Biology: Marine Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Projected loss of brown macroalgae and seagrasses with global environmental change      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers predict that climate change will drive a substantial redistribution of brown seaweeds and seagrasses at the global scale. The projected changes are alarming due to the fundamental role seaweeds and seagrasses in coastal ecosystems and provide evidence of the pervasive impacts of climate change on marine life.

Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Antarctic ice shelves hold twice as much meltwater as previously thought      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Slush -- water-soaked snow -- makes up more than half of all meltwater on the Antarctic ice shelves during the height of summer, yet is poorly accounted for in regional climate models. The findings could have profound implications for ice shelf stability and sea level rise.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Thermodynamics Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Severe Weather Physics: Optics
Published

Common plastics could passively cool and heat buildings with the seasons      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

By restricting radiant heat flows between buildings and their environment to specific wavelengths, coatings engineered from common materials can achieve energy savings and thermal comfort that goes beyond what traditional building envelopes can achieve.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Technology Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Characterization of the extraordinary thermoelectric properties of cadmium arsenide thin films      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

If there's one thing we humans are good at, it's producing heat. Significant amounts, and in many cases most of the energy we generate and put into our systems we lose as heat, whether it be our appliances, our transportation, our factories, even our electrical grid.

Environmental: Water Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Researchers address ocean paradox with 55 gallons of fluorescent dye      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have directly measured cold, deep water upwelling via turbulent mixing along the slope of a submarine canyon in the Atlantic Ocean.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

El NiƱo forecasts extended to 18 months with innovative physics-based model      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As more attention is drawn to possible severe weather around the world scientists are looking to improve planning for possible droughts, floods and other scenarios. A team of researchers created a new tool that will allow forecasting of El Nino Southern Oscillation by up to 18 months.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General
Published

Small, adsorbent 'fins' collect humidity rather than swim through water      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Clean, safe water is a limited resource and access to it depends on local bodies of water. But even dry regions have some water vapor in the air. To harvest small amounts of humidity, researchers developed a compact device with absorbent-coated fins that first trap moisture and then generate potable water when heated. They say the prototype could help meet growing demands for water, especially in arid locations.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Underwater mountains have a big impact on ocean circulation      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Colossal undersea mountains, towering up to thousands of metres high, stir up deep sea currents: impacting how our ocean stores heat and carbon. An international team used numerical modelling to quantify how underwater turbulence around these mountains, called seamounts, influences ocean circulation; finding it is an important mechanism in ocean mixing and one that is missing from climate models used in policymaking.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Much of the Nord Stream gas remained in the sea      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Much of the methane released into the southern Baltic Sea from the Nord Stream gas pipeline has remained in the water. This is shown by measurements taken by researchers from the University of Gothenburg.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Restored rat-free islands could support hundreds of thousands more breeding seabirds      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Archipelago case-study shows that removing invasive rats and restoring native vegetation could help bring back hundreds of thousands of breeding pairs of seabirds lost to tropical islands. Calculating that there are enough fish to sustain restored seabird populations should be an important consideration for restoration projects, scientists say. Restored seabird populations also provide huge boost to the health of surrounding coral reef ecosystems through restored nutrient cycles.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Space: Exploration Space: General
Published

Satellites to monitor marine debris from space      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Detecting marine debris from space is now a reality, according to a new study. Until now, the amount of litter -- mostly plastic -- on the sea surface was rarely high enough to generate a detectable signal from space. However, using supercomputers and advanced search algorithms, the research team has demonstrated that satellites are an effective tool for estimating the amount of litter in the sea.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Physics: Optics
Published

New fabric makes urban heat islands more bearable      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers detail a new wearable fabric that can help urban residents survive the worst impacts of massive heat caused by global climate change, with applications in clothing, building and car design, and food storage. By addressing both direct solar heating and the thermal radiation emitting from pavement and buildings in urban heat islands, the material kept 2.3 degrees Celsius (4.1 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than the broadband emitter fabric used for outdoor endurance sports and 8.9 degrees Celsius (16 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than the commercialized silk commonly used for shirts, dresses and other summer clothing.

Biology: Marine Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

A conservation market could incentivize global ocean protection      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Thirty-by-thirty: protect 30% of the planet by 2030. While conservation is popular in principle, the costs of actually enacting it often stall even the most earnest efforts. Researchers have now proposed a market-based approach to achieving the 30x30 targets in the ocean.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Marine Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Scientists unravel drivers of the global zinc cycle in our oceans, with implications for a changing climate      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The understanding of the global zinc cycle in our oceans has important implications in the context of warming oceans. A warmer climate increases erosion, leading to more dust in the atmosphere and consequently more dust being deposited into the oceans. More dust means more scavenging of zinc particles, leading to less zinc being available to sustain phytoplankton and other marine life, thereby diminishing the oceans' ability to absorb carbon.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Ancient ocean slowdown warns of future climate chaos      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

When it comes to the ocean's response to global warming, we're not in entirely uncharted waters. A new study shows that episodes of extreme heat in Earth's past caused the exchange of waters from the surface to the deep ocean to decline.

Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
Published

A mountainous mystery uncovered in Australia's pink sands      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Deposits of deep-pink sand washing up on South Australian shores shed new light on when the Australian tectonic plate began to subduct beneath the Pacific plate, as well as the presence of previously unknown ancient Antarctic mountains.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Thermodynamics Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

3D-printed mini-actuators can move small soft robots, lock them into new shapes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have demonstrated miniature soft hydraulic actuators that can be used to control the deformation and motion of soft robots that are less than a millimeter thick. The researchers have also demonstrated that this technique works with shape memory materials, allowing users to repeatedly lock the soft robots into a desired shape and return to the original shape as needed.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Nuclear Physics: General
Published

New plasma escape mechanism could protect fusion vessels from excessive heat      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The exhaust heat generated by a fusing plasma in a commercial-scale reactor may not be as damaging to the vessel's innards as once thought, according to new research about escaping plasma particles.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Thermodynamics Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Physics: Optics Space: General
Published

Researchers engineer new approach for controlling thermal emission      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

If a material absorbs light, it will heat up. That heat must go somewhere, and the ability to control where and how much heat is emitted can protect or even hide such devices as satellites. An international team of researchers has published a novel method for controlling this thermal emission in Science.