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"USC researcher experiments with changing ocean chemistry Jan. 19, 2011 | Molly Peterson | KPCC In his lab, USC's Dave Hutchins is simulating possible future atmospheres and temperatures for the Earth. He says he's trying to figure out how tiny organisms that form the base of the food web will react to a more carbon-intense ocean. Burning fossil fuels doesn't just put more carbon into the atmosphere and help warm the climate. It's also changing the chemistry of sea water. KPCC's Molly Peterson visits a University of Southern California researcher who studies the consequences of a more corrosive ocean. Tailpipes and refineries and smokestacks as far as the eye can see in Los Angeles symbolize the way people change the planet's climate. They remind Dave Hutchins that the ocean's changing too. Hutchins teaches marine biology at USC. He says about a third of all the carbon, or CO2, that people have pushed into earth's atmosphere ends up in sea water - "which is a good thing for us because if the ocean hadn't taken up that CO2 the greenhouse effect would be far more advanced than it is." He smiles. Hutchins says that carbon is probably not so good for the ocean. "The more carbon dioxide that enters the ocean the more acidic the ocean gets." On the pH scale, smaller numbers represent more acidity. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute estimates we've pumped 500 million tons of carbon into the world's oceans. Dave Hutchins at USC says that carbon has already lowered the pH value for sea water. "By the end of this century we are going to have increased the amount of acid in the ocean by maybe 200 percent over natural pre-industrial levels," he says. "So we are driving the chemistry of the ocean into new territory - into areas that it has never seen." Hutchins is one of dozens of scientists who study the ripples of that new chemistry into the marine ecosystem. Now for an aside. I make bubbly water at home with a soda machine, and to do that, I pump ca

Science 8 July 2011: Vol. 333 no. 6039 pp. 173-175 Galaxy Zoo Volunteers Share Pain and Glory of Research 1. Daniel Clery A project to "crowdsource" galactic classifications has paid off in ways the astronomers who started it never expected. Figure View larger version: * In this page * In a new window Space oddity. Greenish "voorwerp" spotted by a Dutch volunteer still intrigues scientists. "CREDIT: NASA, ESA, W. KEEL (UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA), AND THE GALAXY ZOO TEAM" The automated surveys that are becoming increasingly common in astronomy are producing an embarrassment of riches for researchers. Projects such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) are generating so much data that, in some cases, astronomers don't know what to do with them all. SDSS has compiled a list of more than 1 million galaxies. To glean information about galaxy evolution, however, astronomers need to know what type of galaxy each one is: spiral, barred spiral, elliptical, or something else. At present, the only reliable way to classify galaxies is to look at each one. But the SDSS list is so long that all the world's astronomers working together couldn't muster enough eyeballs for the task. Enter the "wisdom of crowds." An online effort called Galaxy Zoo, launched in 2007, set a standard for citizen-scientist participation projects. Zealous volunteers astonished the project's organizers by classifying the entire catalog years ahead of schedule. The results have brought real statistical rigor to a field used to samples too small to support firm conclusions. But that's not all. Buoyed by the curiosity and dedication of the volunteers, the Galaxy Zoo team went on to ask more-complicated classification questions that led to studies they hadn't thought possible. And in an online discussion forum on the Galaxy Zoo Web site, volunteers have pointed to anomalies that on closer inspection have turned out to be genuinely new astronomical objects. "I'm incredibly impres

December 18, 2012 The Ten Best Ocean Stories of 2012 | | | Share on redditReddit | Share on diggDigg | Share on stumbleuponStumble | Share on emailEmail | More Sharing ServicesMore Two market squids mating 2012 was a big year for squid science. Photo Credit: © Brian Skerry, www.brianskerry.com Despite covering 70 percent of the earth's surface, the ocean doesn't often make it into the news. But when it does, it makes quite a splash (so to speak). Here are the top ten ocean stories we couldn't stop talking about this year, in no particular order. Add your own in the comments! 2012: The Year of the Squid From the giant squid's giant eyes (the better to see predatory sperm whales, my dear), to the vampire squid's eerie diet of remains and feces, the strange adaptations and behavior of these cephalopods amazed us all year. Scientists found a deep-sea squid that dismembers its own glowing arm to distract predators and make a daring escape. But fascinating findings weren't relegated to the deep: at the surface, some squids will rocket themselves above the waves to fly long distances at top speeds. James Cameron Explores the Deep Sea Filmmaker James Cameron has never shied away from marine movie plots (See: Titanic, The Abyss), but this year he showed he was truly fearless, becoming the first person to hit the deepest point on the seafloor (35,804 feet) in a solo submarine. While he only managed to bring up a single mud sample from the deepest region, he found thriving biodiversity in the other deep-sea areas his expedition explored, including giant versions of organisms found in shallow water. Schooling sardines form a "bait ball." Small fish, such as these schooling sardines, received well-deserved attention for being an important part of the food chain in 2012. Photo Credit: © Erwin Poliakoff, Flickr Small Fish Make a Big Impact Forage fish-small, schooling fish that are gulped down by predators-should be left in the ocean for larger fish, marin

