NOAA researchers have found that exposing laboratory animals to a toxin produced by blooms of microscopic ocean algae can induce seizures and eventually lead to epilepsy. Working with the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California, and other partners, the scientists initially suspected that something amiss in the marine environment could be causing epilepsy in marine … Read more
Specifically within our ocean environments, as with most ocean pollution, first affected are the littlest of creatures (the phytoplankton). Due to their small size, the amount of pollution absorbed by the phytoplankton is concomitantly small, but when a zooplankton gobbles up 10 of these guys suddenly the pollution swells 10 fold as it rests in … Read more
Coral reefs in all tropical seas have experienced unprecedented mortality and devastation during the past few decades. This is a result of several factors, all largely precipitated by humankind’s mismanagement of Earth’s resources. Global warming and ocean acidification are a result of accelerated increases in greenhouse gas emissions (especially CO2). These conditions result in coral … Read more
On July 17, three months ago exactly, I filed a report from Barrow Alaska and went home to Seattle for one of driest, hottest summers Seattle has seen in a good while. This was in fact the driest Seattle summer in at least 60 years, with just 0.24 inches of rain recorded at SeaTac Airport … Read more
Coral reefs are some of the most important and productive places for life on Earth. By some estimates, coral reefs contribute about $300 billion to the worldwide economy each year, providing resources for everything from tourism to medicinal products. Reefs also provide our shorelines with protection during hurricanes and strong winds, and they serve as … Read more
Oceans play a vital role in the Earth’s climate system by regulating the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Over hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years, oceans slowly release carbon dioxide to the atmosphere through underwater volcanic emissions and absorb it again as carbonate sediments dissolve over a long period of time. … Read more
According to the Nature Conservancy, habitat alteration, along with invasive species, are the two main causes of fish extinction. Furthermore, in the United States 40 percent of fish and amphibians, 50 percent of crayfish, and 70 percent of mussels are endangered due largely to habitat alterations resulting from such practices as bottom trawling, anchoring, coastal … Read more
It tends to occur gradually and quietly. Initially, the danger escapes perception. NPS pollution originates from various sources including run-off from the surface of pavements and lawns, secondhand sources like car exhaust and lawn fertilizer, and even boat hulls, which on a near daily basis, are in direct contact with water. It may first appear … Read more
This can, and does occur in any body of water from a pond to our vast oceans. According to Over Fishing – A Global Disaster, an independent source of information about the ocean threats, notes, “a total of almost 80% of the world’s fisheries are fully- to over-exploited, depleted, or in a state of collapse.” … Read more
