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Massive hidden waves are rapidly melting Greenland’s glaciers

Calving icebergs unleash hidden wave forces that supercharge Greenland’s melt and push the ice sheet closer to collapse.

Source:University of ZurichSummary:Researchers in Greenland used a 10-kilometer fiber-optic cable to track how iceberg calving stirs up warm seawater. The resulting surface tsunamis and massive hidden underwater waves intensify melting at the glacier face. This powerful mixing effect accelerates ice loss far more than previously understood. The work highlights how fragile the Greenland ice system has become as temperatures rise.Share:

    

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Hidden Waves Speed Up Greenland’s Melting
View of the fjord and the three-kilometer-wide calving front of Eqalorutsit Kangilliit Sermiat in southern Greenland. The fiber-optic cable was laid a few hundred meters from the ice wall through the 300-meter-deep water on the seabed. In the foreground is the UZH radar device, which measures calving events and ice movements in order to interpret the data from the fiber-optic cable. Credit: Andreas Vieli, University of Zurich

Iceberg calving happens when large pieces of ice split from the front of a glacier and fall into the ocean. This natural event is a major contributor to the rapid reduction of ice on the Greenland ice sheet. For the first time, an international team led by the University of Zurich (UZH) and the University of Washington (UW) has used fiber-optic technology to track how the impact of falling ice, along with the movement of the released ice, causes glacial meltwater to mix with warmer seawater below the surface.

“The warmer water increases seawater-induced melt erosion and eats away at the base of the vertical wall of ice at the glacier’s edge. This, in turn, amplifies glacier calving and the associated mass loss from ice sheets,” explains Andreas Vieli, a professor in UZH’s Department of Geography and co-author of the research. Vieli leads the Cryosphere cluster, one of six groups in the international GreenFjord project in southern Greenland, supported by the Swiss Polar Institute. The team’s discovery about how ice and seawater interact was highlighted on the cover of Nature.

Wave measurements using fiber-optic cable on seafloor

During the GreenFjord project, researchers from UZH, UW and several Swiss partners carried out an extensive field campaign to study calving behavior. They placed a ten-kilometer-long fiber-optic cable on the seafloor across the fjord in front of the Eqalorutsit Kangilliit Sermiat glacier. This fast-moving glacier in southern Greenland releases about 3.6 km3 of ice into the ocean each year, which is almost three times the annual volume of the Rhône glacier near the Furka mountain pass in Switzerland.

The research team relied on Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), a method that detects tiny vibrations along the cable caused by events such as newly formed crevasses, falling ice blocks, ocean waves or temperature changes. “This enables us to measure the many different types of waves that are generated after icebergs break off,” says lead author Dominik Gräff, a UW postdoctoral researcher affiliated with ETH Zurich.

Underwater waves amplify glacier melt and erosion

After an iceberg crashes into the water, surface waves called calving-induced tsunamis sweep across the fjord and mix the upper water layers. Because seawater in Greenland’s fjords is warmer and denser than meltwater, it sinks toward the deeper layers.

The team also detected another type of wave that continues to move between density layers long after the surface becomes calm. These internal underwater waves, which can reach heights comparable to skyscrapers, cannot be seen from above but keep mixing the water for extended periods. This ongoing movement brings warm water upward, increasing melting and erosion at the glacier’s edge and promoting further calving. “The fiber-optic cable allowed us to measure this incredible calving multiplier effect, which wasn’t possible before,” says Gräff. The data gathered will support future efforts to document calving events and better understand the rapid decline of ice sheets.

A fragile and threatened system

Scientists have long known that interactions between seawater and calving play an important role in glacier retreat, but collecting detailed measurements in the field has been extremely difficult. Fjords filled with icebergs present constant hazards from falling ice, and satellite observations cannot capture what happens below the surface where these interactions occur. “Our previous measurements have often merely scratched the surface, so a new approach was needed,” says Andreas Vieli.

The Greenland ice sheet covers an area around 40 times larger than Switzerland. If it were to melt completely, global sea levels would rise by about seven meters. The large volumes of meltwater flowing from shrinking glaciers can also disrupt major ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream, with significant consequences for Europe’s climate. The retreat of calving glaciers further affects the ecosystems within Greenland’s fjords. “Our entire Earth system depends, at least in part, on these ice sheets. It’s a fragile system that could collapse if temperatures rise too high,” warns Dominik Gräff.