"Science 25 November 2011: Vol. 334 no. 6059 pp. 1052-1053 DOI: 10.1126/science.334.6059.1052 * News Focus Adaptation to Climate Change Adaptation to Climate Change Time to Adapt to a Warming World, But Where's the Science? 1. Richard A. Kerr With dangerous global warming seemingly inevitable, users of climate information-from water utilities to international aid workers-are turning to climate scientists for guidance. But usable knowledge is in short supply. Figure View larger version: * In this page * In a new window Adapt to that. Climate will change, but decision-makers want to know how, where, and when. "CREDIT: KOOS VAN DER LENDE/NEWSCOM" DENVER, COLORADO-The people who brought us the bad news about climate change are making an effort to help us figure out what to do about it. As climate scientists have shown, continuing to spew greenhouse gases into the atmosphere will surely bring sweeping changes to the world-changes that humans will find it difficult or impossible to adapt to. But beyond general warnings, there is another sort of vital climate research to be done, speakers told 1800 attendees at a meeting here last month. And so far, they warned, researchers have delivered precious little of the essential new science. At the meeting, subtitled "Climate Research in Service to Society,"* the new buzzword was "actionable": actionable science, actionable information, actionable knowledge. "There's an urgent need for actionable climate information based on sound science," said Ghassem Asrar, director of the World Climate Research Programme, the meeting's organizer based in Geneva, Switzerland. What's needed is not simply data but processed information that an engineer sizing a storm-water pipe to serve for the next 50 years or a farmer in Uganda considering irrigating his fields can use to make better decisions in a warming world. Researchers preparing for the next international climate assessment, due in 2013, delive

Information Science Bounds and Vision Atlas of Science Visualizing What We Know by Katy Börner MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2010. 266 pp. $$29.95, £22.95. ISBN 9780262014458. 1. Mason A. Porter + Author Affiliations 1. The reviewer is at the Oxford Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3LB, UK, and at the CABDyN Complexity Centre and Somerville College, University of Oxford. 1. E-mail: porterm@maths.ox.ac.uk Visualization is a crucial but underappreciated part of science. As venues like the American Physical Society's Gallery of Fluid Motion and Gallery of Nonlinear Images illustrate every year, good visuals can make science more beautiful, more artistic, more tangible, and often more discernible. Katy Börner's continuing exhibition Places & Spaces: Mapping Science (1) and her book Atlas of Science: Visualizing What We Know arise from a similar spirit but are much more ambitious. Visualization is one of the most compelling aspects of science. Breathtaking visuals from sources like fractals and Disneyland's long-dead "Adventure Thru Inner Space" ride are what originally inspired me toward my personal scientific path, so I welcome any resource that promises to bring the visual joys of discovery to a wide audience. Importantly, Börner's exhibition and book are not mere artistic manifestations, although they would be impressive accomplishments even if that were her only goal. Some scientists have occasionally had great success in the visual arts; for example, physicist Eric Heller has long exhibited the gorgeous fruits of his research on quantum chaos and other topics (2). To fully appreciate Börner's efforts, however, one must be conscious that she is deeply concerned not just with visualization itself but with the science of visualization. Accordingly, her book discusses the history of the science of visualization, where it is now, and where she thinks it can go. Atlas of Scie

