Oceanographer Susan Lozier dives into the importance of the ocean’s natural circulation, which overturns water in a way that naturally captures carbon and regulates global temperatures. She shares the incredible research being done internationally to track changes in this overturn, as warming global temperatures could slow the circulation, lessen carbon uptake and increase the rate of climate-relatedContinue reading “Susan Lozier speaks at Session 2 of TED Countdown Summit”
Category Archives: News
2021 brought a wave of extreme weather disasters. Scientists say worse lies ahead.
By Sarah Kaplan and Brady Dennis There are millions of tips out there on “The weather of the past will not be the weather of the future,” says a NOAA scientist. “As long as we are emitting greenhouse gases at a historically unprecedented rate, we should expect this change to continue.” Scores of studies presented this week atContinue reading “2021 brought a wave of extreme weather disasters. Scientists say worse lies ahead.”
The Atlantic’s vital currents could collapse. Scientists are racing to understand the dangers.
By James Temple On a Saturday morning in December of 2020, the RRS Discovery floated in calm waters just east of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the massive undersea mountain range that runs from the Arctic nearly to the Antarctic. The team onboard the research vessel, mostly from the UK’s National Oceanography Centre, used an acoustic signaling system to trigger theContinue reading “The Atlantic’s vital currents could collapse. Scientists are racing to understand the dangers.”
How the climate crisis played a role in fueling Hurricane Ida
Louise Boyle Hurricane Ida made landfall last weekend near New Orleans as a Category-4 storm, lashing the region with winds of up to 150mph (240kph), heavy rains and several feet of storm surge on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. […] Several factors linked to the climate crisis are helping to fuel more powerful, destructiveContinue reading “How the climate crisis played a role in fueling Hurricane Ida”
A Crucial System of Ocean Currents Is Faltering, Research Suggests
By Heather Murphy The water in the Atlantic is constantly circulating in a complex pattern that influences weather on several continents. And climate scientists have been asking a crucial question: Whether this vast system, which includes the Gulf Stream, is slowing down because of climate change. […] Now, scientists have detected the early warning signsContinue reading “A Crucial System of Ocean Currents Is Faltering, Research Suggests”
In the Atlantic Ocean, Subtle Shifts Hint at Dramatic Dangers
By MOISES VELASQUEZ-MANOFF and JEREMY WHITE The warming atmosphere is causing an arm of the powerful Gulf Stream to weaken, some scientists fear. […] It’s one of the mightiest rivers you will never see, carrying some 30 times more water than all the world’s freshwater rivers combined. In the North Atlantic, one arm of the GulfContinue reading “In the Atlantic Ocean, Subtle Shifts Hint at Dramatic Dangers”
Why is an ocean current critical to world weather losing steam? Scientists search the Arctic for answers.
BY CHERYL KATZ A conveyor belt of ocean water that loops the planet and regulates global temperatures could be heading for a tipping point. THE HIGH ARCTIC, ABOARD THE R.V. KRONPRINS HAAKON Summer sea ice has been shrinking so dramatically here in the Fram Strait, high in the Arctic between Norway and Greenland, that researchersContinue reading “Why is an ocean current critical to world weather losing steam? Scientists search the Arctic for answers.”
Major Study Rewrites the Driving Source of Atlantic Ocean Circulation
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, shown here, serves as a conveyor belt that transports heat and pulls carbon from the atmosphere into the deep ocean.(Credit: R. Curry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution/Science/USGCR) By Roni Dengler Massive volumes of water circulate throughout the Atlantic Ocean and serve as the central drivers of Earth’s climate. Now researchers have discoveredContinue reading “Major Study Rewrites the Driving Source of Atlantic Ocean Circulation”
Ocean mixing that drives climate found in surprise location
By SETH BORENSTEIN WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the key drivers of the world’s climate is an area in the North Atlantic Ocean where warmer and colder water mix and swirl. When scientists went for their first close look at this critical underwater dynamo, they found they were looking in the wrong place. By hundredsContinue reading “Ocean mixing that drives climate found in surprise location”
Climate change might not slow ocean circulation as much as thought
Observations over 21 months cast doubt on ideas of what drives Atlantic Ocean ‘conveyor belt’ By Carolyn Gramling New findings from an international ocean observing network are calling into question the long-standing idea that global warming might slow down a big chunk of the ocean’s “conveyor belt.” The first 21 months of data from sensors mooredContinue reading “Climate change might not slow ocean circulation as much as thought”