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/11/251113071623.htm

Earth is slowly peeling its continents from below, fueling ocean volcanoes

New research challenges long-held ideas about how volcanic islands form and how Earth’s interior stays dynamic.

Source:University of Southampton

Summary:Researchers discovered that continents don’t just split at the surface—they also peel from below, feeding volcanic activity in the oceans. Simulations reveal that slow mantle waves strip continental roots and push them deep into the oceanic mantle. Data from the Indian Ocean confirms this hidden recycling process, which can last tens of millions of years.Share:

    

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Hidden Forces Fuel Ocean Volcanoes
Continents slowly peel away from below, sending slivers deep into the oceanic mantle that fuel volcanic activity far from tectonic edges. This newfound process, traced through the Indian Ocean, reshapes how scientists understand Earth’s hidden geological engine. Credit: Shutterstock

Earth scientists have uncovered a slow and surprising process beneath our planet’s surface that helps fuel volcanic activity in the oceans.

Researchers from the University of Southampton found that fragments of continents are gradually stripped away from below and drawn into the oceanic mantle — the hot, mostly solid layer beneath the sea floor that slowly circulates. Once there, this continental material can power volcanic eruptions for tens of millions of years.

This discovery resolves a long-standing geological puzzle: why certain ocean islands located far from tectonic plate boundaries contain chemical signatures that look distinctly continental, even though they lie in the middle of vast oceans.

The study, published in Nature Geoscience, was conducted by an international team from the University of Southampton, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, the University of Potsdam, Queen’s University (Canada), and Swansea University.

Ancient chemical clues deep within the mantle

Ocean islands such as Christmas Island in the northeast Indian Ocean often contain unusually high concentrations of certain “enriched” elements that typically come from continents. Scientists have compared this mixing process to the motion of a cake mixer folding in older, recycled ingredients from deep within the Earth.

For years, geologists assumed these enriched elements came from ocean sediments pulled into the mantle when tectonic plates sink, or from columns of rising hot rock known as mantle plumes.

However, those explanations have limits. Some volcanic regions lack evidence of recycled crust, while others seem too shallow and cool to be driven by deep mantle plumes.

“We’ve known for decades that parts of the mantle beneath the oceans look strangely contaminated, as if pieces of ancient continents somehow ended up in there,” said Thomas Gernon, Professor of Earth Science at the University of Southampton and the study’s lead author. “But we haven’t been able to adequately explain how all that continental material got there.”

Continents are peeling from below

The researchers propose a new mechanism: continents not only split apart at the surface but also peel away from below, and across far greater distances than scientists once believed possible.

To test this, the team built computer simulations that recreated how the mantle and continental crust behave when stretched by tectonic forces.

Their results show that when continents begin to break apart, powerful stresses deep within the Earth trigger a slow-moving “mantle wave.” This rolling motion travels along the base of the continents at depths of 150 to 200 kilometers, disturbing and gradually stripping material from their deep roots.

The process happens at an incredibly slow rate — roughly a millionth the speed of a snail. Over time, these detached fragments are carried sideways for more than 1,000 kilometers into the oceanic mantle, where they feed volcanic activity for tens of millions of years.

Study co-author Professor Sascha Brune of GFZ in Potsdam explained, “We found that the mantle is still feeling the effects of continental breakup long after the continents themselves have separated. The system doesn’t switch off when a new ocean basin forms — the mantle keeps moving, reorganizing, and transporting enriched material far from where it originated.”

Clues from the Indian Ocean

To support their model, the team analyzed chemical and geological data from regions such as the Indian Ocean Seamount Province — a chain of volcanic formations that appeared after the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana over 100 million years ago.

Their findings show that soon after Gondwana split apart, a pulse of magma unusually rich in continental material erupted to the surface. Over time, this chemical signature gradually faded as the flow of material from beneath the continents diminished. Notably, this happened without the presence of a deep mantle plume, challenging long-held assumptions about the source of such volcanism.

Professor Gernon added: “We’re not ruling out mantle plumes, but this discovery points to a completely new mechanism that also shapes the composition of the Earth’s mantle. Mantle waves can carry blobs of continental material far into the oceanic mantle, leaving behind a chemical signature that endures long after the continents have broken apart.”

The research also builds on the team’s earlier work showing that these slow, rolling mantle waves can have dramatic effects deep inside continents. Their previous studies suggest that such waves may help trigger diamond eruptions and even reshape landscapes thousands of kilometers away from tectonic boundaries.

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/11/251112011806.htm

Microbes that breathe rust could help save Earth’s oceans

Microbes that breathe iron and eat sulfide could be quietly saving Earth’s oceans.

