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Tag Archives: oceans
Dead Zones: Industrial Agriculture versus Ocean Life
Dead Zones: Industrial Agriculture versus Ocean Life Worldwide, there are now over a thousand coastal areas where fish can’t breathe. The nitrogen that makes crops grow is also destroying offshore ecosystems. “Let us not, however, flatter ourselves overmuch on account of our human victories over nature. For each such victory nature takes its revenge on […]
Ocean floor mining: What could possibly go wrong?
Ocean floor mining: What could possibly go wrong? A recent article on undersea mining in The Atlantic brought back a detailed childhood memory. When I was in fifth grade, my class put on a sort of mini science fair and performance art program for parents. My project focused on the prospect of mining the oceans. I drew a […]
Living in the Concretaceous Period
Living in the Concretaceous Period Scientists long ago determined that Earth had entered the Anthropocene period, based on a determination that humans were altering fundamental planetary parameters such as biodiversity and the chemistry of the atmosphere and oceans to the degree that it warranted an entirely new geological designation. Following another millennium of observation and […]
Three Climatic Monsters with Asteroid Impact
Three Climatic Monsters with Asteroid Impact Continuing from Part 1: Monster #2 Greenhouse Gases (“GHG”) alter ecosystems. The biggest impact of anthropogenic GHG hits the oceans. There is no doubt about the importance of the oceans as a great sink, 2/3rds of the planet. After all, the oceans have saved humanity’s butt ever since industrialization […]
Oceans in Crisis: Gambling With Our Future
OCEANS IN CRISIS: GAMBLING WITH OUR FUTURE The threats posed by climate change and overexploitation of the oceans are already being felt. All will be affected, none more so than the poorest costal and island populations. With the crisis in our oceans and its devastating ecological consequences now abundantly clear, global solutions are needed. Overfishing, rising […]
An Oceanic Problem: the Atlantic Overturning Current is Slowing
An Oceanic Problem: the Atlantic Overturning Current is Slowing Photo by Michael Mayer | CC BY 2.0 The Atlantic Overturning Current is part of a worldwide twisted loop of ocean water, called the thermohaline cycle (thermo = heat, haline = salt), which emerges very salty and warm out of the Gulf of Mexico, travels north […]
Global Warming Zaps Oxygen
Global Warming Zaps Oxygen Photo by Todd Huffman | CC BY 2.0 Take a deep breath. A recent scientific study reveals disturbing loss of ocean oxygen. Unnerving climatic events like this justify ringing and clanging of the bells on the Public Square, all hands on deck. In particular, and as expected, the culprit is too […]
Inside the Dead Zone
Inside the Dead Zone It was at a point when linguistics, cultural anthropology and continental philosophy were converging that philosopher Martin Heidegger proclaimed ‘language is the house of the truth of being.’ The problem at hand was conceiving the role of language in an experiential (phenomenological) sense that closed the distance between the Western inheritance […]
Sea sends early warning of heatwaves
Sea sends early warning of heatwaves Feeling the heat as New York City swelters in extreme summer temperatures. Image: Bill via Flickr Surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean can give the US Midwest and East Coast 50 days’ notice to prepare itself for a dangerous spell of extreme heat. LONDON, 8 April, 2016 – Americans could have as many […]
Oceans are heating up at the double
Oceans are heating up at the double The British survey ship HMS Challenger blazed an oceanic trail a century and a half ago. Image: William Frederick Mitchell via Wikimedia Commons Records from a sailing ship’s round-the-world research voyage almost 150 years ago provide further evidence that the Earth is continuing to warm unchecked. LONDON, 6 […]
WTO Ruling on Dolphin-Safe Tuna Labeling Illustrates Supremacy of Trade Agreements
WTO Ruling on Dolphin-Safe Tuna Labeling Illustrates Supremacy of Trade Agreements International trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) need to be carefully examined piece by piece because they can take precedence over a country’s own laws. Case in point: the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Friday ruled that dolphin-safe tuna labeling rules — required […]
The race to fish: how fishing subsidies are emptying our oceans
The race to fish: how fishing subsidies are emptying our oceans Fish numbers are rapidly dwindling globally, and fishery subsidies are one of the key drivers behind this decline. In 2009, these subsidies totalled about US$35 billion, creating incentives for fishers around the world to increase their catch. But this short-term “race to fish” is jeopardising the […]
The Oceans Are Becoming Too Hot for Coral, and Sooner than We Expected
The Oceans Are Becoming Too Hot for Coral, and Sooner than We Expected Soon the oceans will be too warm to support thriving coral reefs. USFWS – Pacific Region/Flickr, CC BY This week, scientists registered their concern that super-warm conditions are building to a point where corals are severely threatened across the tropical Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans. They […]
As Ocean Waters Heat Up, A Quest to Create ‘Super Corals’
As Ocean Waters Heat Up, A Quest to Create ‘Super Corals’ With the world’s coral reefs increasingly threatened by warmer and more acidic seas, scientists are selectively breeding corals to create species with the best chance to survive in the coming century and beyond. Are genetically modified corals next? In Hawaii this summer, as corals engage […]
