Tag: climate-change

Protected seas help kelp forests bounce back from heatwaves

Date:August 20, 2025

Source:British Ecological Society

Summary:Kelp forests bounce back faster from marine heatwaves when shielded inside Marine Protected Areas. UCLA researchers found that fishing restrictions and predator protection strengthen ecosystem resilience, though results vary by location.Share:

    

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Protected Seas Help Kelp Forests Bounce Back
Marine Protected Areas give kelp forests a recovery edge after heatwaves, showing that local protections can buffer global climate pressures. Credit: Shutterstock

New research finds that Marine Protected Areas can boost the recovery of globally important kelp forests following marine heatwaves. The findings are published in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology.

Using four decades of satellite images, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers have looked at impacts Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are having on kelp forests along the coast of California.

They found that although the overall effect of MPAs on kelp forest cover was modest, the benefits became clear in the aftermath of marine heatwaves in 2014-2016, when kelp forests within MPAs were able recover more quickly, particularly in southern California.

“We found that kelp forests inside MPAs showed better recovery after a major climate disturbance compared to similar unprotected areas.” Explained Emelly Ortiz-Villa, lead author of the study and a PhD researcher at UCLA Department of Geography.

“Places where fishing is restricted and important predators like lobsters and sheephead are protected saw stronger kelp regrowth. This suggests that MPAs can support ecosystem resilience to climate events like marine heatwaves.”

Professor Rick Stafford, Chair of the British Ecological Society Policy Committee, who was not involved in the study said: “It’s great to see these results and they clearly show that local action to protect biodiversity and ecosystem function can help prevent changes caused by global pressures such as climate change.

“However, it also demonstrates the need for effective MPAs. In this study, all the MPAs examined regulated fishing activity, and this is not the case for many sites which are designated as MPAs worldwide – including many in the UK.”

Kelp forests: a globally important and threatened ecosystem

Kelp forests our found around coastlines all over the world, particularly in cool, temperate waters such as the pacific coast of North America, The UK, South Africa, and Australia.

These complex ecosystems are havens for marine wildlife, including commercially important fish, and are one of the most productive habitats on Earth. They’re also efficient in capturing carbon and protect coastlines by buffering against wave energy.

However, kelp forests across the west coast of North America have declined in recent yeadue to pressures such as marine heatwaves, made more frequent and intense with climate change, and predation from increasing numbers of sea urchins, which have benefitted from population collapses of sea stars, which predate them.

Kyle Cavanaugh, a senior author of the study and professor in the UCLA Department of Geography and Institute of the Environment and Sustainability said: “Kelp forests are facing many threats, including ocean warming, overgrazing, and pollution. These forests can be remarkably resilient to individual stressors, but multi-stressor situations can overwhelm their capacity to recover. By mitigating certain stressors, MPAs can help enhance the resilience of kelp.”

Marine protected areas as a conservation tool

MPAs are designated areas of the ocean where human activity is limited to support ecosystems and the species living there. However, protections vary widely and while some areas are no-take zones, others have few restrictions or lack comprehensive management and enforcement. Many even allow destructive practices like bottom trawling.

Effective MPAs form a key part of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed at COP15 in 2022, which commits nations to protecting at least 30% of oceans and land by 2030.

“Our findings can inform decisions about where to establish new MPAs or implement other spatial protection measures.” said Kyle Cavanaugh. “MPAs will be most effective when located in areas that are inherently more resilient to ocean warming, such as regions with localized upwelling or kelp populations with higher thermal tolerance.”

Emelly Villa added: “Our findings suggest that kelp forests could be a useful indicator for tracking the ecological health and climate resilience of protected areas and should be included in long-term monitoring strategies.”

Measuring the impact of marine protected areas

To understand the effects MPAs were having on kelp, the researchers used of satellite data from 1984-2022 to compare kelp forests inside and outside of 54 MPAs along the California coast.

By matching each MPA with a reference site with similar environmental conditions, they were able to test whether MPAs helped kelp forests resist loss or recover from extreme marine heatwaves which took place in the North pacific between 2014 and 2016.

The researchers warn that while their findings show that MPAs can help kelp recovery after marine heatwaves, the effect was highly variable depending on location.

“On average, kelp within MPAs showed greater recovery than in the reference sites. However, not all MPAs outperformed their corresponding reference sites, suggesting that additional factors are also play a role in determining resilience.” said Kyle Cavanaugh.

The researchers say that future work could look to identify these factors to better understand where and when MPAs are most effective at enhancing kelp resilience.