Source:University of Vienna

Summary:Researchers from the University of Vienna discovered MISO bacteria that use iron minerals to oxidize toxic sulfide, creating energy and producing sulfate. This biological process reshapes how scientists understand global sulfur and iron cycles. By outpacing chemical reactions, these microbes could help stop the spread of oceanic dead zones and maintain ecological balance.Share:

    

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Microbes That Breathe Rust
MISO bacteria “breathe” iron minerals while detoxifying sulfide, driving a newly discovered biological process that connects global sulfur, iron, and carbon cycles. Credit: Shutterstock

An international research team led by microbiologists Marc Mussmann and Alexander Loy at the University of Vienna has uncovered a completely new type of microbial metabolism. The newly identified microorganisms, known as MISO bacteria, are able to “breathe” iron minerals by oxidizing toxic sulfide. The scientists discovered that the reaction between hydrogen sulfide — a poisonous gas — and solid iron minerals is not only a chemical process, but also a biological one. In this newly revealed pathway, adaptable microbes living in marine sediments and wetland soils remove toxic sulfide and use it as an energy source for growth. These bacteria may also play an important role in preventing the expansion of oxygen-depleted “dead zones” in aquatic ecosystems.

The findings were recently published in Nature.

How Microbes Power Earth’s Element Cycles

The movement of key elements such as carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and iron through the environment occurs through what are known as biogeochemical cycles. These transformations take place through reduction and oxidation (redox) reactions that move elements between air, water, soil, rocks, and living things. Because these cycles regulate greenhouse gases, they have a direct influence on Earth’s climate and temperature balance. Microorganisms drive nearly every step of these processes, using substances like sulfur and iron for respiration in much the same way humans rely on oxygen to metabolize food.

Sulfur and iron are particularly essential for microbial communities that live in oxygen-deprived habitats such as ocean floors, wetlands, and sediments. Sulfur can exist as a gas in the atmosphere, as sulfate dissolved in seawater, or locked within mineral deposits. Iron, on the other hand, shifts between different chemical forms depending on the availability of oxygen. When microbes process sulfur, they frequently change the form of iron at the same time, creating a tightly linked relationship between the two elements. This coupling affects nutrient cycling and influences the production or consumption of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane. Understanding these connections helps scientists predict how natural systems respond to environmental changes, including pollution and global warming.

Microbes That Use Iron to Eliminate Toxic Sulfide

“We show that this environmentally important redox reaction is not solely chemical,” says Alexander Loy, research group leader at CeMESS, the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science at the University of Vienna. “Microorganisms can also harness it for growth.”

The team’s discovery reveals a new form of microbial energy production called MISO. This process connects the reduction of iron(III) oxide with the oxidation of sulfide. Unlike a purely chemical reaction, MISO directly generates sulfate, skipping intermediate steps in the sulfur cycle. “MISO bacteria remove toxic sulfide and may help prevent the expansion of so-called ‘dead zones’ in aquatic environments, while fixing carbon dioxide for growth — similar to plants,” adds Marc Mussmann, senior scientist at CeMESS.

A Fast, Widespread Process That Shapes the Planet

In laboratory experiments, the researchers found that the MISO reaction carried out by microbes happens faster than the same reaction when it occurs chemically. This indicates that microorganisms are likely the main force behind this transformation in natural environments. “Diverse bacteria and archaea possess the genetic capacity for MISO,” explains lead author Song-Can Chen, “and they are found in a wide range of natural and human-made environments.”

According to the study, MISO activity in marine sediments could be responsible for as much as 7% of all global sulfide oxidation to sulfate. This process is fueled by the steady flow of reactive iron entering the oceans from rivers and melting glaciers. The research, supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) as part of the ‘Microbiomes Drive Planetary Health’ Cluster of Excellence, identifies a new biological mechanism linking the cycling of sulfur, iron, and carbon in oxygen-free environments.

“This discovery demonstrates the metabolic ingenuity of microorganisms and highlights their indispensable role in shaping Earth’s global element cycles,” concludes Alexander Loy.

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/11/251109013252.htm

Deep-sea mining starves life in the ocean’s twilight zone

New research reveals that deep-sea mining waste could disrupt one of Earth’s most vital but least understood ecosystems.

