Antarctic Melting as Deep Ocean Heat Rises. By Larry O’Hanlon, Discovery News, 12/14/10. “Global warming is sneaky. For more than a century it has been hiding large amounts of excess heat in the world's deep seas. Now that heat is coming to the surface again in one of the worst possible places: Antarctica. New analyses of the heat content of the waters off Western Antarctic Peninsula are now showing a clear and exponential increase in warming waters undermining the sea ice, raising air temperatures, melting glaciers and wiping out entire penguin colonies. ‘In the area I work there is the highest increase in temperatures of anywhere on Earth,’ said physical oceanographer Doug Martinson of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Martinson has been collecting ocean water heat content data for more than 18 years at Palmer Island, on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula…

“Martinson and his colleagues looked not only at their very detailed and mapped water heat data from the last two decades, but compared them with sketchier data from the past and deep ocean heat content measurements worldwide. All show the same rising trend that is being seen in Antarctica. ‘When I saw that my jaw just dropped,’ said Martinson. The most dramatic rise has happened since 1960, he said. What the rising water heat means, he said, is that even if humanity got organized and soon stopped emitting greenhouse gases, there is already too much heat in the oceans to stop a lot of impacts -- like the melting of a huge amount of Antarctic ice.”

Elephant Seals Fitted with Electronic Monitors in Southern Ocean. By David Fogarty, Reuters, 10/15/10. “Scientists are outfitting elephant seals and self-propelled water gliders with monitoring equipment to unlock the oceans' secrets and boost understanding of the impacts of climate change… But scientists say they need to ramp up a global monitoring network, with the Southern Ocean between Australia and Antarctica playing a key role. The Southern Ocean is a major ‘sink’ of mankind's carbon emissions and an engine of the world's climate.”

Antarctic Krill at Risk from CO2. ABC News (AU), 10/13/10. “Tasmanian scientists have released ground-breaking research which shows increasing ocean acidification is deadly for Antarctica's main food source. The team at the Antarctic Division has studied the impacts of increased levels of carbon dioxide on the shrimp-like krill. Scientists exposed the laboratory krill embryos to varying levels of carbon dioxide, from as little as 380 parts per million, which is the current surface level, to 2,000 parts per million. The embryos exposed to the highest level did not survive. Krill Biologist Rob King says with carbon dioxide levels predicted to double by the end of the century, the next step is to find the exact tipping point. ‘No one had done this before, especially for Antarctic krill, and we really were shooting in the dark a bit to find and guess what levels to try,’ he said.”

Arctic Ice at Third Lowest Level. By Justin Gillis, NYTimes, September 17, 2010. "This week the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado issued a preliminary estimate of Arctic sea-ice volume for the year. The numbers will not become final until October, but the early calculation is that the summer minimum extent for Arctic sea ice hit its third-lowest level in the modern era, a bit above 2008 and somewhat above the record low of 2007."

U.S. and Cuba Discuss Alliance to Save Sharks. By Jeff Franks, Reuters, September 18, 2010. "A team of U.S. scientists and environmentalists met with Cuban officials this week to discuss a proposed alliance, including Mexico, to protect the Gulf of Mexico's declining shark population. The meetings were a product of both improved U.S.-Cuba relations and concern that only a joint effort by the three nations that share the gulf can protect sharks, whose numbers are said to be down as much as 50% for some species… Shark populations have fallen worldwide, primarily due to overfishing to satisfy China's demand for shark fin soup, which is rising as China becomes more prosperous, scientists say. An estimated 73 million sharks are being killed annually mostly for their fins, the EDF said in a recent publication. Still unknown, said shark expert Robert Hueter at the Mote Marine Laboratory, is the effect of the massive BP oil spill this summer in the Gulf of Mexico…While sharks have a fearsome reputation, they are critical to ocean ecology, particularly around coral reefs, he said."

Warm-Water Fish and Crabs Overtaking Narragansett Bay. By Alisha A. Pina, Providence Journal,August 21, 2010. "Save The Bay's Baykeeper John Torgan can't remember this many blue crabs in Narragansett Bay, once the northernmost vacation spot for warm-water crustaceans, but now they are... rampant... A leading theory suggests that climate change... is transforming the Bay into something like the Chesapeake and other southern estuaries… Narragansett Bay's waters are two to three degrees warmer than a few decades ago... Torgan said Rhode Island's resident fish, particularly the winter flounder, have 'declined precipitously' as the Bay has warmed."

Our Dying Corals. By Bryan Walsh, Time Magazine, August 29, 2010. "Everywhere, reefs are under pressure from rising sea temperatures, ocean acidification, coastal pollution and physical damage. There has already been a major coral bleaching event in Indonesia this summer, in which more than 60% of the coral off the coast of Aceh province has been affected... One of the worst mass bleaching events in history occurred in 1998 -- which, incidentally, was also one of the hottest years on record, and like 2010, an El Niño year. Globally some 16% of coral reefs died in 1998. This year -- which is on track to be the warmest year in recorded history -- could be just as bad."