"Science 25 November 2011: Vol. 334 no. 6059 p. 1040 DOI: 10.1126/science.334.6059.1040 * News & Analysis Climate Change Humans Are Driving Extreme Weather; Time to Prepare 1. Richard A. Kerr Figure View larger version: * In this page * In a new window Thai floods 2011 Hurricane Katrina 2005 Texas drought 2011 "CREDITS (LEFT TO RIGHT): PAULA BRONSTEIN/GETTY IMAGES; JEFF SCHMALTZ, MODIS RAPID RESPONSE TEAM, NASA/GSFC; NOAA" An international scientific assessment finds for the first time that human activity has indeed driven not just global warming but also increases in some extreme weather and climate events around the world in recent decades. And those and likely other weather extremes will worsen in coming decades as greenhouse gases mount, the report finds. But uncertainties are rife in the still-emerging field of extreme events. Scientists cannot attribute a particular drought or flood to global warming, and they can say little about past or future trends in the risk of high-profile hazards such as tropical cyclones. Damage from weather disasters has been climbing, but the report can attribute that trend only to the increasing exposure of life and property to weather risks. Climate change may be involved, but a case cannot yet be made. Despite the uncertainties, the special report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released 18 November stresses that there is still reason for taking action now. The panel recommends "low-regrets measures," such as improvements in everything from drainage systems to early warning systems. Such measures would benefit society in dealing with the current climate as well as with almost any range of possible future climates. The report takes a cautious, consensus-based approach that draws on the published literature. Headlines and even some scientists may point to the current Texas drought or the 2003 European heat wave as the result of the strengthening greenhouse. But the report fin

"Scientific Workforce NSF Touts Family-Friendly Policies as Boon to Women 1. Jeffrey Mervis Young women are forever asking Meg Urry, an astrophysicist at Yale University, if it's possible "to have a successful scientific career and a family." A tenured professor with both, Urry tells them "yes." Perhaps more telling, however, is that the issue doesn't seem to interest half of her students. "I've never been asked that question by a man," she says. This week, the National Science Foundation (NSF) rolled out a set of family-friendly policies that it hopes will reduce the number of young women who jettison scientific careers because of responsibilities outside the lab. "Too many women give up because of conflicts between their desire to start a family and their desire to ramp up their careers," says John Holdren, the president's science adviser and head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. It was a rare moment in the spotlight for the low-profile basic research agency: First Lady Michelle Obama announced the policies at a White House ceremony touting the importance of women to the nation's economic recovery and, in particular, the need to improve the proportion of women in the so-called STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) workforce. Figure View larger version: * In this page * In a new window Lending a hand. First Lady Michelle Obama applauds the work of young women in science at a White House event. "CREDIT: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION" The new policies will allow both male and female grant recipients to defer an award for up to 1 year or receive a no-cost extension of an existing grant. NSF also hopes to increase its use of "virtual reviews" of grant proposals so that scientists don't need to travel as often to the agency's Arlington, Virginia, headquarters. The only change with any price tag attached is a new program of supplemental awards to investigators going on family leave, allowing them to hi

Warming and Melting Mass loss from the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica account for a large fraction of global sea-level rise. Part of this loss is because of the effects of warmer air temperatures, and another because of the rising ocean temperatures to which they are being exposed. Joughin et al. (p. 1172) review how ocean-ice interactions are impacting ice sheets and discuss the possible ways that exposure of floating ice shelves and grounded ice margins are subject to the influences of warming ocean currents. Estimates of the mass balance of the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica have differed greatly-in some cases, not even agreeing about whether there is a net loss or a net gain-making it more difficult to project accurately future sea-level change. Shepherd et al. (p. 1183) combined data sets produced by satellite altimetry, interferometry, and gravimetry to construct a more robust ice-sheet mass balance for the period between 1992 and 2011. All major regions of the two ice sheets appear to be losing mass, except for East Antarctica. All told, mass loss from the polar ice sheets is contributing about 0.6 millimeters per year (roughly 20% of the total) to the current rate of global sea-level rise.

NARRATOR: Even though the ocean covers seventy percent of the Earth's surface, people tend to know more information about land than the sea. As a result, our understanding of the ocean is often incomplete or full of misconceptions. How well do you know the ocean? You may think Earth has five separate oceans. They're clearly labeled on our maps. But, in actuality, these are all connected, and part of one global ocean system. Ever wonder why the ocean is blue? You may have heard its because the water reflects the color of the sky. Not quite. Sunlight contains all the colors of the rainbow. When it hits the ocean, it gets scattered by the water molecules. Blue light is scattered the most, which is why the ocean appears blue. Even more interesting is that floating plants and sediments in the water can cause light to bounce in such a way for the ocean to appear green, yellow, and even red! Another idea some people have is that the sea floor is flat. Actually, just like land, the sea floor has canyons, plains, and mountain ranges. And many of these features are even bigger than those found on land. You may also think that our ocean's saltwater is just a mix of water and table salt. Not so. Seawater's "salt" is actually made of dissolved minerals from surface runoff. That is, excess water from rain and melting snow flowing over land and into the sea. This is why the ocean doesn't have the same level of salinity everywhere. Salinity varies by location and season. Finally, you may have heard that melting sea ice will cause sea levels to rise. In reality, sea ice is just frozen seawater, and because it routinely freezes and melts, its volume is already accounted for in the ocean. Sea levels can rise, however, from ice that melts off land and into the ocean. Understanding basic facts about the ocean is important since it affects everything from our atmosphere to our ecosystems. By knowing your ocean, you are better prepared to help protect it.