Source:University of Hawaii at Manoa

Summary:Scientists have discovered that deep-sea mining plumes can strip vital nutrition from the ocean’s twilight zone, replacing natural food with nutrient-poor sediment. The resulting “junk food” effect could starve life across entire marine ecosystems.Share:

    

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Deep-Sea Mining Starves Life in the Ocean
Nodules on the abyssal seafloor in the Clarion Clipperton Zone with a mud cloud from a scientific remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) touching down. Credit: UH/NOAA DeepCCZ Expedition

A new study from the University of Hawai’i (UH) at Mānoa, published on November 6 in Nature Communications, provides the first direct evidence that waste from deep-sea mining could disrupt vital ecosystems in the Pacific Ocean’s Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ). This area, one of the most biologically rich regions of the deep sea, is now the focus of growing industrial interest. Researchers found that sediment discharged during mining operations could harm marine life in the midwater “twilight zone,” a key habitat between 200 and 1,500 meters below the surface that supports vast populations of tiny drifting animals called zooplankton — the foundation of the ocean’s food web.

The team determined that 53% of zooplankton and 60% of micronekton, which feed on zooplankton, would be affected by mining waste discharge. Such disturbances could ripple through the food chain, ultimately impacting larger predators such as fish, seabirds, and marine mammals.

Murky Plumes and “Junk Food” Sediment

“When the waste released by mining activity enters the ocean, it creates water as murky as the mud-filled Mississippi River. The pervasive particles dilute the nutritious, natural food particles usually consumed by tiny, drifting Zooplankton,” said Michael Dowd, lead author of the study and a graduate student in Oceanography at the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST).

“Micronekton, small shrimp, fish and other animals that swim, feed on zooplankton. Some migrate between the depths and near surface waters and they are consumed by fish, seabirds and marine mammals. Zooplankton’s exposure to junk food sediment has the potential to disrupt the entire food web.”

Measuring the Nutritional Impact of Deep-Sea Mining

The research, titled “Deep-sea mining discharge can disrupt midwater food webs,” examined the effects of sediment plumes released during a 2022 mining test in the CCZ. This vast region is targeted for the extraction of polymetallic nodules that contain valuable minerals such as cobalt, nickel, and copper — key components for electric vehicles and renewable technologies.

By collecting and analyzing water samples from the depths where waste was discharged, the scientists found that mining particles contained far fewer amino acids, an important measure of nutritional quality, than the natural particles that typically nourish marine organisms.

“This isn’t just about mining the seafloor; it’s about reducing the food for entire communities in the deep sea,” said co-author Erica Goetze, a SOEST oceanography professor and marine zooplankton specialist. “We found that many animals at the depth of discharge depend on naturally occurring small detrital particles — the very food that mining plume particles replace.”

At present, around 1.5 million square kilometers of the CCZ are licensed for deep-sea mining exploration, reflecting the surge in global demand for minerals used in low-carbon technologies.

Disrupting an Ecosystem Built on Scarcity

During the mining process, nodules are collected from the seafloor along with surrounding sediments and seawater, then pumped to a surface vessel where nodules are separated from the waste material. The leftover sediment and fine nodule fragments are then released back into the ocean. Some companies have proposed releasing this waste within the twilight zone, but the environmental consequences of such practices have remained largely unknown — until now.

These findings underscore a major regulatory gap, as no international rules currently govern where or how mining waste can be discharged.

The twilight zone teems with life, including krill, squid, fish, octopus, and delicate jelly-like species. Many of these organisms travel upward toward the surface each night to feed and then descend again by day, transporting carbon to the deep ocean in the process. This vertical migration helps maintain the planet’s carbon balance and supports the health of marine ecosystems worldwide.

“Our research suggests that mining plumes don’t just create cloudy water — they change the quality of what’s available to eat, especially for animals that can’t easily swim away,” said co-author Jeffrey Drazen, a deep-sea ecologist and SOEST professor of oceanography. “It’s like dumping empty calories into a system that’s been running on a finely tuned diet for hundreds of years.”

Global Implications for Marine Food Webs

The study raises concerns that large-scale mining could trigger widespread and long-lasting changes in ocean ecosystems if it proceeds without strict safeguards. Even commercial fisheries could be affected; for instance, tuna populations migrate through the CCZ, meaning the impacts of mining could extend to seafood consumed around the world.

“Deep-sea mining has not yet begun at a commercial scale, so this is our chance to make informed decisions,” said co-author Brian Popp, SOEST professor of Earth sciences and an expert in marine stable isotope biogeochemistry. “If we don’t understand what’s at stake in the midwater, we risk harming ecosystems we’re only just beginning to study.”

