Research – Page 3 – Neptune 911!

Study: Microplastics on Aquatic Life

By Charmaine Coimbra on May 1, 2018 • ( 0 )

“One of the types of organisms that seems to be affected is crustacean zooplankton, which are the main prey for many small fishes,” said Höök, whose findings were published in the journal Science of the Total Environment. “The fact that these very small organisms are consuming these microplastics, altering their growth, reproduction and survival, means there could be consequences up the food web. If zooplankton numbers decline, there may be less food available for organisms at higher trophic levels.”

Level of Microplastic Pollution Stuns Researchers

By Charmaine Coimbra on March 13, 2018 • ( 0 )

“Given their pervasive and persistent nature, microplastics have become a global environmental concern and a potential risk to human populations,” said Rachel Hurley from the University of Manchester and colleagues in their report, published in Nature Geoscience.

Plastic Found in Deep Water Fish

By Charmaine Coimbra on February 20, 2018 • ( 0 )

“There is now evidence that some of these toxins on the microplastics can be transferred to animals that eat them, with potential harmful effects.”

2017–Warmest Year on Record for Oceans

By Charmaine Coimbra on January 26, 2018 • ( 0 )

But in terms of understanding how fast the Earth is warming, the key is the oceans.

Tree Ring Study and Jet Stream Changes

By Charmaine Coimbra on January 19, 2018 • ( 0 )

From Science Daily Increased fluctuations in the path of the North Atlantic jet stream since the 1960s coincide with more extreme weather events in Europe such as heat waves, droughts, wildfires and flooding, reports a University of Arizona-led team. The… Read More ›

No Where on Planet Free from Plastic Waste

By Charmaine Coimbra on November 16, 2017 • ( 0 )

“Isolating plastic fibres from inside animals from nearly 11 kilometres deep (seven miles) just shows the extent of the problem. Also, the number of areas we found this in, and the thousands of kilometre distances involved shows it is not just an isolated case, this is global.”

New Research Documents Environmental Change Through Dolphin Skin Cells

By Charmaine Coimbra on October 21, 2017 • ( 0 )

“We documented for first time marked changes in the pelagic food web length in response to various natural and anthropogenic related stressors,” said lead author Rocio I. Ruiz-Cooley, formerly of NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center and now at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. “This tells us that the food web is very dynamic, and reveals changes with the ecosystem around it.”

Coral Reef Death Impacting Sea Levels

By Charmaine Coimbra on April 22, 2017 • ( 0 )

In the Florida Keys, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Maui, coral reef degradation has caused sea floor depths to increase as sand and other sea floor materials have eroded over the past few decades, the USGS study found. In the waters around Maui, the sea floor losses amounted to 81 million cubic meters of sand, rock and other material – about what it would take to fill up the Empire State Building 81 times, the researchers calculated.

Plastic Debris Swarms Arctic Ocean

By Charmaine Coimbra on April 20, 2017 • ( 0 )

Hundreds of tonnes of plastic are cluttering the once pristine Arctic Ocean and doing great damage to the planet, a new report has found. On top of the danger of fish and other wildlife swallowing the plastic, the material contains… Read More ›

New Study On Arctic Ice Melt

By Charmaine Coimbra on March 15, 2017 • ( 0 )

Arctic sea ice has been rapidly declining since satellites first started tracking it in 1979, and according to NASA, roughly 13.3 percent of the ice disappears every decade. Models have projected that manmade global warming would heat the Arctic faster than it would heat more temperate regions, and observation has borne that out. The Arctic is warming at least twice as fast as the rest of the globe, and the first two months of this year both had the lowest levels of sea ice on historical record.