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250820000805.htm#google_vignette

Drought Stalks Serbia, Harming Livestock

By Reuters

U.S. News & World Report

Reuters

REUTERS

A drone view shows a herd of cattle searching for water amid a severe drought that has dried up Suva Planina mountain’s main springs, near the town of Bela Palanka, Serbia August 12, 2025. REUTERS/Djordje Kojadinovic

SUVA PLANINA, Serbia (Reuters) -A prolonged drought and sweltering heat are taking their toll on villagers, livestock and crops in the mountains of southeastern Serbia, with animals starting to die.

Lack of rainfall since May has caused water shortages, wildfires and disruption to agriculture across the Western Balkans, also comprised of Montenegro, Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia,

At Serbia’s Suva Planina (Dry Mountain), owners who take their cows and horses for summer grazing said the springs dried up too early this year.

“There’s not a drop of water … animals are starting to die,” said Ljubisa Petkovic, a herder from the nearby municipality of Gadzin Han.

Around 1,000 thirsty cows and horses milled round a few watering holes and springs, sipping sparse and dirty water from puddles.

Temperatures in Serbia on Tuesday stood at around 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) with several wildfires burning.

In late July, local authorities, alerted by cattle owners, drove water trucks up the Suva Planina pastures, filled a pond, and pledged to send more.

Nikola Manojlovic, 35, said he hoped for more state water supplies and warned that villages in the valley were also suffering from the drought.

MORE:  Places the U.S. Government Warns Not to Travel Right Now

“Corn has dried up … we’ve had no running water in the village for three months now and we have no water here,” Manojlovic said.

Meteorologists say Serbia may have a spell of rainy weather later this month, but it may not be enough to replenish the small rivers, lakes and creeks needed for the cattle to drink.

(Reporting by Branko Filipovicc; Writing by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-08-12/drought-stalks-serbia-harming-livestock

Unprecedented climate shocks are changing the Great Lakes forever

Heat waves and cold spells are now more common on the Great Lakes, according to U-M research, with implications for the region’s weather, economy and ecology.

Summary:Extreme heat waves and cold spells on the Great Lakes have more than doubled since the late 1990s, coinciding with a major El Niño event. Using advanced ocean-style modeling adapted for the lakes, researchers traced temperature trends back to 1940, revealing alarming potential impacts on billion-dollar fishing industries, fragile ecosystems, and drinking water quality.

Great Lakes temperature extremes have surged since the late ’90s, threatening ecosystems, fisheries, and water quality. Advanced modeling now offers a detailed history back to 1940 and could help forecast future risks. Credit: Shutterstock

Heat waves and cold spells are part of life on the Great Lakes. But new research from the University of Michigan shows that is true today in a fundamentally different way than it was even 30 years ago.

“The appearance of these extreme temperatures is increasing,” said Hazem Abdelhady, a postdoctoral research fellow in the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability, or SEAS. “For most lakes, the appearance is up more than 100% compared with before 1998.” That timing is significant because it coincides with the 1997-1998 El Niño, which is one of the strongest on record, he added.To reveal this trend, Abdelhady and his colleagues developed a state-of-the-art approach to modeling the surface temperature of the Great Lakes, which allowed them to study heat waves and cold spells dating back to 1940. The surface water temperature of the Great Lakes plays an important role in the weather, which is an obvious concern for residents, travelers and shipping companies in the region.But the uptick in extreme temperature events could also disrupt ecosystems and economies supported by the lakes in more subtle ways, Abdelhady said.

“These types of events can have huge impacts on the fishing industry, which is a billion-dollar industry, for example,” Abdelhady said. Tribal, recreational and commercial fishing in the Great Lakes account for a total value of more than $7 billion annually, according to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission.

While fish can swim to cooler or warmer waters to tolerate gradual temperature changes, the same isn’t always true for sudden jumps in either direction, Abdelhady said. Fish eggs are particularly susceptible to abnormal temperature spikes or drops.

Hot and cold streaks can also disrupt the natural mixing and stratifying cycles of the lakes, which affects the health and water quality of lakes that people rely on for recreation and drinking water.Now that the researchers have revealed these trends on each of the Great Lakes, they’re working to build on that to predict future extreme temperature events as the average temperature of the lakes — and planet — continue to warm. In studying those events and their connections with global climate phenomena, such as El Niños and La Niñas, we can better prepare to brace for their impact, Abdelhady said.

