Climate Change
We’ve Known For Years Global Warming Could Lead To A New Ice Age. Why Is No One Doing Anything?
The possibility that climate change could flip and, in just a matter of years, plunge part of the world into a new ice age is something that has occasionally made its way into the media.
Changing climate: In-depth coverage of our changing climate and environmental issues
What’s In That Water? ‘Geochemical Santa Claus’ Offers New Data To Climate Modelers
For many years scientists thought that groundwater — which hides in underground aquifers and slowly makes it way out to sea — wasn’t adding much to ocean chemistry.
From north to south pole, climate scientists grapple with pandemic disruptions
Carin Ashjian, a biological oceanographer at WHOI who studies the impact of climate on ecology, was also on the ship then and remembers that “there were a lot of mixed feelings” when news of the pandemic hit them in March. She described how they were both worried about the safety of people back home, while feeling relief that they were protected from the virus by their geographic isolation.
Science is the way forward
By definition, science seeks to avoid bias, remain independent, refute falsehoods, and seek answers based on evidence, reason, and consensus. An editorial writen by Peter de Menocal and Richard W. Murray.
Breaking the ice on melting and freezing
“Ice deforms as it melts,” said WHOI physical oceanographer Claudia Cenedese, who has worked with Hester on the project. “It makes these very weird shapes, especially on the bottom, like the way the wind shapes a mountain on a longer time scale.”
Ancient storms could help predict future shifts in tropical cyclone hotspots
To get a better sense of how climate change might alter the patterns of major ocean storms, shifting the parameters of tropical cyclone hotspots, scientists reconstructed 3,000-years of storm history in the Marshall Islands.
A Marine Heatwave Is Warming Up The Ocean Along The East Coast
Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson talks to Glen Gawarkiewicz, an oceanographer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, about why the ocean temperatures are warming as well as what it means for ocean life and weather patterns.
Hot ocean waters along East Coast are drawing in ‘weird’ fish and supercharging hurricane season
Warm waters are a major concern with Hurricane Isaias forecast to ride up the Eastern Seaboard. Glen Gawarkiewicz, an oceanographer at WHOI, describes Gulf Stream fish being caught off Block Island, R.I., in January 2017 and increases in the “rate and amount” of species like mahi-mahi passing through.
Wetter climate to trigger global warming feedback loop in the tropics
As the tropics get wetter, as many climate models predict, soils are likely to experience greater rates of respiration and decomposition, limiting the carbon storage abilities of tropical soils and intensifying global warming.
Snapping Shrimp Pump Up the Volume in Warmer Water
As the ocean warms because of climate change, the louder din could mask other marine animals’ calls used to navigate, forage, and find mates.
Shrimp May Make Ocean Louder in Warming Climate
Small snapping shrimp make big noises and scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution say the tiny crustaceans could make the ocean louder as it warms. Here’s why.
March of the penguins
If current warming trends continue, emperor penguins will be marching toward an 86 per cent population decline by the end of the century, at which point, “it is very unlikely for them to bounce back,” says study author Stephanie Jenouvrier, a seabird ecologist from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Climate change threatens everyone’s favorite little fish
The well-being of the colorful clownfish of “Finding Nemo” fame is closely tied to its habitat among the sea anemone, according to a 10-year study by an international team of scientists. The little fish does not appear to have the ability to adapt to the rapid environmental effects of climate change.
Climate Models Have Been Right For Decades
Scientists have for decades created accurate models to predict the future impacts of global warming, a new study has found.
Protecting living corals could help defend the Great Barrier Reef from ocean acidification for decades
Reefs with higher numbers of living corals will be more resilient than expected to damage from acidifying seawater, scientists reported recently in Nature Evolution and Ecology.
Toxic Algal Blooms Are Worsening with Climate Change
“Cyanobacteria grow quite well—better than almost everything else in those freshwater systems—the hotter it gets,” said Don Anderson, a senior scientist at WHOI.
More Than 11,000 International Scientists Declare Climate Emergency
A new paper endorsed by 11,258 scientists and researchers from 153 countries describes climate change as a “climate emergency.” Published in the journal BioScience, it warns of “untold human suffering” if individuals, governments, and businesses don’t make deep and lasting changes.
Impacts of climate change on the ocean
Rick Murray of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution sees the impacts of climate change on the ocean and the ability of ocean-based activities to mitigate climate change as two sides of the same coin, and says both are critical to responding to climate change. (segment begins at 27:10)
Extreme ice melt in Greenland threatens coastal communities across the world, scientists warn
“We control how much greenhouse gases we put in atmosphere,” said Sarah Das, a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. “If we can slow down emissions, we can slow down sea level rise.”
The Unseen Way in Which Climate Change Is Altering the Arctic Ocean
quotes Lauren Kipp
Arctic Ocean composition is undergoing rapid change
features an interview with Lauren Kipp
Nova: Killer Hurricanes
features the work of Jeff Donnelly
Study estimates oxygen loss in ancient global ocean
features Chad Ostrander (summer student fellow) and Sune Nielsen