A Call for Responsible Regulation

The authors hope their results will guide policy discussions currently underway at the International Seabed Authority and inform environmental reviews conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They stress the importance of developing international rules to protect marine ecosystems from surface waters to the deep sea.

“Before commercial deep-sea mining begins, it is essential to carefully consider the depth at which mining waste is discharged,” added Drazen. “The fate of these mining waste plumes and their impact on ocean ecosystems varies with depth, and improper discharge could cause harm to communities from the surface to the seafloor.”

Additional contributors to the study include UH Mānoa oceanography graduate students Victoria Assad and Alexus Cazares-Nuesser, and oceanography professor Angelicque White.

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/11/251108012850.htm

Laser satellites expose a secret Antarctic carbon burst

Source:Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters

Summary:A new study shows that the Southern Ocean releases far more carbon dioxide in winter than once thought. By combining laser satellite data with AI analysis, scientists managed to “see” through the polar darkness for the first time. The results reveal a 40% undercount in winter emissions, changing how researchers view the ocean’s carbon balance and its impact on climate models.Share:

    

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Satellites Expose Secret Antarctic Carbon Burst
Researchers have found that the Southern Ocean emits about 40% more carbon dioxide during the Antarctic winter than previous estimates suggested. Using laser-based satellite technology, they uncovered a hidden seasonal flux that redefines the ocean’s role in the global carbon cycle. Credit: Shutterstock

A team of scientists has found that the Southern Ocean emits far more carbon dioxide (CO2) during the lightless Antarctic winter than researchers once believed. According to their new study, this wintertime release of CO2 has been underestimated by as much as 40%.

The research was led by scientists from the Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources (SIO-MNR), and the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology (NIGLAS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Their results were published in Science Advances on Nov. 5.

The Ocean’s Role in Earth’s Carbon Balance

The Southern Ocean is a major regulator of the global carbon cycle, absorbing a large share of the carbon released by human activity. Yet despite its importance, it remains the “largest source of uncertainty” in global CO2 flux calculations.

That uncertainty comes from a lack of winter observations. For months each year, the Southern Ocean lies in complete darkness and is lashed by extreme weather, making direct measurement nearly impossible. During this time, the region becomes an “observational black box.” Traditional satellites, which depend on reflected sunlight (passive sensors) to detect ocean properties, cannot collect data under these conditions, leaving scientists reliant on incomplete or estimated models.

Using Lasers to See in the Dark

To overcome this limitation, the researchers used an advanced approach that combined 14 years of data from a laser-based satellite instrument called LIDAR (on the CALIPSO mission) with machine learning analysis.

LIDAR, unlike passive sensors, sends out its own light signals, working similarly to radar but with lasers instead of radio waves. This technology allowed the team to observe the ocean even during the polar night and create the first continuous, observation-based record of winter CO2 exchange in the Southern Ocean.

The results revealed that earlier estimates had missed nearly 40% of the Southern Ocean’s wintertime CO2output. “Our findings suggest that the Southern Ocean’s role in the global carbon cycle is more complex and dynamic than previously known,” said Prof. Kun Shi of NIGLAS.

Rethinking the Ocean’s Carbon Dynamics

Beyond updating the numbers, the study redefines how scientists understand carbon movement in the Southern Ocean. The team introduced a new “three-loop framework” to explain how CO2 exchange varies across different regions.

In the Antarctic Loop (south of 60°S), physical factors such as sea ice and salinity are the main drivers of CO2exchange. In the Polar Front Loop (45°S-60°S), the interaction between atmospheric CO2 and biological activity (chlorophyll) becomes more influential. Meanwhile, in the Subpolar Loop (north of 45°S), sea surface temperature plays the dominant role.

Global Climate Implications

Filling this long-standing data gap could lead to more accurate global carbon budgets, which form the foundation of climate projections used by organizations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/11/251108014024.htm

Antarctica’s collapse may already be unstoppable, scientists warn

Source:Australian National University

Summary:Researchers warn Antarctica is undergoing abrupt changes that could trigger global consequences. Melting ice, collapsing ice shelves, and disrupted ocean circulation threaten sea levels, ecosystems, and climate stability. Wildlife such as penguins and krill face growing extinction risks. Scientists stress that only rapid emission reductions can avert irreversible damage.Share:

    

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Antarctica’s Collapse May Already Be Unstoppable
Antarctica’s ice and ecosystems are destabilizing faster than expected, threatening coastal cities and wildlife alike. Experts say urgent emission cuts are the only way to stop a cascade of irreversible changes. Credit: Shutterstock

Antarctica faces the possibility of sudden and potentially irreversible changes to its ice, oceans, and ecosystems. Scientists warn that without a sharp global reduction in carbon emissions, these transformations could have serious effects not only for the continent but also for Australia and the rest of the planet.

