Global Coral Bleaching Crisis Spreading
.It will take scientists years to understand the global extent of coral reef death, but they say they have already observed widespread mortality in parts of the Caribbean, Red Sea, and along Australia's Great Barrier Reef.(Reuters - Reporting by Gloria Dickie and Ali Withers; Editing by Alexandra Hudson
Arctic Sea Ice Reaches Seventh Lowest Extent on Record
77,000 square kilometers (30,000 square miles) per year, equivalent to losing the state of South Dakota or the country of Austria annually.“Every year brings something new for the Arctic Ocean,” said NSIDC senior research scientist Walt Meier. “This summer we saw very early ice loss in Hudson Bay, open water near the North Pole and a stubborn ice floe near the Bering Strait that persisted through the summer melt season. While it wasn’t a new record low, this year’s sea ice minimum is yet another example of a changed Arctic environment."NSIDC scientists stress that the
Italy Oyster Farmers Dream of Pearls from Warming Mediterranean
and he expected to see a further increase this year."The huge amount of energy behind this heating can act as a fuel for devastating atmospheric phenomena" such as the violent storm which appeared to have sunk the yacht off Sicily, Reseghetti said.(Reuters - Editing by Gavin Jones and Alexandra Hudson
CCG’s Science Vessel CCGS Naalak Nappaaluk Launched
commemorative coins to mark the milestone. The coins titled “Protection and Knowledge” depict images representing the land, sun, waters and our ecosystem, including an orca to symbolize community, protection, harmony, travel and intergenerational knowledge.The new OOSV is replacing the CCGS Hudson, which entered service in 1964 and was the longest serving ship in the Canadian Coast Guard fleet. CCGS Hudson was decommissioned in 2022 following an illustrious 59 years of service supporting ocean science work in Canada and around the world.“With the launch of the CCGS Naalak Nappaaluk,
Sea Drone Warfare has Arrived, and the US is Floundering
told Reuters.Swarms of small sea drones could also act as a shield for valuable crewed assets like aircraft carriers and submarines, and tangle up troop-carrying ships in the event China tries to invade Taiwan, said Bryan Clark, an advisor to the Navy on autonomous craft and a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute - a think tank headquartered in Washington.Clark estimates the Navy has around 100 small drones for use on the ocean surface and another 100 underwater drones, while China has a similar-sized autonomous force that is growing fast. The Navy spokesperson declined to comment on how many drones
Officials Urge EPA to Remove Toxic 'Forever Chemicals' from the Hudson River
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand earlier this month stood with local leaders and environmental advocates at Albany City Hall to demand that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) take additional action to clean up polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) “forever chemicals” in the Hudson River.PCBs are toxic manmade chemicals that can linger in water and soil for decades. Exposure is associated with a variety of serious health conditions, including cancer.From 1947 to 1977, General Electric dumped 1.2 million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson River north of Albany. In 1984, the EPA designated a
Singapore to Expand Ocean CO2 Removal Project as Scientists Call for More Research
today is to shorten the experimental timeline, and that really demands much more funding," he said."If somebody came up with a few billion dollars, I believe we would accelerate these programs to the level that is really needed."(Reuters - Reporting by David Stanway Editing by Alexandra Hudson
Missing "Titanic" Submersible - Update
, NASA Testing Carbon Fiber Pressure VesselsOceanGate to Build Two New SubmersiblesManned Submersible Built to Explore TitanicMTR100: OceanGate(Reuters - Reporting by Ariba Shahid in Karachi, Kate Holton, Dominique Vidalon, Yousef Saba; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Christina Fincher, Alexandra Hudson
As Nations Pledge to Create Ocean Preserves, How Do Those Promises Add Up?
in. For example, on May 30, 2022, the South Pacific island nation of Niue pledged to protect 100% of its national waters. They cover 122,000 square miles (317,500 square kilometers) – an area roughly the size of Vietnam.Most recently, the Biden administration proposed on June 8, 2022 to designate Hudson Canyon, which lies southeast of New York City in the Atlantic and is one of the largest underwater canyons in the world, as a national marine sanctuary. The canyon provides habitat for sperm whales, sea turtles, deep-sea corals and other sensitive species.Adding urgency to this effort, negotiations
February 2025
