Is the ocean broken?

[ImaginaryNumber]

New Zealand records its warmest ever winter with average temperature of 9.8C

• The figure was 1.3C above the long-term average and 0.2C higher than the previous record posted in 2020
• Snowfall at lower elevations was well below average this winter as it was often replaced with rain
• There were also more extreme weather events, including severe flooding in some places and dry spells in others

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

South Pole posts most severe cold season on record, an anomaly in a warming world

• The average temperature at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station between April and September, a frigid minus-78 degrees (minus-61 Celsius), was the coldest on record, dating back to 1957
• This was 4.5 degrees lower than the most recent 30-year average
• The extreme cold over Antarctica helped push sea ice levels surrounding the continent to their fifth-highest level on record in August
• Scientists credited a very strong polar vortex, or a ring of strong winds in the stratosphere, surrounding Antarctica for the intensity of the cold
• This shifts the jet stream toward the pole, which keeps the cold air locked up over much of Antarctica
• The strong polar vortex also accelerates the processes that lead to stratospheric ozone depletion, which in turn can strengthen the vortex even more
• The conditions over Antarctica are in stark contrast to much of the rest of the planet which notched its fourth hottest June through August on record

 

[ImaginaryNumber]

Who cares?

Apparently you do, given how frequently you post on this thread.

 

[hoytedow]

I care about freedom. You seem bent on destroying it.

 

[ImaginaryNumber]

I care about freedom. You seem bent on destroying it.

I'm flattered that you think I have so much power. Thanks for letting me live rent-free in your mind. <laugh>

BTW, it's very musty and dirty in here. You might want to consider giving it a good cleaning. Perhaps using the power washer at the car wash would take the first layer of grime off.

 

[ImaginaryNumber]

Climate change threatens base of polar oceans' bountiful food webs

• Microalgae forms a major part of the ocean food chain
  
• Oceanic algae can be split into two main clusters — eukaryotes that mainly live in cold polar waters, and prokaryotes in warm non-polar waters
  
• Prokaryotes are not capable of producing all the juicy proteins and lipids that eukaryotes do
  
• Due to global warming, colder oceans are gradually getting warmer
  
• However, instead of a gradual change in microbial diversity, research suggests it will happen more abruptly at what they call ‘break points’
• Wherever the upper ocean temperature increases to 15 degrees on an annual average, it is anticipated that prokaryotes will become dominate
• This will result in a huge change to the food chain, with many of the fatty, commercially-preferred fish being displaced

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications

 

[ImaginaryNumber]

Climate Change Is Devastating Coral Reefs Worldwide, Major Report Says

• The world lost about 14 percent of its coral reefs in the decade after 2009, mainly because of climate change
• The 14 percent decline, he said, was cause for deep concern. “In finance, we worry about half-percent declines and half-percent changes in employment and interest rates.”
• Especially alarming is the trajectory. The first global bleaching event occurred in 1998, but many reefs bounced back. That no longer appears to be the case.
• Since 2009, it’s a constant decline at the global level
• Perhaps 900 species of coral exist, and the researchers noted that some appear more resilient to the heat and acidification that accompany climate change. Unfortunately, those tend to be slower-growing and not the more familiar, reef-building varieties that support the richest biodiversity.
• Dr. Hughes said the report may skew toward healthier reefs, as researchers and monitoring programs often abandon sites that become degraded, or don’t establish new studies there, because nobody wants to study a reef that is covered in silt and algae instead of corals

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The Sixth Status of Corals of the World: 2020 Report

The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) is an operational network of the International Coral Reef Initiative that aims to provide the best available scientific information on the status and trends of coral reef ecosystems for their conservation and management. The GCRMN is a global network of scientists, managers and organisations that monitor the condition of coral reefs throughout the world.​

 

[hoytedow]

I'm flattered that you think I have so much power. Thanks for letting me live rent-free in your mind. <laugh>

BTW, it's very musty and dirty in here. You might want to consider giving it a good cleaning. Perhaps using the power washer at the car wash would take the first layer of grime off.

Nice try. You have either a dirty imagination or you managed to actually insert your cranium into your own cloacal orifice.

 

[ImaginaryNumber]

My, my.

Not only am I living rent-free in your mind, I also am getting under your skin.

 

[ImaginaryNumber]

Climate modellers and theorist of complex systems share physics Nobel

Three researchers have won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on describing complex physical systems — including foundational research that created a pioneering mathematical model of Earth’s climate and predicted that increasing levels of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere would raise global temperatures.

Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann share half of the 10-million-Swedish-kronor (US$1.15-million) prize for this modelling. Theoretical physicist Giorgio Parisi at the Sapienza University of Rome receives the other half for his contributions to the theory of complex systems. His work has affected many areas, from neuroscience to how granular materials pack, the Nobel committee said in its announcement on 5 October.