The warning comes from new research published in Nature by scientists from The Australian National University (ANU) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW), together with researchers from all of Australia’s major Antarctic science institutions.

The team found that multiple large-scale changes are now unfolding at once across Antarctica and that these processes are tightly “interlinked,” intensifying global pressure on the climate system, sea levels, and ecosystems.

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet: A Collapse in Motion

Researchers identified the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) as being at extreme risk of collapsing as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continue to climb. A full collapse of the WAIS could raise global sea levels by more than three meters, endangering coastal populations and major cities worldwide.

Dr. Nerilie Abram, Chief Scientist at the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) and lead author of the study, warned that such an event would have “catastrophic consequences for generations to come.”

She noted that “rapid change has already been detected across Antarctica’s ice, oceans and ecosystems, and this is set to worsen with every fraction of a degree of global warming.”

Sea Ice Decline and Worsening Feedback Loops

According to Dr. Abram, the sharp decline in Antarctic sea ice is another alarming signal. “The loss of Antarctic sea ice is another abrupt change that has a whole range of knock-on effects, including making the floating ice shelves around Antarctica more susceptible to wave-driven collapse,” she said.

The reduction in sea ice, together with the weakening of deep ocean circulation in the Southern Ocean, indicates that these systems are more vulnerable to rising temperatures than previously believed.

As sea ice disappears, more solar heat is absorbed by the ocean’s surface, amplifying regional warming. Dr. Abram added that other critical systems may soon reach a point of no return, including the ice shelves that hold back parts of the Antarctic ice sheet.

Consequences Reaching Australia and Beyond

Professor Matthew England from UNSW and the ARC Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS), who co-authored the study, explained that these rapid Antarctic shifts could have severe effects for Australia.

“Consequences for Australia include rising sea levels that will impact our coastal communities, a warmer and deoxygenated Southern Ocean being less able to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, leading to more intense warming in Australia and beyond, and increased regional warming from Antarctic sea ice loss,” he said.

Wildlife and Ecosystems in Jeopardy

The loss of sea ice is already threatening Antarctic wildlife. Professor England warned that emperor penguin populations are facing greater extinction risks because their chicks depend on stable sea ice to mature. “The loss of entire colonies of chicks has been seen right around the Antarctic coast because of early sea ice breakout events, and some colonies have experienced multiple breeding failure events over the last decade,” he said.

Other species are also under threat. The researchers reported that krill, as well as several penguin and seal species, could experience major declines, while key phytoplankton that form the base of the food web are being affected by ocean warming and acidification.

Professor England added that a potential collapse in Antarctic overturning circulation would be disastrous for marine ecosystems, preventing vital nutrients from reaching surface waters where marine life depends on them.

Urgent Global Action Needed

Dr. Abram emphasized that while efforts through the Antarctic Treaty System remain vital, they will not be sufficient on their own. “While critically important, these measures will not help to avoid climate-related impacts that are already beginning to unfold,” she said.

She urged that “the only way to avoid further abrupt changes and their far-reaching impacts is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to limit global warming to as close to 1.5 degrees Celsius as possible.”

Governments, industries, and communities, she added, must now include these accelerating Antarctic changes in their planning for climate adaptation, especially in regions like Australia that will be directly affected.

A Global Effort to Understand Antarctica’s Rapid Change

The research represents a collaboration among leading Antarctic experts from Australia, South Africa, Switzerland, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. It was led by the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS), working with Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP), and the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD).

This study supports the objectives of the Australian Antarctic Science Decadal Strategy 2025-2035, a long-term initiative to understand and address the sweeping changes underway in Earth’s southernmost region.

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/11/251106003941.htm#google_vignette

Plastic-eating bacteria discovered in the ocean

Source:King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST)

Summary:Beneath the ocean’s surface, bacteria have evolved specialized enzymes that can digest PET plastic, the material used in bottles and clothes. Researchers at KAUST discovered that a unique molecular signature distinguishes enzymes capable of efficiently breaking down plastic. Found in nearly 80% of ocean samples, these PETase variants show nature’s growing adaptation to human pollution.Share:

    

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Plastic-Eating Bacteria Discovered in the Ocean
Bacteria armed with the M5 motif on their PETase enzyme can feast on plastic, a trait now seen thriving across the world’s oceans. Credit: © 2025 KAUST

Far beneath the ocean’s surface, researchers have found bacteria that can digest plastic, using specialized enzymes that evolved alongside humanity’s synthetic debris.

