Blog Archives

Arctic sea ice is vanishing much faster than generally expected, according to preliminary data from European Space Agency satellite Cryosat.

UK scientists combined results from Cryosat, which uses radar to measure ice thickness, with data from Nasa’s IceSat, which uses lasers.

Their preliminary analysis suggests an annual ice loss of up to 900 cubic km a year from 2004.

Projections of Arctic ice melt vary widely.

But the new results are some 50% higher than projected in most scenarios.

The ice loss is pronounced in areas to the north of Greenland where thickness has fallen from 5-6m a decade ago to around 3m last year.

The analysis was done by Dr Seymour Laxon, reader in climate physics at the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling.

He said the figures might change slightly when all th...

A solar-powered, electrified coral reef experiment aims to help marine conservation.

The bizarre experiment rests on the ocean floor off Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports the electrified artificial reef went into operation in June, in an attempt to improve the biologically and economically critical coral reefs of southeast Florida. And early reports say oysters, algae and various fish species have established themselves among the electrified structures.

Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, a popular spot for diving from the beach since its reefs are close to shore, approved the project six years ago as an experimental way of enhancing its offshore assets.

The town contracted with the non-profit Global Coral Reef Alliance to cement a series of curved steel rods to the sea flo...

A vast “raft” of volcanic rocks covering 10,000 sq miles (26,000 sq km) of ocean has been spotted by a New Zealand military aircraft.

A naval ship was forced to change course in order to avoid the cluster of buoyant rocks, located 1,000 miles off the New Zealand coast.

The unusual phenomenon was probably the result of pumice being released from an underwater volcano, experts said.

One navy officer described it as the “weirdest thing” he had seen at sea.

Lieutenant Tim Oscar told the AFP news agency: “As far ahead as I could observe was a raft of pumice moving up and down with the swell.

“The [top of the] rock looked to be sitting two feet above the surface of the waves and lit up a brilliant white colour. It looked exactly like the edge of an ice shelf,” the officer said.

Researchers aboar...

Fewer jellyfish have been spotted in UK waters this year although recent warmer weather could bring out more blooms of the sea creatures, conservationists have said.

While sightings are down in the UK, visitors to Spain’s Costa del Sol have been warned of massive blooms of mauve stinger jellyfish which have left many people requiring treatment for their powerful stings.

This time last year some parts of UK seas were like a jellyfish soup with large blooms of thousands of the creatures reported, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) said.

But according to the society’s national jellyfish survey, far fewer have been spotted this year, with most of the sightings in the west coast of the UK...

Thanks to a helping hand from the public along with government grants, scientists will be able to map the migration of fish, turtles, sharks and other marine species around the Tasmanian coast.

In 2009, researchers from the University of Tasmania set up the interactive REDMAP (Range Extension Database and Mapping Project) website, where fishers, divers, swimmers, and beachgoers could report the presence of marine species in in local Tasmanian seas. The aim was to identify sea creatures’ marine habitat and what may be altered by climate change.

Originally exclusive to Tasmania, the project will expand to the whole Australian coast in November 2012.

“REDMAP acts as an important early indicator for new species being reported in an area they have not been found in before” says Phillip Glyde, ...

Reef Check Indonesia has given a series of training sessions to local fishermen living in coastal villages in East Buleleng to enable them to monitor the condition of the coral reef and underwater life.

Derta Prabuning, program development officer for Reef Check Indonesia, told Bali Daily on the sidelines of its activities in Tejakula village on Friday that the training was aimed at equipping the local farmers with the skills and knowledge needed to regularly examine the condition of the coral reefs in their respective areas.

The mayor of a town on R

Protecting mangroves to lock carbon away in trees may be an economic way to curb climate change, research suggests.

Carbon credit schemes already exist for rainforests; the new work suggests mangroves could be included too.

But other researchers say the economics depend on the global carbon price.

Presenting their results in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the US-based team emphasises that protecting mangroves has important benefits for wildlife as well.

Mangrove habitats comprise less than 1% of all forest areas across the world.

But for the biodiversity they support, and the benefits they bring to communities in the form of fishing habitats and storm protection barriers, they are extremely important.

They are also being lost at a greater rate than tropical rainfor...

A formerly sceptical climate scientist says human activity is causing the Earth to warm, as a new study confirms earlier results on rising temperatures.

In a US newspaper opinion piece, Prof Richard Muller says: “Call me a converted sceptic.”

Muller leads the Berkeley Earth Project, which is using new methods and some new data to investigate the claims made by other climate researchers.

Their latest study confirms the warming trend seen by other groups.

The project received funds from sources that back organisations lobbying against action on climate change.

Their latest study, released early on Monday (GMT), concludes that the average temperature of the Earth’s land has risen by 1.5C (2.7F) over the past 250 years.

The team argues that the good correspondence between the new temperature r...

A unique social division among a population of bottlenose dolphins in Australia’s Moreton Bay has ended, according to a new study.

The dolphins lived as two distinct groups that rarely interacted, one of which foraged on trawler bycatch.

But scientists think that a ban on fishing boats from key areas has brought the two groups together.

They believe these socially flexible mammals have united to hunt for new food sources.

The findings are published in the journal Animal Behaviour.

The Moreton Bay dolphins were thought to be the only recorded example of a single population that consisted of groups not associating with each other.

The was split dubbed “the parting of the pods”.

But since the study that discovered the rift, trawlers have been banned from designated areas of the bay leading to...