Asked if the Nobel committee was sending a message to world leaders with the award, Göran Hansson, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, which awards the prize, said: “What we are saying is that the modelling climate is solidly based in physical theory and solid physics.” He added: “Global warming is resting on solid science. That is the message.”

 

[hoytedow]

My, my.

Not only am I living rent-free in your mind, I also am getting under your skin.

At least now you admit you're a parasite, like a tick or chigger.

 

[hoytedow]

The worse ticks are lunatics.

 

[comfisherman]

I make my living harvesting fish. This year was coldest one I can remember. In December of 2019 an article in the adn proclaimed that the 50 degree temp was "the new normal" be prepared for no more winter. It was followed by 2 of the coldest longest winters most of us could remember. Heck it snowed 2x this September. If your under 70 would seem freakish but if your 70 and up you saw winters like this, actually several strung together in high school.

What's that play out as.


Largest salmon production in Bristol Bay ever.... with largest escapment in years. In the last decade its produced 10-20 million more sockeye than the 90s or 70s the last big cycles. In 16 I'd never seen the ocean so devoid of life from plankton to small feed fish it was just blank. By 18 all kinds of algae and plankton appeared followed with tons of herring capelin and other forage fish. Now the predator fish are big fat and plentiful. In 20+ years on the water ( I know spending 6 months a year at sea is only anecdotal but it beats taking china's word for stuff) I've never seen predator fish so fat and healthy or the ocean more alive. It looks just as good as it did when I was a kid.

Nature is a wonder and far more resilient than we give it credit. Don't believe me..... leave a boat tied to a dock 2 years without maintenance, sea life will almost certainly reclaim it.

 

[ImaginaryNumber]

....Largest salmon production in Bristol Bay ever.... with largest escapment in years. In the last decade its produced 10-20 million more sockeye than the 90s or 70s the last big cycles. In 16 I'd never seen the ocean so devoid of life from plankton to small feed fish it was just blank. By 18 all kinds of algae and plankton appeared followed with tons of herring capelin and other forage fish. Now the predator fish are big fat and plentiful. In 20+ years on the water ( I know spending 6 months a year at sea is only anecdotal but it beats taking china's word for stuff) I've never seen predator fish so fat and healthy or the ocean more alive. It looks just as good as it did when I was a kid.....

Millions of Sockeye Return to the Bay Each Summer

Every year fish return to Bristol Bay in astounding numbers, largely due to the sound, scientific management of state and federal agencies. For instance, in 2018 the Bristol Bay sockeye salmon run produced a record-breaking 62.3 million fish. National Geographic listed Alaska as one of only three well-managed fisheries in the world, the others being Iceland and New Zealand. The forecast for 2019 season is expected to be another banner year, at roughly 40 million.
​

I enjoyed flying from Anchorage over Lake Iliamna to Dillingham and Aleknagik, many years ago. I was shocked to see the decaying bodies of dead salmon in the river after they spawned. Sooner or later I guess that is the condition we all will arrive at. I picked up pre- and post-WWII glass Japanese fishing floats along the shore. Still have some of them by my desk. Good memories.

 

[ImaginaryNumber]

Low oxygen levels along Pacific Northwest coast a ‘silent’ climate change crisis

• Swaths of hypoxic areas have surfaced every summer on Pacific Northwest shores since it was first recorded in 2002
  
• They are caused by naturally occurring coastal upwellings and algae blooms, exacerbated by climate change
  
• The upwelled water has lower levels of dissolved oxygen, but the wealth of nutrients encourages strong phytoplankton blooms, which eventually decomposes, further consuming oxygen from the water, which can lead to marine creatures suffocating
  
• Typically, hypoxic conditions don’t arrived at the nearshore until mid-June or July, but this year hypoxic conditions were reported in April
  
• As of late September this year, upwelling is still occurring and low levels of oxygen are still persisting
• Climate change is playing a role because warmer water holds less oxygen, and because the warmer upper layer is more buoyant than the cooler, deeper, already oxygen-poor ocean layer, preventing the deeper layer from “taking a breath”

 

[ImaginaryNumber]

Polar bears are inbreeding as climate change melts away Arctic ice, scientists say

• On the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, polar bear populations have seen a 10% loss in their genetic diversity from 1995 to 2016
• The loss of ice has resulted in some of the animals inbreeding to keep their groups alive
• Pelagic bears — those that wander on the sea ice and only occasionally move to shore — are having greater difficulty finding access to land at all
  
• Others have fewer opportunities to hunt for seals, forcing them to change their diets to eat more birds and bird eggs
  
• Some polar bears have been observed becoming cannibalistic as their food sources diminish

The research was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B