A large-scale global study by scientists at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) revealed that these marine microbes are widespread and genetically prepared to consume polyethylene terephthalate (PET) — the tough plastic used in everyday items like drink bottles and fabrics.

Their remarkable ability stems from a distinct structural feature on a plastic-degrading enzyme called PETase. This feature, known as the M5 motif, acts as a molecular signature that signals when an enzyme can truly break down PET.

“The M5 motif acts like a fingerprint that tells us when a PETase is likely to be functional, able to break down PET plastic,” explains Carlos Duarte, a marine ecologist and co-leader of the study. “Its discovery helps us understand how these enzymes evolved from other hydrocarbon-degrading enzymes,” he says. “In the ocean, where carbon is scarce, microbes seem to have fine-tuned these enzymes to make use of this new, human-made carbon source: plastic.”

How Nature’s Recyclers Evolved

For decades, scientists believed PET was almost impossible to degrade naturally. That belief began to shift in 2016, when a bacterium discovered in a Japanese recycling plant was found to survive by consuming plastic waste. It had developed a PETase enzyme capable of dismantling plastic polymers into their building blocks.

Yet it remained unclear whether oceanic microbes had developed similar enzymes independently.

Using a combination of artificial intelligence modeling, genetic screening, and laboratory testing, Duarte and his team confirmed that the M5 motif distinguishes true PET-degrading enzymes from inactive look-alikes. In experiments, marine bacteria carrying the complete M5 motif efficiently broke down PET samples. Genetic activity maps showed that M5-PETase genes are highly active throughout the oceans, especially in areas heavily polluted with plastic.

Global Spread of Plastic-Eating Microbes

To understand how widespread these enzymes are, the researchers examined more than 400 ocean samples collected from across the globe. Functional PETases containing the M5 motif appeared in nearly 80 percent of the tested waters, ranging from surface gyres filled with floating debris to nutrient-poor depths nearly two kilometers below.

In the deep sea, this ability may give microbes an important edge. The ability to snack on synthetic carbon may confer a crucial survival advantage, noted Intikhab Alam, a senior bioinformatics researcher and co-leader of the study.

The discovery highlights a growing evolutionary response: microorganisms are adapting to human pollution on a planetary scale.

Although this adaptation reveals nature’s resilience, Duarte cautions against optimism. “By the time plastics reach the deep sea, the risks to marine life and human consumers have already been inflicted,” he warns. The microbial breakdown process is far too slow to offset the massive flow of plastic waste entering the oceans each year.

Turning Discovery Into Real-World Solutions

On land, however, the findings could accelerate progress toward sustainable recycling. “The range of PET-degrading enzymes spontaneously evolved in the deep sea provides models to be optimized in the lab for use in efficiently degrading plastics in treatment plants and, eventually, at home,” says Duarte.

The identification of the M5 motif offers a roadmap for engineering faster, more effective enzymes. It reveals the structural traits that work under real environmental conditions rather than just in test tubes. If scientists can replicate and enhance these natural mechanisms, humanity’s battle against plastic pollution may find powerful new allies in one of the planet’s most unexpected places: the deep ocean.

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/11/251104013023.htm

Exclusive-Climate Fund Backs $6 Billion Jordan Water Project With Its Largest Deal

By Reuters

U.S. News & World Report

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People arrive to attend the Pledging Conference of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for the First Replenishment in Paris, France, October 25, 2019. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

By Simon Jessop, Andrea Shalal and Suleiman Al-Khalidi

LONDON/AMMAN (Reuters) -The world’s largest multilateral climate fund has made its largest financial commitment to date to help build a $6 billion water desalination project in Jordan, its top executive said.

 

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The Green Climate Fund’s backing comes ahead of the COP30 event in Brazil in November and a decade after the Paris Agreement, which named the fund as a primary way to finance efforts to curb global warming.

“It will transform the country,” Mafalda Duarte told Reuters, adding that the commitment to Jordan’s Aqaba-Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance Project marked the fund’s “highest investment in a single project”.

A grant and loan totalling $295 million was approved at a board meeting in South Korea on Wednesday with the aim of drawing in financing from others, including the International Finance Corporation and private lenders.

