BP Deepwater Horizon: Researchers Continue Working To Safeguard Shoreline
A research team has estimated the total mass of oil that reached the Gulf of Mexico shore in the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon blowout. It’s the first time such an estimate was reported.
Project Liberty
Project Liberty is the first of three commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants opening this year. Cellulosic fuels have the potential to reduce emissions by up to 86 percent compared with gasoline, but have faced numerous challenges…
Seychelles Island Restored Coastline Becomes Recreational Park
Seychelles being a small island nation surrounded by the Indian Ocean remains vulnerable to the effects of climate change. One clearly visible sign of such vulnerability lies on the archipelago’s coastlines where several shorelines have been subjected to intense degradation and erosion.
New Study Reconstructs Mega-Earthquakes Timeline In Indian Ocean
A new study on the frequency of past giant earthquakes in the Indian Ocean region shows that Sri Lanka, and much of the Indian Ocean, is affected by large tsunamis at highly variable intervals, from a few hundred to more than 1,000 years.
Sharks In Acidic Waters Avoid Smell Of Food
The increasing acidification of ocean waters caused by rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels could rob sharks of their ability to sense the smell of food, a new study suggests.
Indian Ocean Nations To Carry Out UN-Organized Tsunami Readiness Test
Ten years after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, 24 countries in the region will participate in an exercise organized by the United Nations to test their readiness to address such rare but potentially destructive events.
Ocean Warming Affecting Florida Reefs
Late-summer water temperatures near the Florida Keys were warmer by nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit in the last several decades compared to a century earlier, according to a new study by the USGS. Researchers indicate that the warmer water temperatures are stressing corals and increasing the number of bleaching events.
Record Greenhouse Gas Levels, Impact Atmosphere and Oceans
The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new record high in 2013, propelled by a surge in levels of carbon dioxide. This is according to the World Meteorological Organization’s annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, which injected even greater urgency into the need for concerted international action against accelerating and potentially devastating climate change.
Shift in Arabia Sea Plankton May Threaten Fisheries
The rapid rise of an unusual plankton in the Arabian Sea has been documented by researchers who say that it could be disastrous for the predator fish that sustain 120 million people living on the sea’s edge.