“If we can understand these events, we can start thinking about how to protect against them,” Abdelahdy said.

The study was conducted through the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research, or CIGLR, and published in Communications Earth & Environment, part of the Nature journal family. The work was supported by the National Science Foundation, its Global Centers program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA.

Capturing the greatness of the lakes

One of the challenges of this work was the size of the problem itself. Although researchers have developed computer models that can simulate processes in most lakes around the world, the Great Lakes aren’t most lakes.

For starters, they’re an interconnected system of five lakes. They also contain more than a fifth of the world’s fresh surface water. And the length of their shoreline is comparable to that of the U.S.’s entire Atlantic coast — including the gulf states.In many regards, the Great Lakes have more in common with coastal oceans than with other lakes, said study coauthor Ayumi Fujisaki-Manome, who is an associate research scientist with SEAS and CIGLR.

“We can’t use the traditional, simpler models for the Great Lakes because they really don’t do well,” Fujisaki-Manome said.

So Abdelhady turned to modeling approaches used to study coastal oceans and tailored them for the Great Lakes. But there was also a data hurdle to overcome in addition to the modeling challenges.

Satellites have enabled routine direct observations of the Great Lakes starting about 45 years ago, Fujisaki-Manome said. But when talking about climate trends and epochs, researchers need to work with longer time periods.

“The great thing with this study is we were able to extend that historical period by almost double,” Fujisaki-Manome said.

By working with available observational data and trusted data from global climate simulations, Abdelhady could model Great Lakes temperature data and validate it with confidence back to 1940.”That’s why we use modeling a lot of the time. We want to know about the past or the future or a point in space we can’t necessarily get to,” said coauthor Drew Groneworld, an associate professor in SEAS and a leader of the Global Center for Climate Change and Transboundary Waters. “With the Great Lakes, we have all three of those.”

David Cannon, an assistant research scientist with CIGRL, and Jia Wang, a climatologist and oceanographer with NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, also contributed to the study. The study is a perfect example of how collaborations between universities and government science agencies can create a flow of knowledge that benefits the public and the broader research community, Gronewold said.

The team’s model is now available for other research groups studying the Great Lakes to explore their questions. For the team at U-M, its next steps are using the model to explore spatial differences across smaller areas of the Great Lakes and using the model to look forward in time.

“I’m very curious if we can anticipate the next big shift or the next big tipping point,” Gronewold said. “We didn’t anticipate the last one. Nobody predicted that, in 1997, there was going to be a warm-winter El Niño that changed everything.”

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250813083616.htm

332 colossal canyons just revealed beneath Antarctica’s ice

Summary:Deep beneath the Antarctic seas lies a hidden network of 332 colossal submarine canyons, some plunging over 4,000 meters, revealed in unprecedented detail by new high-resolution mapping. These underwater valleys, shaped by glacial forces and powerful sediment flows, play a vital role in transporting nutrients, driving ocean currents, and influencing global climate. Striking differences between East and West Antarctica’s canyon systems offer clues to the continent’s ancient ice history, while also exposing vulnerabilities as warm waters carve away at protective ice shelves.

A groundbreaking seafloor map reveals 332 Antarctic canyons—giant, glacially carved corridors shaping climate, ocean currents, and ice shelf survival. Credit: Shutterstock

Submarine canyons are among the most spectacular and fascinating geological formations to be found on our ocean floors, but at an international level scientists have yet to uncover many of their secrets, especially of those located in remote regions of the Earth like the North and South Poles. Now, an article published in the journal Marine Geologyhas brought together the most detailed catalogue to date of Antarctic submarine canyons, identifying a total of 332 canyon networks that in some cases reach depths of over 4,000 meters.

The catalogue, which identifies five times as many canyons as previous studies had, was produced by the researchers David Amblàs, of the Consolidated Research Group on Marine Geosciences at the Faculty of Earth Sciences of the University of Barcelona, and Riccardo Arosio, of the Marine Geosciences Research Group at University College Cork. Their article shows that Antarctic submarine canyons may have a more significant impact than previously thought on ocean circulation, ice-shelf thinning and global climate change, especially in vulnerable areas such as the Amundsen Sea and parts of East Antarctica.Submarine canyons: the differences between East and West Antarctica

The submarine canyons that form valleys carved into the seafloor play a decisive role in ocean dynamics: they transport sediments and nutrients from the coast to deeper areas, they connect shallow and deep waters and they create habitats rich in biodiversity. Scientists have identified some 10,000 submarine canyons worldwide, but because only 27% of the Earth’s seafloor has been mapped in high resolution the real total is likely to be higher. And despite their ecological, oceanographic, and geological value, submarine canyons remain underexplored, especially in polar regions.