ONE OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST DESALINATION PROJECTS

The desalination project, one of the largest in the world, will eventually directly serve nearly half the population of Jordan, which has the second-lowest water availability of any country on the planet.

That was slated to get worse, with a 4 degrees Celsius rise in temperatures and a 21% decrease in rainfall projected by the end of the century, leading to increased evaporation, reduced groundwater and more frequent droughts.

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Such a scenario has led Jordan’s leader to describe the Meridiam and SUEZ-led project as a strategic priority.

The U.S., which considers Jordan a key regional ally, has pledged $300 million in grants and $1 billion in loans for the project, Jordanian government officials told Reuters, while other countries in the region were expected to contribute.

“The project is a strategic project to desalinate and transport 300 million cubic meters of water every year to most parts of the kingdom,” Jordan’s Minister of Water and Irrigation, Raed Abu Soud, told Reuters.

24 PROJECTS UP FOR GCF BOARD MEETING APPROVAL

A senior official involved with the project said the GCF money would allow it to lower the cost of water by 10 cents a litre and help the government save $1 billion over its lifetime.

It would also allow the IFC to offer better loan terms, which will mean cheaper private sector financing, he added.

The project in Jordan is one of 24 up for discussion at the GCF board meeting. If all are approved, they would total $1.4 billion and mark the fund’s biggest ever financial disbursement.

The GCF this year moved to speed up its decision-making as part of a broader overhaul of the world’s multilateral financial system – and the COP30 talks will look at ways to do even more.

While MDBs were still not doing enough to mobilise private sector capital, their stakeholders needed to be realistic about how much risk they can take, Duarte said.

(Editing by Alexander Smith and Thomas Derpinghaus)

Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-10-29/exclusive-climate-fund-backs-6-billion-jordan-water-project-with-its-largest-deal

Greenland Is Turning Green as It Heats Up

Greenland is turning green. The ice sheets and glaciers on the world’s largest island are melting, leading to the growth of vegetation. A new study shows large areas where ice used to be, now have shrubs, wetlands, or barren rock for the first time since the Vikings visited 1,000 years ago. A team of scientists from the University of Leeds attribute the conditions to warmer air temperatures, which have been heating up at twice the global average. 

Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Ice and snow reflect the sun’s energy keeping Earth cooler, but as temperatures rise, the melting exposes bedrock that absorbs energy. The bare places are then colonized by tundra or treeless ecosystems and eventually shrublands. The melting ice also moves sediment and silt to form wetlands that can release the potent greenhouse gas methane as microbes feed on organic material.

Over a 30-year period, the amount of land with vegetation in Greenland doubled by more than 33,000 square miles, which in addition to increasing greenhouse gas emissions, will contribute to shifting landscapes and sea level rise.

The scientists also say that permafrost, which is a frozen layer beneath Earth’s surface, is being degraded and could affect communities, buildings, and infrastructure.

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

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https://h2oradio.org/this-week-in-water/the-lies-of-the-plastics-industry-exposed

Water Pollution Cleaned Up with Flower Power 

Nitrogen and phosphorus pollution from fertilizer runoff and sewage is a global problem that creates algal blooms in rivers and lakes and dead zones in oceans, where a lack of oxygen diminishes water quality and kills aquatic life. But, according to a team of scientists, there could be a beautiful solution—flowers!

The researchers say the cut flowers could pay for themselves and even turn a profit.  |  Credit: Margi Rentis, CC BY-ND|

Researchers from Florida International University grew marigolds through holes on floating mats in canals near Miami, in a method similar to hydroponics. Instead of getting nutrients from soils, the plants soaked up nitrogen and phosphorus from the polluted water to thrive. And boy they did thrive. The plants blossomed into long, marketable stems with large blooms in quantities that matched typical flower farm production—all while removing 52 percent more phosphorus and 36 percent more nitrogen than would occur naturally.

The bigger the plants grew, the cleaner the water got, which the researchers say could not only solve a vexing pollution problem but also contribute to the area’s economy. Eighty percent of the nation’s bouquet flowers are imported from South America through the Miami International Airport, and the team says the blossoms they grow could be sold to local florists and provide jobs.

Wetlands extract harmful nutrients from water, but many have been eliminated by development. These floating flower wetlands could be an effective way to stemthe tide of pollution worldwide.

The work was published in the journal Environmental Advances.

https://h2oradio.org/this-week-in-water/the-lies-of-the-plastics-industry-exposed