"Recognising ocean acidification in deep time: An evaluation of the evidence for acidification across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary Sarah E. GreeneCorresponding author contact information, 1, E-mail the corresponding author, Rowan C. Martindale1, E-mail the corresponding author, Kathleen A. Ritterbush E-mail the corresponding author, David J. Bottjer E-mail the corresponding author, Frank A. Corsetti E-mail the corresponding author, William M. Berelson E-mail the corresponding author Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA 90089 Received 22 July 2011. Accepted 17 March 2012. Available online 5 April 2012. While demonstrating ocean acidification in the modern is relatively straightforward (measure increase in atmospheric CO2 and corresponding ocean chemistry change), identifying palaeo-ocean acidification is problematic. The crux of this problem is that the rock record is a constructive archive while ocean acidification is essentially a destructive (and/or inhibitory) phenomenon. This is exacerbated in deep time without the benefit of a deep ocean record. Here, we discuss the feasibility of, and potential criteria for, identifying an acidification event in deep time. Furthermore, we investigate the evidence for ocean acidification during the Triassic-Jurassic (T-J) boundary interval, an excellent test case because 1) it occurs in deep time, beyond the reach of deep sea drilling coverage; 2) a potential trigger for acidification is known; and 3) it is associated with one of the 'Big Five' mass extinctions which disproportionately affected modern-style invertebrates. Three main criteria suggest that acidification may have occurred across the T-J transition. 1) The eruption of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) and the associated massive and rapid release of CO2 coincident with the end-Triassic mass extinction provide a suitable trigger for an acidification event (

http://www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/newsreleases/2011/orangesubstance081811.pdf Alaska - NOAA determines "orange goo" in Alaska's Kivalina village is fungal spores The "orange goo" that washed ashore earlier this month in the remote Eskimo village of Kivalina along Alaska's northwest coast is fungal spores, not microscopic eggs as preliminary analysis indicated. Scientists at the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center's Auke Bay Laboratory announced last week that the substance was biological in nature, rather than oil or pollution as originally thought by concerned residents of Kivalina. Per standard scientific procedure, samples were sent to NOAA's Analytical Response Team for a more thorough and detailed analysis and verification process. At NOAA's National Ocean Service Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, based in Charleston, S.C., a team of scientists highly-specialized and equipped to analyze microbiologic phenomena such as this determined that the substance is consistent with spores from a fungi that cause rust, a disease that infects only plants causing a rust-like appearance on leaves and stems. Rust fungi reproduce to infect other plants by releasing spores which disperse often times great distances by wind and water. However, whether this spore belongs to one of the 7,800 known species of rust fungi has not yet been determined. More information will be posted on the Alaska Fisheries Science Center website as it becomes available.

The Zuni Indians thought a red moon brought water. Seventeenth-century English farmers believed in a "dripping moon," which supplied rain depending on whether its crescent was tilted up or down. Now scientists have found evidence for another adage: Rain follows the full and new phases of the moon. Most studies on the weather and moon phases appeared in the 1960s and seemed to lend credence to lunar folklore. Researchers detected more peaks in rainfall in the days after the full and new moons, for example. Recently, three researchers decided to revive the issue when they stumbled across a link between moon phases and stream runoff while working on another project. They will soon publish in Geophysical Research Letters one of the most comprehensive studies yet, with more than a century of data from across the continental United States.

The term ocean acidification is used to describe the ongoing decrease in ocean pH caused by human CO2 emissions, such as the burning of fossil fuels. It is the little known consequence of living in a high CO2 world, dubbed at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) as the "evil twin of climate change". The oceans currently absorb approximately half of the CO2 produced by burning fossil fuel; put simply, climate change would be far worse if it were not for the oceans. However, there is a cost to the oceans - when CO2 dissolves in seawater it forms carbonic acid and as more CO2 is taken up by the oceans surface, the pH decreases, moving towards a less alkaline and therefore more acidic state. Already ocean pH has decreased by about 30% and if we continue emitting CO2 at the same rate by 2100 ocean acidity will increase by about 150%, a rate that has not been experienced for at least 400,000 years. Such a monumental alteration in basic ocean chemistry is likely to have wide implications for ocean life, especially for those organisms that require calcium carbonate to build shells or skeletons. Ocean acidification is a relatively new field of research, with most of the studies having been conducted over the last decade. While it is gaining some attention among policy makers, international leaders and the media, scientists find there is still a lack of understanding.