“Like those in the Arctic, Antarctic submarine canyons resemble canyons in other parts of the world,” explains David Amblàs. “But they tend to be larger and deeper because of the prolonged action of polar ice and the immense volumes of sediment transported by glaciers to the continental shelf.” Moreover, the Antarctic canyons are mainly formed by turbidity currents, which carry suspended sediments downslope at high speed, eroding the valleys they flow through. In Antarctica, the steep slopes of the submarine terrain combined with the abundance of glacial sediments amplifies the effects of these currents and contributes to the formation of large canyons.The new study by Amblàs and Arosio is based on Version 2 of the International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean (IBCSO v2), the most complete and detailed map of the seafloor in this region. It uses new high-resolution bathymetric data and a semi-automated method for identifying and analysing canyons that was developed by the authors. In total, it describes 15 morphometric parameters that reveal striking differences between canyons in East and West Antarctica.

“Some of the submarine canyons we analyzed reach depths of over 4,000 meters,” explained David Amblàs. “The most spectacular of these are in East Antarctica, which is characterized by complex, branching canyon systems. The systems often begin with multiple canyon heads near the edge of the continental shelf and converge into a single main channel that descends into the deep ocean, crossing the sharp, steep gradients of the continental slope.”

Riccardo Arosio noted that “It was particularly interesting to see the differences between canyons in the two major Antarctic regions, as this hadn’t been described before. East Antarctic canyons are more complex and branched, often forming extensive canyon-channel systems with typical U-shaped cross sections. This suggests prolonged development under sustained glacial activity and a greater influence of both erosional and depositional sedimentary processes. In contrast, West Antarctic canyons are shorter and steeper, characterized by V-shaped cross sections.”According to David Amblàs, this morphological difference supports the idea that the East Antarctica Ice Sheet originated earlier and has experienced a more prolonged development. “This had been suggested by sedimentary record studies,” Amblàs said, “but it hadn’t yet been described in large-scale seafloor geomorphology.”

About the research, Riccardo Arosio also explained that “Thanks to the high resolution of the new bathymetric database — 500 meters per pixel compared to the 1-2 kilometres per pixel of previous maps — we could apply semi-automated techniques more reliably to identify, profile and analyse submarine canyons. The strength of the study lies in its combination of various techniques that were already used in previous work but that are now integrated into a robust and systematic protocol. We also developed a GIS software script that allows us to calculate a wide range of canyon-specific morphometric parameters in just a few clicks.”

Submarine canyons and climate change

As well as being spectacular geographic accidents, the Antarctic canyons also facilitate water exchange between the deep ocean and the continental shelf, allowing cold, dense water formed near ice shelves to flow into the deep ocean and form what is known as Antarctic Bottom Water, which plays a fundamental role in ocean circulation and global climate.

Additionally, these canyons channel warmer waters such as Circumpolar Deep Water from the open sea toward the coastline. This process is one of the main mechanisms that drives the basal melting and thinning of floating ice shelves, which are themselves critical for maintaining the stability of Antarctica’s interior glaciers. And as Amblàs and Arosio have explained, when the shelves weaken or collapse, continental ice flows more rapidly into the sea and directly contributes to the rise in global sea level.

Amblàs and Arosio’s study also highlights the fact that current ocean circulation models like those used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change do not accurately reproduce the physical processes that occur at local scales between water masses and complex topographies like canyons. These processes, which include current channeling, vertical mixing and deep-water ventilation, are essential for the formation and transformation of cold, dense water masses like Antarctic Bottom Water. Omitting these local mechanisms limits the ability that models have to predict changes in ocean and climate dynamics.As the two researchers conclude, “That’s why we must continue to gather high-resolution bathymetric data in unmapped areas that will surely reveal new canyons, collect observational data both in situ and via remote sensors and keep improving our climate models to better represent these processes and increase the reliability of projections on climate change impacts.”

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250809100910.htm

Residents say jet fuel leak in Pennsylvania went undetected for months, poisoned their drinking water

When Kristine Wojnovich and her husband bought their home 20 years ago in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, it was everything they wanted — until one day in 2023, when she turned on her kitchen faucet.

“It tasted weird and smelled like oil,” Wojnovich said. “It was very disconcerting.”

