OceanForUs

We all know that global warming is impacting our planet's biology in a very serious manner. Not only terrestrial species, but marine species are also badly affected. Researchers have seen a lot of changes in behaviour, food habits and the population of marine species across the globe. One such recent study by a group of researchers consisting of David Schoeman, Chhaya Choudhary, Anthony Richardson and Mark Costello concluded that there has been a decrease in the diversity of marine species in the equatorial region.  They analyzed the data since 1955 covering about 48,660 species to verify whether climate change influenced the change in the richness of marine species. The study clearly shows that there has been a decrease in the variety of species at the equator. These changes were sensitive to the temperature. Since the 1970s, with an increase in surface sea temperature, these species (especially pelagic species) have shifted towards the north in the northern hemisphere. Pelagic sp...

Overview: The Australian bushfire in late 2019 and early 2020 had created many environmental issues. The fire has released a large number of aerosol particles into the air which eventually affected the South Pacific Ocean. Researchers had done many satellite observations and surveyed the coastal deposition of these particles and their biochemical reaction to the water. Four types of aerosol particles were detected: wildfire smoke, mineral dust, background aerosols and residual smoke. In the Tasman Sea, in November 2019 it was concluded that 60% of mineral dust was made up of coarse particles.  After the wildfire, these particles had affected a large amount of the atmosphere in eastern Australia, Southern Pacific water and even South America. 98.9% of smoke was made up of fine particles. These mineral dust and smoke particles emitted from the fire changed the composition of the surface ocean. The decomposition of these mineral particles resulted in an increase in the concentration o...

Climate change is increasing the frequency and magnitude of temperature anomalies, which cause coral bleaching, which leads to a substantial loss of stony coral that is fundamentally changing the structure and function of coral reefs. A recent study has shown that excess nitrogen can increase the chances of coral bleaching. However, researchers still don't know about the extent of damage the excess nitrogen can do to corals. After several surveys of coral bleaching and nitrogen content of that area, researchers concluded that nitrogen surely affects the corals and enhance bleaching patterns. Researchers have developed a theory that nitrogen interacts with heated water and alter the frequency of bleaching. Nitrogen almost doubles the frequency of bleaching in many areas.  Global warming and the increasing temperature of ocean water are known to all. But there are many other silent factors (like acidification, calcification etc) that affect the marine ecosystem. Corals are one t...

The highest concentration of the world's lakes is found in the Arctic boreal regions, and as a result, it receives rapid warming. Yet, the natural response of Arcticboreal lakes to warming remains uncertain. Historical patterns in the colour of the lake from a distant perspective can provide insight into the natural changes of the lake. But it has not been explored on a panArctic scale. The greenery of the lake has decreased completely by 15%. These are results from the last ten decades of analysis in the study region of 6.3 million sq km. Researchers found this decrement in regions with high air temperatures and rainfall. These conclusions support the view that warming has enhanced connectivity between lakes and the land. Recent changes in the Arctic primary production linked to global climate change have been recorded in terrestrial and marine ecosystems. The evidence of unequal changes in plant growth in the tundra and in ecosystems is provided by many satellite records. Thus, t...

 Coral bleaching happens when the algae on the coral die and the coral turn white. These algae and coral live in a symbiotic relationship. The algae are responsible for about 90% of coral's energy generation. Bleached coral cannot survive for a longer time. Eventually, they will die due to starvation. The main reason for bleaching is the increasing temperature of the ocean. Many other factors like ocean acidification and heavy metal pollution are also responsible for bleaching. Corals in almost every part of the world are affected due to increasing temperature. Many bleaching events have occurred in the past few decades. But the bleaching event of El Nino from 2014 to 2017 was the deadliest bleaching event ever. Between 1980 and 1990 sixty major coral bleaching events have occurred. The longest bleaching event was recorded in 2016. Over 70% of the world's corals were affected during that time. According to a study, the oldest bleaching event was that of Frasnian time of the Lat...

  Copper plays a vital role in enzymic activities in humans and fishes. Copper in small quantity is needed for survival and growth. But if the concentration of copper increases then it acts as a poison. Generally, ocean water has very little concentration of copper, but with increasing industrialization and on-surface activities, its concentration is also increasing. This copper can also react with other gaseous molecules or organic molecules, eventually making ocean water toxic and unsuitable for the growth of marine animals. Ocean Acidification is reducing the carbonate concentration, making it an even more suitable environment for copper to react with organic ligands (L) like thiols, exopolysaccharides etc.  It is predicted that by the end of this century the concentration of free copper ions in the ocean will increase by 50%. This will greatly change the chemistry of the ocean and will affect the physiological processes of marine species. By 2100, environmental factors wi...

Man-made activities have accelerated the rate of ocean pollution. The oil spill is the quickest way to destroy our oceans. A large volume of petroleum products gets leaked into the ocean result in a spill. The oil spills mostly occur due to tankers, cargo accidents, oil platforms and wells. When an oil spill occurs in a coastal area than it also harms humans. But these spills have a greater effect on marine species than humans. Humans might stop the potential damage from the oil spills but marine species cannot. They are the ones who suffered the most due to such accidents. However, these spills also occur due to natural reasons. In fact, about 40 to 50% of the total oil released into the ocean is from the natural seeps from the seafloor rocks. This means approx. 600,000 tonnes of oil is released into the ocean due to natural reasons. However, these releases have very little damage because these are natural processes and are part of the ecosystem. It is discovered that special bacteria...