Right Whales Finally Coming Home Figure "CREDIT: MICHAËL CATANZARITI/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS" After more than 100 years, right whales have returned to their calving grounds in New Zealand, an international team of scientists reports. The 100-ton whales, known for their social frolicking and impressive acrobatic displays, were hunted to extinction in these same waters during the 19th and 20th centuries' era of industrial whaling. A small population managed to survive near remote, sub-Antarctic islands south of New Zealand. In recent years, a few dozen females found their way back to the same bays their ancestors used for bearing their young. Normally, such cultural knowledge is passed from mother to daughter, the researchers say. But the tradition had been lost, until these pioneering females began making the journey once again. Reporting in Marine Ecology Progress Series, the scientists-from Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand-confirmed that some of the females had migrated from the southern islands to New Zealand by comparing the DNA in tissue samples collected from seven whales at both sites. Now that the tradition has been restored, scientists expect more whales to follow the pioneers.

"Oil Exploration Oil Exploration Gulf Drilling Disaster Triggers Scrutiny of Mediterranean Oil Rush 1. Laura Margottini* A rush to find and extract oil in the Mediterranean Sea is threatening one of the planet's marine biodiversity hot spots, scientists warn. PANTELLERIA, ITALY-This tiny speck in the Mediterranean, home to a few thousand people, seems like one of the most tranquil places in the world. But looks are deceptive. Pantelleria, in the Strait of Sicily halfway between Palermo and Tunis, is close to one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, and of late, its waters have also become the center of a new oil rush. Attracted by Italy's easygoing drilling regulations and low tax on oil extraction, dozens of companies have new plans for exploration and drilling in this part of the Mediterranean Sea. At a recent meeting here,* however, scientists, conservationists, and environmental activists warned that such efforts put several important biodiversity hot spots in danger. An oil disaster like the Deepwater Horizon explosion, which sent oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico for months, could easily ruin the Mediterranean ecology for a century or longer, some said. The Italian government has recently issued 66 permissions for drilling around its coasts and 25 concessions for exploration. Another 67 applications for exploration are under review. "Italy now represents the region that holds the most exciting and significant long-term opportunities," one company, Northern Petroleum, says on its Web site. The Strait of Sicily is the center of attention, but other biodiversity hot spots, such as the Tremiti Islands in the Adriatic Sea, could soon be explored as well. Italy isn't alone. Tunisia, for example, has granted concessions for oil exploration for most of its Mediterranean waters, without much political opposition. But the areas coveted by oil companies are ecological treasures, researchers and groups such as Greenpeace Italy stress. Last year, the Uni

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Keeping Coral Clean Seaweed overgrowth is a major problem for coral reefs and also seems to be a consequence of excessive harvesting of herbivorous fish. Dixson and Hay (p. 804) examined this effect on Fijian reefs. Species of small herbivorous gobies and coral-associated damselfish were compared for their effect on the toxic Chlorodesmis seaweed in experiments that required caging colonies of the branching coral Acropora nasuta and the associated fish species. Only the gobies actively removed algal fronds attached to the cages and only one species (itself toxic to predators) ate them; the damselfish simply defected from the arena when toxic algae were present. The hydrophobic toxins exuded in the algal mucus lysed coral polyps releasing cell constituents that, together with the algal toxin, attract the gobies, which then eat the algal fronds. Interestingly, the toxic goby became more toxic to predators after consumption of the seaweed, which may help to drive symbiosis with a coral colony.

Winds of Change Jane Qiu Antarctica does not respond to global warming uniformly like a giant ice cube. Changing wind patterns are an unsung force shaping Antarctica's future. Retreating sea ice and stronger winds have caused seawater to mix more deeply, a process that churns sunlight-dependent phytoplankton into the ocean's depths. As a result, phytoplankton biomass has declined by 12% over the past 30 years. Higher on the food chain, that means fewer krill and fish larvae. These creatures are also getting hammered by the loss of sea ice, which hides them from predators. The complex interplay between air, sea, and ice has emerged as a central theme underlying climate change in Antarctica. Shifting wind patterns and corresponding ocean changes can explain climate responses across the continent.