Wojnovich called Sunoco Pipeline, operator of the Twin Oaks pipeline that runs just across their street. It carries jet fuel underground from a fuel terminal outside Philadelphia to Newark Terminal near the airport.Sunoco tested her water, but she says they didn’t find anything.

“[They said], ‘We’re so happy to tell you, there’s no oil, no gas, no propane, nothing in your water,'” Wojnovich said.

When she pressed further about the cause, Wojnovich said Sunoco Pipeline told her they didn’t know, but it could be “some kind of bacteria” unrelated to the pipeline.

But other neighbors made similar complaints. Finally, 16 months after Wojnovich made her first call — and only after the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection investigated — Sunoco found a leak in the pipeline.

“I feel like we’re being poisoned every day,” Wojnovich said.

People in the community don’t use water piped in from a reservoir far away. Instead, they use wells that draw from underground aquifers for their cooking and drinking water.When their well was finally opened earlier this year, Wojnovich was shocked at the amount of jet fuel on top of it. 

“It was 15 gallons…and it’s been gathering there since September 2023,” Wojnovich said.

Sunoco removed that fuel, but Wojnovich says Sunoco still sends workers each day to skim off new fuel seeping into her well.

She’s not alone. The number of wells impacted has risen to at least 38, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

In 2024, Sunoco Pipeline spilled more fuel than any other pipeline in the United States, according to data from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.”A pipeline company that’s more aggressive in follow-up, would have identified it sooner,” said Robert Hall, who spent decades regulating pipeline safety for the federal government. “They are not one of the best pipeline companies with regard to their management of their pipeline.”

In a statement, Sunoco’s partner company Energy Transfer said it has installed “advanced water filtration systems at no cost” and is “committed to the cleanup and restoration of the…neighborhood,” but did not address why it took so long to find the leak.

As for Wojnovich, she is suing Sunoco Pipeline. With the pipeline back in operation, she doesn’t plan to stick around the neighborhood.

“Would you stay if there was 12 feet of jet fuel found on your well?” Wojnovich said. “We feel unsafe.”

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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sunoco-pipeline-fuel-leak-pennsylvania-water/

Monsoon Season, Water Shortages Worsen Health Conditions in Nepal

The Nepalese government plans to improve sanitation access to combat water-borne diseases, while the monsoon season further complicates health problems in the country.

Monsoon in Nepal

Photo by Eileen Delhi

“Colours of Monsoon.” Click to enlarge.

Twenty people have died from water-borne diseases while more than 400 cases of acute watery diarrhea have been recorded so far this year in Nepal, according to IRIN.

While the South Asian country has the second largest freshwater resource in the world it suffers from limited drinking water sources due to pollution and disease. Roughly 15 million people, about half the population, face drinking water shortages, while another 5 million don’t have access to safe drinking water, according to the Federation of Drinking Water and Sanitation Users Nepal, an organization that monitors water and sanitation. And with monsoon season in full effect–it runs from about mid-April to mid-October–major drinking water problems are worsening. In 2009, Nepal recorded 370 deaths and 67,000 cases of AWD during the six-month period, according to the Nepal Red Cross. Women, children and the elderly are often the most effected.

To combat these illnesses, the Nepalese government intends to expand access to toilets from 14.4 million to 19 million people by 2011, the The Himalayan reports.

Flooding, unsanitary dumping, agriculture and political confrontation have lead to further pollution of ground and surface water as well as a damaged water infrastructure.

“With water sources drying up, erratic rainfall and poor management of water resources, the problems are worsening every year,” said Prakash Amatya the director of NGO Forum for Urban Water & Sanitation.

More than 80 percent of diseases reported in Nepal stem from unsafe drinking water and poor hygiene, according to a 2009 report released by Water Aid, an international NGO that strives to improve water access and sanitation for communities. The report, End Water Poverty, reveals that 10,500 children die before the age of five every year from diseases contracted from unsafe water, which includes dysentery, hepatitis and cholera.

“This situation could affect a large number of families who have already been reeling under the immense water shortage situation over the last many years,” Ajaya Dixit, director of the Nepal Water Conservation Foundation, a non-partisan NGO that researches water issues in the Himalaya-Ganga region, told IRIN.

Meanwhile communities higher up in the Himalayas have limited access to the five tributaries of the River Ganges that serve as Nepal’s main water sources. These people live on less than 5 liters of water per person per day, according to a 2004 report from the University in Kathmandu.

Water deficiencies contribute to political turmoil both within Nepal and the region itself, according to Dan Smith, the secretary general of International Alert, an independent peace building organization that works in more than 20 countries.

