Oceanography

Crystal 'Sunstones'- How The Vikings Discovered America?

Ancient records tell us that the intrepid Viking seafarers who discovered Iceland, Greenland and eventually North America navigated using landmarks, birds and whales, and little else. There’s little doubt that Viking sailors would also have used the posit ...

Article - The Conversation - Jan 30 2016 - 5:11pm

Armada Of Icebergs Each Bigger Than The Empire State Building Followed Last Ice Age

While there is speculation and numerical estimates about what might happen to Antarctica's nation-sized Ross Ice Shelf in a warming climate,  oceanographers have a good idea of what happened to a 100,000-square-mile section within 1,500 years after t ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 18 2016 - 8:36am

Using Statistics To Predict Rogue Waves

Scientists have developed a mathematical model to derive the probability of extreme waves. This model uses multi-point statistics, the joint statistics of multiple points in time or space, to predict how likely extreme waves are. The results, published to ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 25 2016 - 8:32am

Arctic Microbes Speeding Up Glacier Melting

Current climate models are too simplistic to really account for all of the factors in climate in the present, much less predict the future, but they are being used by policy makers to anticipate the effects of greenhouse gases as far out as a hundred year ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 23 2016 - 6:47am

Greenland Melting Tied To Shrinking Arctic Sea Ice, Blamed On Global Warming

Vanishing Arctic sea ice, dogged weather systems over Greenland, far-flung surface ice melting on the massive island- these trends and global sea-level rise are linked by climate change, according to a new paper. During Greenland summers, melting Arctic s ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 28 2016 - 8:00am

How Nature Disrupts Coral Reefs' Recycling

Coral reefs, the world's most productive and diverse marine ecosystems, rely on a recycling program to stay healthy: The corals and algae that form the base of the reef's food web release a variety of nutrients that support a complex and efficie ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 25 2016 - 3:54pm

Groundwater Overstated In Sea Level Rise

Groundwater extraction and other land water contribute about three times less to sea level rise than previous estimates, according to a new study. Sea level has risen an estimated average 1.7 mm per year over the 20th and the early 21st century, and conce ...

Article - News Staff - May 2 2016 - 2:37pm

How Nature Is Eroding Coral Reefs

Coral reefs and hard-shelled sea creatures such as oysters and mussels are constantly being threatened, not only by the detrimental effects of stressors such as climate change and habitat loss, but also by microorganisms. Researchers have discovered how a ...

Article - News Staff - May 4 2016 - 1:52pm

Sea-Level Rise Has Claimed Islands Above Water For At Least 300 Years

Sea-level rise, erosion and coastal flooding are some of the greatest challenges facing humanity from climate change. Recently at least five reef islands in the remote Solomon Islands have been lost completely to sea-level rise and coastal erosion, and a ...

Article - The Conversation - May 7 2016 - 7:30am

Nature Climate Emissions: Ocean Bacteria Are Pumping Out Massive Amounts Of Sulfur

SAR11 are the most abundant plankton in the world's oceans. They are also a massive source of two sulfur gases that play important roles in the Earth's atmosphere. ...

Article - News Staff - May 17 2016 - 11:00am