He’s also participated in projects including a sunken Boeing B-29 Superfortress in Lake Mead, a Civil War blockade runner in Bermuda, USS Arizona, and was most recently part of an expedition to RMS Titanic. Tane’s projects

SHIPWRECK PODCAST: Exploring USS Stewart with James Delgado

James Delgado about the recently found US Navy destroyer USS Stewart. Stewart was a century-old US Navy destroyer that earned the unenviable distinction of serving under both American and Japanese flags during World War II. This groundbreaking discovery was made off the coast of northern California on a collaborative expedition between Ocean Infinity, the Air/Sea Heritage Foun-dation, SEARCH, NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, and the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC).We also get a bird’s-eye view of what Jim’s everyday work looks like. After 46+ years

Image courtesy Teledyne RD Instruments

Teledyne ADCP Selected for 63-ft. Hybrid Ocean Monitoring Vessel

of the ocean currents from near surface to near bottom, is the perfect tool we needed to optimize the utility of the vessel we’re building”.The vessel built by AAM will enable OC San to carry out environmental monitoring, marine research, and ocean sampling efficiently in the Southern California Coast. The ADCP will help inform OC San’s Ocean Monitoring team on current movements during complex oceanographic research and sample collections. The ADCP data will be used to augment OC San’s water quality program and support the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)

© ipopba / Adobe Stock

Schmidt Sciences Fosters AI Research

University● Antonio Orvieto, ELLIS group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems● Parthe Pandit, assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay● David Rolnick, assistant professor at Mila-Quebec AI Institute● Yuanyuan Shi, assistant professor at the University of California San Diego● Florian Shkurti, assistant professor at the University of Toronto● Bijun Tang, presidential postdoctoral fellow at Nanyang Technological University● Ellen Vitercik, assistant professor at Stanford University● Eric Wong, assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania● Chaowei Xiao

(Image: NOAA)

US Creates New Marine Sanctuary Along California Coast

The Biden administration on Friday announced the creation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary along California's central coast, a victory for the Chumash tribe that pursued the designation for a decade.The newly formed sanctuary is part of U.S. President Joe Biden's goal to protect 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.The sanctuary excludes areas where transmission cables and other infrastructure to support planned offshore wind facilities could be installed, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in a statement. The agency, a division of the Department

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