Nepal is embedded between India and China, which also have large agriculture demands that consume a majority of the Himalayan water. A recently proposed Indian dam project on the trans-boundary Kosi River that is a tributary of the Ganges river, has caused political and social uproar within Nepal, reports The Himalayan.

Sources: The Himalayan, International Alert and IRIN.

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Monsoon Season, Water Shortages Worsen Health Conditions in Nepal

Tiny creatures, massive impact: How zooplankton store 65 million tonnes of carbon annually

Summary:Zooplankton like copepods aren’t just fish food—they’re carbon-hauling powerhouses. By diving deep into the ocean each winter, they’re secretly stashing 65 million tonnes of carbon far below the surface, helping fight climate change in a way scientists are only just starting to understand.

Each year, swarms of tiny zooplankton dive deep and silently trap millions of tons of carbon in the ocean’s depths, a natural climate solution we’ve barely noticed until now. Credit: Shutterstock

A groundbreaking study has revealed that small but mighty zooplankton — including copepods, krill, and salps — are key players in the Southern Ocean’s ability to absorb and store carbon.

Led by an international team of researchers, and published in Limnology and Oceanography, the study quantifies for the first time how these tiny creatures collectively enhance carbon sequestration through their seasonal, vertical migrations.

The Southern Ocean is a key region for carbon storage. Traditional thinking is that the carbon storage in the Southern Ocean is dominated by gravitational sinking of detritus produced by large zooplankton grazers, such as krill.

This new research concerns another more recently described process called the ‘seasonal migrant pump’. This process sees zooplankton migrate each year from surface waters to depths below 500m, storing carbon via their respiration and mortality during this deep overwintering phase.

This figure shows the traditional view of how zooplankton transport carbon to depth (left panel) by eating phytoplankton in surface waters in summer, whereby their waste material (Particulate Organic Carbon, POC) sinks passively to great depth, thereby storing the carbon for thousands of years. This new study shows that a winter process known as the ‘seasonal migrant pump’ also leads to a substantial deep carbon storage (right panel). The zooplankton migrate downwards in autumn to overwinter below 500m where their respiration and death directly inject around 65 million tonnes of carbon annually into the deep ocean.

The team first built a big database of zooplankton collected in thousands of net hauls from around the Southern Ocean, dating from the 1920s to the present day. From these they quantified the extent of the zooplankton’s annual descent to overwinter at great depths, where they respire CO2 — directly and efficiently injecting carbon into the deep ocean.

Key Findings: 

  • 65 Million Tonnes of Carbon Stored Annually: The seasonal, vertical migration of zooplankton transports roughly 65 million tonnes of carbon to depths below 500 meters.
  • Copepods Dominate the ‘Seasonal Migrant Pump’: Mesozooplankton (mainly small crustaceans called copepods) account for 80% of this carbon flux, while krill and salps contribute 14% and 6%, respectively.
  • Climate Implications: The Southern Ocean is a critical carbon sink, but current Earth System Models overlook this zooplankton-driven process. As warming shifts species distributions (e.g., declining krill, increasing copepods, changing food sources), the carbon storage dynamics may change dramatically.

Why does the ‘Seasonal Migrant Pump’ matter: 

The Southern Ocean absorbs approximately 40% of all human-made CO2 taken up by oceans, yet the role of zooplankton has been underestimated. Unlike sinking detritus, which removes both carbon and essential nutrients like iron, migrating zooplankton efficiently inject carbon into the deep ocean while recycling nutrients near the surface. This ‘Seasonal Migrant Pump’ could become even more important as marine ecosystems respond to climate change.

Dr Guang Yang, first author and Marine Ecologist from Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: “Our work shows that zooplankton are unsung heroes of carbon sequestration. Their seasonal migrations create a massive, previously unquantified carbon flux — one that models must now incorporate.”

Prof. Angus Atkinson MBE, co-author and Senior Marine Ecologist at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, added: “This study is the first to estimate the total magnitude of this carbon storage mechanism. It shows the value of large data compilations to unlock new insights and to get an overview of the relative importance of carbon storage mechanisms.”

Dr Katrin Schmidt, co-author and Marine Ecologist at the University of Plymouth, said: “The study shows the ‘seasonal migrant pump’ as an important pathway of natural carbon sequestration in polar regions. Protecting these migrants and their habitats will help to mitigate climate change.”

