Today, experts predict pH declines in the world’s oceans of .4 units by the end of this century—a mere 85 years from now.
The oceans absorb over a quarter of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The more we pollute, the more they absorb, and the more acidic they become. It’s unlikely that some marine life that we depend on will be able to adapt to a rate of acidification that is over ten times as fast as during the PETM.
The majority of the pieces, 54 percent, were rayon, a manmade material created out of cellulose and used to make clothing, cigarette butts, disposable diapers and other personal-hygiene products, among other consumer goods. The rest were pieces of various other types of polymers — polyester, nylon, polypropylene, polystyrene, acrylic and polyethylene. Identifying the tiny pieces fell largely to Thompson, whose research has focused on marine debris, Obbard said.
Editor’s Note: The focus of Neptune 911 is about our oceans’ cry for help. While the following story is a pitch to raise funds by a group of researchers, it is also a response to that cry for help. The… Read More ›
May 19, 2014 CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study examining the impact of iron released from continental margin sediments has documented a natural limiting switch that may keep these ocean systems from developing a runaway feedback loop that could lead… Read More ›
Editor’s Note: Another unusual rash of marine mammals have beached themselves requiring rescue operations along the Pacific coastline. Along the north coast of California, the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, reports 429 pinniped rescues as of early May 2014,… Read More ›
Editor’s Note: Humpback whales returning from their Mexican winter vacation have collided with Central California’s crabbing industry with the result of nearly a half-dozen whales entangled in crab traps and rigging. The whales returned earlier than normal–all while the crabbing… Read More ›
Thousands of shipping containers are lost from cargo vessels each year. Many of these containers eventually sink to the deep seafloor. In 2004, scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) discovered a lost shipping container almost 1,300 meters… Read More ›
“One part of this organism’s life cycle is when it becomes a cyst, like a spore or seed that sits on the bottom,” she said. “When the environmental conditions become optimal — and we don’t know what those conditions are — these cysts can burst out of their little seed pods and come back to life. The worry is that when they bloom we get these giant red tides.”
SAUSALITO, CALIF. — A marine mammal rescue group said Monday it’s seeing a record number of stranded sea lions and seals along the Northern and central California coast — some of whom appear to have been sickened by toxins and… Read More ›
Neptune 911! 