Plankton, Base of Ocean Food Web, in Big Decline. By Seth Borenstein, AP, July 28. 2010. "Despite their tiny size, plant plankton found in the world's oceans are crucial to much of life on Earth. They are the foundation of the bountiful marine food web, produce half the world's oxygen and suck up harmful carbon dioxide. And they are declining sharply. Worldwide phytoplankton levels are down 40% since the 1950s, according to a study published July 28 in the journal Nature. The likely cause is global warming, which makes it hard for the plant plankton to get vital nutrients, researchers say. The numbers are both staggering and disturbing, say the Canadian scientists who did the study and a top U.S. government scientist. 'It's concerning because phytoplankton is the basic currency for everything going on in the ocean,' said Dalhousie University biology professor Boris Worm, a study co-author...

"Half a million datapoints dating to 1899 show that plant plankton levels in nearly all of the world's oceans started to drop in the 1950s. The biggest changes are in the Arctic, southern and equatorial Atlantic and equatorial Pacific oceans. Only the Indian Ocean is not showing a decline... Virginia Burkett, the chief climate change scientist for U.S. Geological Survey, said the plankton numbers are worrisome and show problems that can't be seen just by watching bigger more charismatic species like dolphins or whales. 'These tiny species are indicating that large-scale changes in the ocean are affecting the primary productivity of the planet,' said Burkett, who wasn't involved in the study."

Obama Restricts Offshore Drilling. By Jennifer A. Dloughy, Hearst, May 27, 2010. "Describing the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as a 'wake-up call,' President Barack Obama on Thursday banned new drilling in deep coastal waters and ordered floating rigs to quickly stop work on 33 exploratory wells. He also blocked planned drilling in Arctic waters this summer, and canceled the long-planned sale of leases in the western Gulf of Mexico and a tract 50 miles off Virginia's coast. At the same time, Obama lifted a ban on permitting new drilling in shallow waters where generally fewer than 500 feet separate the seabed and surface. 'I continue to believe that domestic oil production is important, but I also believe that we can't do this stuff if we don't have confidence that we can prevent crises like this from happening again,' Obama said during a rare White House news conference. 'It's going to take some time for the experts to make those determinations.' Obama said the delays, of at least six months, would allow time for an independent commission's review of what went wrong in the Gulf of Mexico."

Climate Change Hits the Oceans. By Michael D. Lemonick, Time, May 20, 2010. "When scientists say the planet is warming, they usually point to rising air temperatures as proof. That's reasonable enough, especially since the warmth of the air temperature affects us directly so we feel the change the scientists are measuring. But it's also misleading: while the lower atmosphere has been gradually warming over the past 50 years, it happens unevenly, rising sharply for a year or two or even ten, then flattening out. That stutterstep pattern is due to relatively short-lived effects on top of the general warming -- an El Nino current in the Pacific making things warmer, for example, or a volcanic eruption like 1991's Mt. Pinatubo producing a cloud of dust that makes things cooler. Over time, these cancel out, but it can be tempting -- though incorrect -- to think a temporary flattening means global warming has stopped.

"To get a measure of what's truly going on, scientists look to the oceans -- slow to heat up, slow to cool down, and thus less prone to short-term variations. Indeed, says John Lyman an oceanographer at the University of Hawaii, 'about 80 or 90% of the extra heat absorbed by the planet is absorbed into the oceans.' That being the case, Lyman and several colleagues set about trying to see how the ocean's heat content has changed over the past couple of decades. The result, appearing in the current issue of Nature [subscription], will give little comfort to climate change deniers: the oceans have been warming inexorably since at least 1993, at a rate broadly consistent with what you'd expect from the buildup of greenhouse gases."

Mother Nature Knows Best How to Fertilize the Ocean. By Quirin Schiermeier, Nature News, April 27 2007. "Blooms of algae created by pumping nutrients into the ocean can suck up at least ten times more CO2 from the atmosphere than was previously thought. But the findings lend no support to controversial schemes to encourage such blooms in order to reduce global warming, the authors warn. The conclusion comes from a survey of a large, annually recurring natural algal bloom near Kerguelen, an archipelago halfway between South Africa and Australia. Natural vertical mixing of the ocean there steadily supplies iron and other nutrients from sediments at the ocean floor to the surface waters, encouraging phytoplankton growth. This growth converts carbon in the air (as CO2) to organic matter, thus reducing the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and alleviating climate warming. Stephane Blain, a chemical oceanographer at the Oceanography and Biogeochemistry Laboratory in Maraseille, France, led a 47-strong international team to investigate this bloom in detail in early 2005. Their results show that the ability of such blooms to suck up CO2, and to carry that carbon to the ocean floor when the organisms die, is much greater than previous field studies had suggested. 'Geo-engineering the ocean won't work.'… Blain's study shows that Mother Nature can do much better at fertilizing the ocean than mankind. The rate at which CO2 is sucked up seems to be so great at Kerguelen because the iron is being supplied slowly and continuously, and because the ecosystem is rich in other biological and chemical ingredients needed for such a bloom."

