EU Pledges Over €300 Million for Ocean Conservation
marine conservation and sustainable development.The European Union has committed to:Sustainable blue economy: €120 million to help African and Pacific countries strengthen ocean governance and develop their blue economy in a sustainable manner. This corresponds to €58 million for the Western Indian Ocean and €42 million for Central Africa, and €20 million for the Pacific.Marine pollution: €65.5 million to fight marine pollution: €18 million to develop a comprehensive European strategy for assessing and monitoring aquatic litter, €43.5 million to support authorities eliminating
Global Coral Bleaching Crisis Spreading
declared one year ago, has shown few signs of slowing down, according to the International Coral Reef Initiative and data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration which track reef health. Instead, it has grown to be the most widespread on record, with 84% of reef areas - from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic to the Pacific - subjected to intense heat stress for a duration expected to cause bleaching as of March 2025.Last year was the hottest on record and the first to reach over 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial times, contributing to unprecedented ocean temperatures and
Ocean Acidification: Warming’s “Evil Twin”
has suffered.The World Meteorological Organization’s latest State of the Global Climate report released in March confirmed that acidification of the ocean surface is continuing, demonstrated by the steady decrease of global average ocean surface pH. The most intense regional decreases are in the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, the northern tropical Pacific and some regions in the Atlantic Ocean.Projections show that ocean acidification will continue to increase in the 21st century at rates dependent on future emissions, and the report points out that changes
Search for MH370 Suspended Due to Bad Weather
The search for the wreckage of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean has been suspended due to poor weather conditions and will only resume at the end of the year, Transport Minister Loke Siew Fook said on Thursday.Flight MH370, a Boeing 777, was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew when it vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in 2014, in one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries.The minister, quoted by state news agency Bernama, did not say why such a prolonged delay was required. In the southern hemisphere, it is now autumn and poor wintry conditions
WMO Documents Spiraling Climate Impacts
that ocean warming will continue for at least the rest of the 21st century, even for low carbon emission scenarios.Ocean AcidificationAcidification of the ocean surface is continuing, as shown by the steady decrease of global average ocean surface pH. The most intense regional decreases are in the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, the northern tropical Pacific, and some regions in the Atlantic Ocean.The effects of ocean acidification on habitat area, biodiversity and ecosystems have already been clearly observed, and food production from shellfish aquaculture and
Research Vessels: A Conversation with Bruce Applegate of UNOLS
change our understanding of the planet.”Scripps' Jennifer Mackinnon and Drew Lucas were among an international team of oceanographers and meteorologists who took part in an Office of Naval Research-funded project called MISO-BoB (Monsoon Intra-seasonal Oscillations in the Tropical Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal). It was one of the most comprehensive attempts to understand the South Asian monsoon, one of the most economically important natural events in the world. MISO-BoB broke ground in its use of specialized technology and cooperation among researchers in India and the United
A Decade Later, Ocean Infinity Continues the Search for MH370
A ship that will hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has deployed to its Indian Ocean search zone, according to Malaysia's transport minister and ship tracking data, raising hopes of solving one of aviation's greatest mysteries.In December, Malaysia agreed to resume the search for the Boeing 777 that was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew when it vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.Malaysia has not yet signed off on the contract to search the seabed for wreckage, however, casting uncertainty over whether a search has begun.Contacted by Reuters, U.S.
2024 was Hottest Year on Record
the 1.5°C level.A new record high for daily global average temperature was reached on 22 July 2024, at 17.16°C.2024 was the warmest year for all continental regions, except Antarctica and Australasia, as well as for sizeable parts of the ocean, particularly the North Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the western Pacific Ocean.Each month from January to June 2024 was warmer than the corresponding month in any previous year on record. Each month from July to December, except August, was each the second warmest, after 2023, for the time of year. August 2024 was tied with August 2023 as the
The Power of Scientific Collaboration is Perennial
.”That power proved itself again this week.Scientists from the University of Athens and the UK’s National Oceanography Center made a leap forward in understanding algal blooms. They were able to link an unprecedented marine algal bloom to an influx of nutrient-containing dust blown over the Indian Ocean from South Africa.Data from the European Space agency (ESA) was critical to the discovery. Multiple sets of ESA satellite data, from wide-ranging projects completed in the past, enabled the researchers to clearly track the extent of the bloom and pinpoint the dust events responsible for it.The
February 2025
