State of the Oceans — Log 111
YOUR WEEKLY BRIEFING FROM PARLEY
Images from NASA
DEEP SPACE
Scientists have long known that the Arctic Ocean slowly releases enormous quantities of the potent greenhouse gas methane, and that these emissions have been rising as the oceans warm. Now, in a further connection between the oceans and the Moon, researchers have found that lunar and tidal forces contribute to the equation. Our nearest celestial neighbor controls one of the most formidable forces in nature: the tides that shape our coastlines. To learn more about its influence on methane emissions, scientists in Norway placed a piezometer in the sediments on the seafloor to observe hourly changes in pressure and temperature.
The researchers found that tides significantly affect the intensity of methane emissions, with lower tides releasing higher concentrations of gas and higher tides releasing lower levels. The measurements were made in an area where no methane release has previously been observed but where massive gas hydrate concentrations have been sampled – and suggest that the quantification of present-day gas emissions may be underestimated.
WHALES
Even as the Arctic Ocean warms, a surprising ocean conservation victory is unfolding: bowhead whale populations have rebounded and are nearing pre-commercial whaling numbers in US waters. Bowhead whales were once on the brink of disappearing forever. The whales’ recovery has been in large part thanks to the natural inaccessibility of their ice-covered home and to the sustainable management and stewardship of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission (AEWC), who have fought against offshore oil drilling and other activities that could harm the species. In other whale news, a research team aboard the Martin Sheen, a Sea Shepherd vessel, recently spotted what they believe to be a new species of beaked whale off Mexico’s Pacific coast. Researchers gathered water samples near the whales in order to analyze the environmental DNA further to help assess whether the beaked whales are definitely a new species.
INNOVATION
A team of scientists has created the first-ever aerial map of the coral reefs surrounding the main Hawaiian Islands – a breakthrough researchers hope will assist in reef conservation in the islands and beyond. The map shows the geographic distribution of live coral around the island chain at 16 meters (approximately 52 feet) of depth and also pinpoints where corals have been impacted by human activity. Due to ocean acidification and coral bleaching, as well as problems like runoff from coastal development, 75% of the world's coral reefs could face critical threats by 2050. In order to protect these reefs, it is important to know where they are. The study found that around 60% of the presence or absence of living coral could be explained by water depth, wave power or coastal development. Overall, the biggest human impacts on Hawaii's coral were nearshore development, water quality, sea surface temperature and fishing.
CORALS
Scientists have discovered a sanctuary full of “happy corals” off the coast of Kenya and Tanzania, where species are thriving despite warming events that have killed their neighbours. The coral reefs there are a wildlife hotspot, teeming with spinner dolphins and boasting rare species like prehistoric fish and dugongs. Researchers believe its location in a cool spot in the ocean is helping to protect it and the surrounding marine life from the harmful effects of the climate crisis. The coral refuge, which stretches from Shimoni, 50 miles south of Mombasa, in Kenya to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, is fed by cool water from deep channels formed thousands of years ago by glacial runoff from Kilimanjaro and the Usambara mountains. The cool water appears to protect the corals from episodic warming events like El Niño.
PLASTICS
Cities, brands, states and national governments alike are beginning to legislate and switch to plastic alternatives, but is it helping? A China-focussed report by Greenpeace looked at 36 companies in China that have planned or built new biodegradable plastic manufacturing facilities, adding production capacity of more than 4.4 million tons per year. In the absence of controlled composting facilities, they found, most biodegradable plastic ends up in landfills, or worse, in rivers and the oceans. Globally, the industrial infrastructure needed to process compostable plastics – from collection through to high-temperature composting – does not exist at the scale needed to match the volume of those plastics being produced, according to the report’s authors.
… and the year in climate
2020 served as a wake up call – with the world seeing some of the most intense, consecutive climate events on record. The New York Times rounds out the year with the climate stories that stood out.
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