Dr Jen Freer, co-author and Ecological Modeller at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), added: “Krill are famous for their role in the Antarctic food web, but we find that copepods significantly dominate carbon storage overwinter. This has big implications as the ocean warms and their habitats may shift.”

This research stresses the urgent need for updates to climate models to include zooplankton-driven carbon fluxes. It also highlights the necessity to manage and protect Southern Ocean ecosystems, where industrial fishing and warming threaten krill populations — a key species that supports both carbon export and Antarctica’s unique biodiversity.

This international study was a collaboration among scientists from China, UK, and Canada, and leverages a century’s worth of data on zooplankton biomass, distribution, respiration and mortality across the Southern Ocean.

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/06/250627021851.htm

The oceans are overheating—and scientists say a climate tipping point may be here

Summary:In 2023, the world’s oceans experienced the most intense and widespread marine heatwaves ever recorded, with some events persisting for over 500 days and covering nearly the entire globe. These searing ocean temperatures are causing mass coral bleaching and threatening fisheries, while also signaling deeper, system-wide climate changes.

Marine heatwaves surged to record-breaking levels in 2023, disrupting ecosystems and fisheries across 96% of the ocean. Scientists warn this may mark the beginning of a fundamental climate shift. Credit: Shutterstock

The global marine heatwaves (MHWs) of 2023 were unprecedented in their intensity, persistence, and scale, according to a new study. The findings provide insights into the region-specific drivers of these events, linking them to broader changes in the planet’s climate system. They may also portend an emerging climate tipping point. Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are intense and prolonged episodes of unusually warm ocean temperatures.

These events pose severe threats to marine ecosystems, often resulting in widespread coral bleaching and mass mortality events. They also carry serious economic consequences by disrupting fisheries and aquaculture. It’s widely understood that human-driven climate change is driving a rapid increase in the frequency and intensity of MHWs.

In 2023, regions across the globe, including the North Atlantic, Tropical Pacific, South Pacific, and North Pacific, experienced extreme MHWs. However, the causes underlying the onset, persistence, and intensification of widespread MHWs remain poorly understood.

To better understand the MHWs of 2023, Tianyun Dong and colleagues conducted a global analysis using combined satellite observations and ocean reanalysis data, including those from the ECCO2 (Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean-Phase II) high-resolution project.

According to the findings, MHWs of 2023 set new records for intensity, duration, and geographic extent, lasting four times the historical average and covering 96% of the global ocean surface. Regionally, the most intense warming occurred in the North Atlantic, Tropical Eastern Pacific, North Pacific, and Southwest Pacific, collectively accounting for 90% of the oceanic heating anomalies.

The researchers show that the North Atlantic MHW, which began as early as mid-2022, persisted for 525 days, while the Southwest Pacific event broke prior records with its vast spatial extent and prolonged duration. What’s more, in the Tropical Eastern Pacific, temperature anomalies peaked at 1.63 degrees Celsius during the onset of El Niño.

Using a mixed-layer heat budget analysis, the scientists discovered diverse regional drivers contributing to the formation and persistence of these events, including increased solar radiation due to reduced cloud cover, weakened winds, and ocean current anomalies. According to the researchers, the 2023 MHWs may mark a fundamental shift in ocean-atmosphere dynamics, potentially serving as an early warning of an approaching tipping point in Earth’s climate system.

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/07/250724232417.htm

Scientists just solved the mystery of the missing ocean plastic—now we’re all in trouble

Summary:Millions of tons of plastic in the ocean aren’t floating in plain sight—they’re invisible. Scientists have now confirmed that the most abundant form of plastic in the Atlantic is in the form of nanoplastics, smaller than a micrometer. These particles are everywhere: in rain, rivers, and even the air. They may already be infiltrating entire ecosystems, including the human brain, and researchers say prevention—not cleanup—is our only hope.

“This estimate shows that there is more plastic in the form of nanoparticles floating in the this part of the ocean, than there is in larger micro- or macroplastics floating in the Atlantic or even all the world’s oceans!,” said Helge Niemann, researcher at NIOZ and professor of geochemistry at Utrecht University. Mid-June, he received a grant of 3.5 million euros to conduct more research into nanoplastics in the sea and their fate.

Ocean expedition For this research, Utrecht master student Sophie ten Hietbrink worked for four weeks aboard the research vessel RV Pelagia. On a trip from the Azores to the continental shelf of Europe, she took water samples at 12 locations where she filtered out anything larger than one micrometer. “By drying and heating the remaining material, we were able to measure the characteristic molecules of different types of plastics in the Utrecht laboratory, using mass spectrometry,” Ten Hietbrink says.

