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Oceans, Coral Reefs

Scientists Find Coral Reefs Defy Ocean Acidification Odds in Palau: Palau reefs show few of the predicted responses

Scientists are studying coral reefs in areas where low pH is naturally occurring to answer questions about ocean acidification, which threatens coral reef ecosystems worldwide. A new study led by scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) found that coral reefs in Palau seem to be defying the odds, showing none of the predicted responses to low pH except for an increase in bio-erosion--the physical breakdown of coral skeletons by boring organisms such as mollusks and worms.


World’s Largest Fully Protected Marine Reserve Established by U.K. Government: Pitcairn Islands Marine Reserve

U.K. government establishes world’s largest fully protected marine reserve and sets a new standard for monitoring. The 834,334-square-kilometre reserve (322,138 square miles) is home to at least 1,249 species of marine mammals, seabirds and fish, the new reserve protects some of the most near-pristine ocean habitat on Earth.


World's Second-Largest Shark Sanctuary Established by Federated States of Micronesia.

Sharks are safer in the Pacific Ocean, thanks to Micronesia's establishment of the world's second-largest shark sanctuary. The protected area, equal in size to India, will help strengthen the marine ecosystem and economy.


NASA Announces New Mission to Track Water in Earth’s Soil

 

A new NASA satellite that will peer into the topmost layer of Earth's soils to measure the hidden waters that influence our weather and climate is in final preparations for a January 29, 2015 dawn launch from California. The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission will take the pulse of a key measure of our water planet: how freshwater cycles over Earth's land surfaces in the form of soil moisture. This data will be used to enhance scientists' understanding of the processes that link Earth's water, energy and carbon cycles.


Rapid Decline of Caribbean Corals Can Be Reversed According to Newly Released Status Report

“The rate at which the Caribbean corals have been declining is truly alarming…They are a major oceanic ecosystem, this is a tragedy that must be reversed,” says Carl Gustaf Lundin, Director of IUCN’s Global Marine and Polar Programme. But the study, Status and Trends of Caribbean Coral Reefs: 1970-2012, “brings some very encouraging news: the fate of Caribbean corals is not beyond our control and there are some very concrete steps that we can take to help them recover.”


Implementation of Crucial Steps to Protect and Preserve Oceans

Expanded protections near the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument in the south-central Pacific Ocean will add to the Pacific Marine Protected Areas, Marine National Monuments, designated by President George W. Bush, and the declaration of the Phoenix Islands a protected area to ensure its biological diversity and sustainability by small Pacific Island nation of Kiribati.


An Unmanned Aircraft System Promises To Close A Key Gap In Knowledge For Climate Modelers

Going where larger, human-piloted planes cannot, a new unmanned aircraft system promises to close a key gap in knowledge for climate modelers seeking to measure and eventually predict exactly what's going on underneath Antarctic Ice Sheets.


NASA’s OCO-2 Brings Sharp New Focus on Global Carbon

. In July 2014, NASA will launch the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) to study the fate of carbon dioxide worldwide. Natural processes are working hard to keep the carbon cycle in balance by absorbing about half of our carbon emissions, limiting the extent of climate change. There's a lot we don't know about these processes, including where they are occurring and how they might change as the climate warms. To understand and prepare for the carbon cycle of the future, we have an urgent need to find out.

 

 

 

 


Scientists To Study Pacific Ocean's "Global Chimney"

Remote waters affect billions of people, shape climate and air chemistry worldwide

The remote waters of the Western tropical Pacific Ocean region affect billions of people by shaping climate and air chemistry worldwide. Beginning the week of January 13, 2014, scientists will head to the region to better understand its influence on the atmosphere, including how that influence may change in coming decades if storms over the Pacific become more powerful with rising global temperatures.

New Research Reveals The Biomechanics Of How Marine Snails Swim

Equipped with high-speed, high-resolution video, researchers discovered how the larvae of Atlantic slipper limpets, marine snails, swim, a behavior that determines individual dispersal and ultimately, survival.


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