UN Rejects Export Ban on Atlantic Bluefin Tuna. By Michael Casey, AP, March 18, 2010. "A U.S.-backed proposal to ban the export of Atlantic bluefin tuna prized in sushi was rejected on March 18 by a U.N. wildlife meeting, with scores of developing nations joining Japan in opposing a measure they feared would devastate fishing economies. It was a stunning setback for conservationists who had hoped the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, would give the iconic fish a lifeline. They joined the proposal's sponsor Monaco in arguing that extreme measures were necessary because the stocks have fallen by 75% due to widespread over fishing... It has been done in by the growing demand for raw tuna for traditional dishes such as sushi and sashimi."

As Whales Head North, Arctic Biologists Play Catch-Up on Climate Change. By Jane Kay,Daily Climate, March 23, 2010. "The season of migration has come again to the warm blue waters off the coast of Mexico. Mother gray whales are nursing their newborn calves, plumping them up for the 6,000-mile trip next month to summer feeding grounds in the Arctic... The whale's favorite fatty marine crustacean, the amphipod, has declined in the Bering Sea feeding grounds over the last 30 years as currents in the North Pacific Ocean warmed and sea ice gradually melted and thinned. Whales with their babies are forced to swim through the Bering Strait and fan out in the Arctic Ocean searching for a substitute food supply... Whale experts are hopeful. The grays are opportunistic feeders, they say, which makes them better candidates to adapt to the changing climate. Their ancestors date back more than one million years and have already survived extreme geologic changes. But adaptation takes time, and the whale's population has already dipped from roughly 26,000 to 17,000. Scientists link the swift transformation of the Bering Sea ecosystem to the decline, and don't know yet if eating a wider diet is enough to stabilize the population."

UNEP Launches 'Blue Carbon' Initiative. By Jerome Rivet, AFP, February 25, 2010. "UN environmental experts Thursday issued an urgent call to study the crucial role the oceans -- as massive carbon stores -- can play in the fight against global warming. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched the Blue Carbon initiative together with the Indonesian government Thursday [at the Global Groups and Stakeholders Forum] on the resort island of Bali. 'A global scientific study of the role of marine and coastal ecosystems in meeting the climate change challenges is urgently needed in order to improve understanding,' UNEP director Achim Steiner said on the sidelines of the gathering of climate experts and environment ministers. 'There is now growing evidence that marine and coastal ecosystems, such as sea grasses, mangroves and salt marshes, may play an important role in climate mitigation,' he said. Unlike when dealing with emissions from land, scientists have said a lack of knowledge on how oceans and climate interact means discussions on including oceans in a future global climate agreement are at an early stage. It is estimated that the equivalent of half the world's transport emissions may be sequestered by marine ecosystems, said Steiner."

Oceans' Acidity Rate is Soaring. By Steve Connor, The Independent, February 15, 2010. "The rate at which the oceans are becoming more acidic is greater today than at any time in tens of millions of years, according to a new study. Rapidly rising concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere mean that the rate of ocean acidification is the fastest since the age of the dinosaurs, which became extinct 65 million years ago, scientists believe. The oceans are likely to become so acidic in coming centuries that they will become uninhabitable for vast swathes of life, especially the little-studied organisms on the deep-sea floor which are a vital link in the marine food chain. Scientists have concluded, in a study published…in the journal Nature Geoscience, that the current rate of ocean acidification is up to 10 times faster than 55 million years ago -- the last time the deep oceans became so acidic. This is because of the speed at which carbon-dioxide concentrations are rising in the atmosphere. This carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater at the sea surface to form carbonic acid.

"The increased acidity of the water affects the amount of dissolved carbonate minerals that are available for marine organisms to use in forming their shells and hard skeletons. When the oceans became acidified in a similar way about 55 million years ago, it resulted in a mass extinction of deep-sea marine organisms, especially those living in the sediments of the sea floor, which can be studied geologically through changes to rock formations, said Dr Andy Ridgwell of the University of Bristol. 'Unlike surface plankton dwelling in a variable habitat, organisms living deep down on the ocean floor are adapted to much more stable conditions. A rapid and severe geochemical change in their environment would make their survival precarious,' he said."

