Ocean Policy News

September 23, 2016

Increased Ocean Acidification Is Due to Humans

Humans Have Caused Climate Change for 180 Years

Global Warming Surprise: Saltier Beaches

Crude Oil Causes Deformities in Fish

Latest Headlines

updated 1:04am EDT

New Model Could Point Way to Microbiome Forecasting in the Ocean

Sep. 22, 2016 — A new mathematical model integrates environmental and molecular sequence information to better explain how microbial networks drive nutrient and energy cycling in ... read more

New Comprehensive Approach to Inland Fisheries Management

Sep. 20, 2016 — Managing inland fisheries in the 21st century presents several obstacles including the need to view fisheries from multiple scales, which usually involves populations and resources spanning ... read more

Urban Shorelines Support More Animal Life, Floating DNA Reveals

Sep. 15, 2016 — Researchers are now able to capture the cells of animals, sequence their DNA and identify which species were present in water at a point in time. A new University of Washington study is the first to ... read more

Initiative to Restore One Million Corals Launches in the Caribbean and Florida Keys

Sep. 12, 2016 — Research organizations are working on a coral conservation initiative that will enable coral restoration at unprecedented ... read more

Do Teachers' Climate Change Beliefs Influence Students?

Sep. 7, 2016 — The strongest predictors of North Carolina middle school students' beliefs in human-caused climate change: a science teacher's belief that global warming is happening and the ... read more

Beyond Sushi Wrap: Experts Warn Booming Seaweed Industry

Sep. 4, 2016 — Reseachers have publish policy advice to the multi-billion dollar seaweed farming industry, warning that the rapidly growing industry could easily and needlessly drop into pitfalls previously ... read more

Time Window for Action to Limit Climate Change Is Closing Rapidly

Sep. 1, 2016 — The window of opportunity for limiting climate warming up to 2°C is closing rapidly. However, a reinforcing upward spiral of national government policy, non-state actions and transformative ... read more

Study Assesses Climate Change Vulnerability in Urban America

Aug. 31, 2016 — One of the first efforts to systematically assess how cities are preparing for climate change shows that city planners have yet to fully assess their vulnerability to climate change, leaving serious ... read more

Hurricanes Are Worse, but Experience, Gender and Politics Determine If You Believe It

Aug. 25, 2016 — Despite ample evidence that Atlantic hurricanes are getting stronger, research found that people's view of future storm ... read more

Ecosystems in the Southeastern US Are Vulnerable to Climate Change

Aug. 11, 2016 — At least several southeastern US ecosystems are highly vulnerable to the impacts of present and future climate change, according to two new reports. At-risk ecosystems occur in states ranging from ... read more

Arctic Tourists Dock in NY

An Alaskan Community Has Voted To Move Because Of Climate Change

It's Time To Talk About Sustainable Fashion

Pianist Performs 'Elegy for Arctic' Over Ocean

'Funneling' Behind Severe Flooding on the Clyde

Sep. 15, 2016 — A “funneling” effect has been a major factor in severe flooding on the River Clyde in recent years, according to a study by English ... read more

New Comprehensive Approach in Inland Fisheries Management

Sep. 14, 2016 — Inland fisheries managers are increasingly using Transboundary Fisheries Science as an interdisciplinary and holistic approach for understanding and managing ecosystems across larger scales, ... read more

Researchers Investigate Environmental Movements and Neoliberalism

Aug. 22, 2016 — Recent dynamics of global environmentalism, ranging from indigenous people's rights to the reliance on non-governmental organizations, have been marked by a resurgence in environmental movements ... read more

Wind Power Fiercer Than Expected

Aug. 11, 2016 — As the US' first wind farm is installed in Rhode Island this week, a new study shows offshore wind may be even more powerful and turbulent than expected in the Northeast. The findings could have ... read more

Historically Robust Natural Ecosystems Could Collapse Due to Climate Change, Human Activity

Aug. 11, 2016 — Global change will strike the oldest and most complex ecosystems of the world hardest, regardless of their past stability, warn experts in a new ... read more