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First real estimate The research by NIOZ and Utrecht University provides the first estimate of the amount of nanoplastics in the oceans. Niemann: “There were a few publications that showed that there were nanoplastics in the ocean water, but until now no estimate of the amount could ever be made.” This first estimate was made possible, according to Niemann, by the joining of forces of ocean scientists and the knowledge of atmospheric scientist Dusân Materic of Utrecht University.

Shocking amount Extrapolating the results from different locations to the whole of the North Atlantic Ocean, the researchers arrived at the immense amount of 27 million tons of nanoplastics. “A shocking amount,” Ten Hietbrink believes. “But with this we do have an important answer to the paradox of the missing plastic.” Until now, not all the plastic that was ever produced in the world could be recovered. So, it turns out that a large portion is now floating in the water as tiny particles.

Sun, rivers and rain The nanoplastics can reach water by various routes. In part, this happens because larger particles disintegrate under the influence of sunlight. Another part probably flows along with river water. It also appears that nanoplastics reach the oceans through the air, as suspended particles fall down with rainwater or fall from the air onto the water surface as ‘dry deposition’.

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Consequences The consequences of all those nanoplastics in the water could be fundamental, Niemann emphasizes. “It is already known that nanoplastics can penetrate deep into our bodies. They are even found in brain tissue. Now that we know they are so ubiquitous in the oceans, it’s also obvious that they penetrate the entire ecosystem; from bacteria and other microorganisms to fish and top predators like humans. How that pollution affects the ecosystem needs further investigation.”

Other oceans In the future, Niemann and colleagues also want to do further research on, for example, the different types of plastics that have not yet been found in the fraction of 1 micrometer or smaller. “For example, we have not found polyethylene or polypropylene among the nanoplastics. It may well be that those were masked by other molecules in the study. We also want to know if nanoplastics are as abundant in the other oceans. It is to be feared that they do, but that remains to be proven.

Not cleaning up but preventing Niemann emphasizes that the amount of nanoplastics in ocean water was an important missing piece of the puzzle, but now there is nothing to do about it. “The nanoplastics that are there, can never be cleaned up. So an important message from this research is that we should at least prevent the further pollution of our environment with plastics.”

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/07/250721223827.htm

Lebanon’s Worst Drought on Record Drains Largest Reservoir

QARAOUN, Lebanon (Reuters) -Water levels at Lebanon’s largest reservoir on the Litani River have fallen to historic lows amid what experts describe as the country’s worst drought on record, threatening agriculture, electricity production, and domestic water supplies.

The Litani River National Authority said inflows to Lake Qaraoun during this year’s wet season did not exceed 45 million cubic metres, a fraction of the 350 million cubic metres annual average.

Last year, the figure stood at 230 million. The water currently available in Lake Qaraoun – around 61 million cubic meters – was unusable due to severe pollution, the authority said.

“There were dry years in 1989, 1990 and 1991, but this year is the driest,” said Sami Alawieh, head of the river authority. “We are facing a water scarcity problem across all Lebanese territories and water basins.”

Drone footage of Lake Qaraoun shows a dramatically receded shoreline, exposing cracked earth and dead vegetation.

Lebanon’s hydroelectric plants tied to the Litani basin have been shut down, Alawieh said, causing financial losses and intensifying electricity rationing by Electricite du Liban.

“We have two factors: the decline in rainfall and the pressure on groundwater,” he said.

A study by the authority found climate warming and shifting weather patterns have contributed to more frequent dry seasons and higher temperatures, exacerbating soil moisture loss and reducing the recharging of groundwater reservoirs.

The state utility has slashed supply in some areas from 20 hours a day to as little as 10.

In the fertile area around Qaraoun village, in the Bekaa Valley, farmers were already feeling the impact.

“I have never seen such drought or scarcity of rain as this year,” said Safa Issa. “We used to get snow up to a metre high. Now, it’s been 10 years since we’ve seen any.”

The strain has been compounded by erratic supply of electricity needed to run irrigation systems.

“You irrigate for three hours, then stop for three,” said Fayez Omais, another local farmer.

Suzy Hoayek, an adviser to the Ministry of Energy and Water in Beirut, said a nationwide awareness campaign to reduce consumption would be launched within 10 days.

“The most important thing is to manage demand,” she said.

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https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-07-15/lebanons-worst-drought-on-record-drains-largest-reservoir