Architects Plan Amphibious Landscape for New York. By Nathaniel Gronewald, ClimateWire, January 11, 2010. "What would New York's waterfront look like after a sea level rise of 2 feet or more? Most officials paint a nightmare scenario -- huge swaths of expensive real estate permanently flooded, with frequent storms and the resultant storm surge routinely forcing mass evacuations every few years. But several architects are now painting a more positive picture, and their visions for a post-climate-change new New York have city planners interested... The Museum of Modern Art and its affiliate P.S.1, an art exhibition house... asked five separate architectural teams to come up with plans for transforming the metropolitan area's coastlines after warmer oceans and melting Antarctic ice have raised global sea levels... The new exhibit, titled Rising Currents: Projects for New York's Waterfront, will run from March 24 to Aug. 9 at the Museum of Modern Art."

Are the Earth's Oceans Hitting Their Carbon Cap? By Bryan Walsh, Time, November 19, 2009. "Like the vast forests of the world, which continually suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen, the planet's oceans serve as vital carbon sinks. Last year the oceans absorbed as much as 2.3 billion tons of carbon, or about one-fourth of all manmade carbon emissions. Without the action of the oceans, the CO2 we emit into the atmosphere would have flame-broiled the planet by now. But a new paper published in the Nov. 19 issue of Nature demonstrates that the oceans' ability to absorb man-made carbon may be dwindling - and that has worrying ramifications for future climate change. While the ocean is now absorbing more carbon in total than ever before, the waters are sucking up a smaller percentage of the CO2 emitted by humans. That could mean that there's a physical limit to the oceans' capacity -- and we could be hitting it."

Warming Atlantic Driving Traditional New England Fish Further from Shore. By Clarke Canfield, AP, November 12, 2009. "Fishermen have known for years that they've had to steam farther and farther from shore to find the cod, haddock and winter flounder that typically fill dinner plates in New England. A new federal study documenting the warming waters of the North Atlantic confirms that they're right... That temperature rise doesn't sound like much -- less than half a degree Fahrenheit, on average -- but it's been enough to cause fish to slowly move to areas with temperatures more to their liking... Among commercial species, movements of more than 100 miles were observed for southern stocks of yellowtail flounder and red hake, as well as American shad and alewives. Some fish exhibited little movement to the north, but rather moved to deeper waters where temperatures are lower, according to the report. Small-boat fishermen on Cape Cod caught most of their haddock and flounder, as well as the peninsula's namesake fish, in waters close to shore 20 years ago, said Tom Dempsey, of the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association. Nowadays, they have to travel as far 100 miles offshore to find those same fish, he said. At the same time, he said, Massachusetts fishermen are catching more fish traditionally found in the Middle Atlantic -- Atlantic croaker, in particular, usually caught off Virginia and North Carolina."

Hawaii's Famed White Beaches are Shrinking. By Audrey McAvoy, AP, November 14, 2009. "Geologists say more than 70% of Kauai's beaches (near Honolulu) are eroding while Oahu has lost a quarter of its sandy shoreline. They warn the problem is only likely to get significantly worse in coming decades as global warming causes sea levels to rise more rapidly... The loss of so many beaches is an alarming prospect for Hawaii on many levels. Many tourists come to Hawaii precisely because they want to lounge on and walk along its soft sandy shoreline. These visitors spend some $11.4 billion each year, making tourism the state's largest employer. Disappearing sands would also wreak havoc on the environment as many animals and plants would lose important habitats. The Hawaiian monk seal, an endangered species, gives birth and nurses pups on beaches. The green sea turtle, a threatened species, lays eggs in the sand."

Loss of Natural Ocean CCS Systems (Marine Plant Life) Put at 7% a Year. ByFrank Pope, London Times,October 14, 2009. "Mangrove forests, salt marshes and seagrass... together they cover less than 1% of the world's seabed, [but] they lock away well over half of all carbon to be buried in the ocean floor. They are estimated to store 1,650 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year -- nearly half of global transport emissions -- making them one of the most intense carbon sinks on Earth. Their capacity to absorb the emissions is under threat, however: the habitats are being lost at a rate of up to 7% a year, up to 15 times faster than the tropical rainforests. A third have already been lost. Halting their destruction could be one of the easiest ways of reducing future emissions, says the report, [Blue Carbon: The Role of Healthy Oceans in Binding Carbon, PDF, 80 pp], a collaboration between the United Nations Environment Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organisation and Unesco.. With 50% of the world's population living within 65 miles of the sea, human pressures on nearshore waters are powerful. Since the 1940s, parts of Asia have lost up to 90% of their mangrove forests, robbing both spawning fish and local people of sanctuary from storms. The salt marshes near estuaries and deltas have suffered a similar fate as they are drained to make room for development."