Many Endangered Species Face Long Waits for Protection

Aug. 10, 2016 — The Endangered Species Act was enacted by Congress in 1973 to protect species threatened with extinction. To receive protection, a species must first be listed as endangered or threatened. A two-year ... read more

New Meta-Analysis Shows Engineered Hard Shorelines Are a Threat to Ecosystems

Aug. 10, 2016 — Artificial shoreline hardening is often used to protect human structures from coastal hazards, but the practice may negatively affect coastal ecosystems, say ... read more

International Ocean Drilling Expedition to Understand Causes of the Indian Ocean 2004 Earthquake and Tsunami

Aug. 8, 2016 — The devastating earthquake that struck North Sumatra and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Boxing Day in 2004 caused a tsunami that inundated coastal communities around the Indian Ocean, killing ... read more

Noisy Neighbours: Measuring the Impact of Human-Generated Noise Pollution on Sea Mammals in the Mediterranean

Aug. 8, 2016 — A new study is set to to analyze the possible influence of anthropogenic or human-generated disturbances on different cetacean mammals in the Mediterranean Sea. It focuses on three areas within the ... read more

Climate Summaries 'for Grownups,' but Not Too Difficult for Policymakers

Aug. 5, 2016 — Offering a rare insider analysis of the climate assessment process, experts examined the writing and editing procedures by which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change creates summaries of ... read more

Under-Reporting of Fisheries Catches Threatens Caribbean Marine Life

Aug. 5, 2016 — Marine fisheries catches have been drastically under-reported in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean, threatening the marine environment and livelihoods of the local community, reveals a ... read more

Melting Ice Sheet Could Expose Frozen Cold War-Era Hazardous Waste

Aug. 4, 2016 — Climate change is threatening to expose hazardous waste at an abandoned camp thought to be buried forever in the Greenland Ice Sheet, new research has found. Camp Century, a United States military ... read more

Abundant and Diverse Ecosystem Found in Area Targeted for Deep-Sea Mining

July 29, 2016 — Scientists discovered impressive abundance and diversity among the creatures living on the seafloor in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone -- an area in the equatorial Pacific Ocean being targeted for ... read more

New Study Reveals Where MH370 Debris More Likely to Be Found

July 27, 2016 — A team of researchers has used the location of confirmed debris from MH370 to determine where the airliner might have crashed, and where further debris could be ... read more

Effective Monitoring to Evaluate Ecological Restoration in the Gulf of Mexico

July 26, 2016 — To improve and ensure the efficacy of restoration efforts in the Gulf of Mexico following Deepwater Horizon -- the largest oil spill in US history -- a new report recommends a set of best practices ... read more

Policy Makers and Ecologists Must Develop a More Constructive Dialogue to Save the Planet

July 19, 2016 — An international consensus demands human impacts on the environment 'sustain', 'maintain', 'conserve', 'protect', 'safeguard', and 'secure' ... read more

Climate Experts Help Communities Cope With Impact of the Indian Monsoon

July 14, 2016 — New work by experts to predict the weather in India could help millions of people prepare for the devastating effects of the country's summer ... read more

Closing Parts of the Ocean to Fishing Not Enough to Protect Marine Ecosystems

July 13, 2016 — Managing a country's entire fisheries is a better strategy than closing parts of the ocean to fishing, a new commentary argues. Marine protected areas have grown in popularity since the early ... read more

Climate Tipping Points: What Do They Mean for Society?

July 11, 2016 — The phrase "tipping point" passed its own tipping point and caught fire after author Malcolm Gladwell's so-named 2000 book. It's now frequently used in discussions about climate ... read more

Mixed Response: Floodwaters Return to the Colorado River but Can Release Greenhouse Gases

July 8, 2016 — Deliberately flooding riverbeds left parched by dams has great potential to restore wetlands but may also have a significant unintended consequence: the release of greenhouse ... read more

Thursday, September 15, 2016