Environment

February, 2019

• 5 February

  Much of the surface ocean will shift in color by end of 21st century: study

  

  “It could be potentially quite serious. Different types of phytoplankton absorb light differently, and if climate change shifts one community of phytoplankton to another, that will also change the types of food webs they can support. ” 
• 5 February

  Scientists have detected an enormous cavity growing beneath Antarctica

  

  This huge opening at the bottom of the Thwaites Glacier – a mass infamously dubbed the “most dangerous glacier in the world” – is so big it represents an overt chunk of the estimated 252 billion tonnes of ice Antarctica loses every year  
• 4 February

  Bacteria glues plastic together posing even deadlier threat to sea life, scientists find

  

  Plastic in the oceans is being turned into an even greater threat to small sea creatures than previously thought because bacteria are sticking particles of it together, scientists have discovered.  
• 4 February

  Charcoal trade a threat to Myanmar’s vital mangrove forests

  

  In the 1970s it was the most densely forested area on Earth. Since then, a third of that tree cover has been lost. Another third is expected to disappear by 2030.  
• 4 February

  Microplastics in ‘every animal’ in marine study

  

  Microplastics have been found in the guts of every marine mammal examined in a new study of animals washed up on Britain’s shores, say scientists.

January, 2019

• 31 January

  ‘This is shocking.’ An undersea plague is obliterating a key ocean species

  

  An “underwater zombie apocalypse.” That’s how wildlife veterinarian Joe Gaydos of the University of California (UC), Davis, describes “sea star wasting disease,” a blight that has decimated more than 20 species of sea stars from Mexico to Alaska since 2013.   
• 30 January

  Plastic pollution causes mussels to lose grip

  

  The researchers found that blue mussels exposed to doses of non-biodegradable microplastics over a period of 52 days produced significantly fewer byssal threads, which are thin fibres that help mussels attach themselves to rocks and ropes.  
• 29 January

  Climate change reshaping how heat moves around globe

  

  The Earth’s atmosphere and oceans play important roles in moving heat from one part of the world to another, and new research is illuminating how those patterns are changing in the face of climate change.  
• 29 January

  How sponges undermine coral reefs from within

  

  An affected coral reef may seem intact on the outside, while on the inside looking like a complex of mining shafts with galleries and cavities that are completely filled with sponge tissue.  
• 29 January

  Retreating ice exposes Arctic landscape unseen for 120,000 years

  

  The retreat of Arctic glaciers is exposing landscapes that haven’t seen the sun for nearly 120,000 years.  
• 28 January

  Microplastic waste floating in Pacific Ocean tipped to double by 2030: researchers

  

  Microplastic waste floating in the Pacific Ocean is expected to increase approximately twofold by 2030 and exceed fourfold by 2060, causing potential harm to the ecosystem, a study by a Japanese team has shown.  
• 25 January

  Warming weather could make Arctic fish faster

  

  As sea temperatures rise, mammals and birds may lose their edge over the cold-blooded species they eat, as well as the sharks that hunt them.