Ocean Conservation & Tidalpunk

The work is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"We were able to show, for the first time, that the shape and depth of the ocean floor play major roles in the long-term carbon cycle," said Matthew Bogumil, ...

The long-term carbon cycle has a lot of moving parts, all functioning on different time scales. One of those parts is seafloor bathymetry—the mean depth and shape of the ocean floor. This is, in turn, controlled by the relative positions of the continent and the oceans, sea level, as well as the flow within Earth's mantle. Carbon cycle models calibrated with paleoclimate datasets form the basis for scientists' understanding of the global marine carbon cycle and how it responds to natural perturbations.

"Typically, carbon cycle models over Earth's history consider seafloor bathymetry as either a fixed or a secondary factor," said Tushar Mittal, the paper's co-author and a professor of geosciences at Pennsylvania State University.

...

Norway's parliament in January approved a proposal to open a vast ocean area larger than Britain for seabed mineral exploration after a government-commissioned study concluded that its impact would be minimal.

Deep-sea mining critics say industrial activity could destroy yet-to-be discovered species that live at the depths of some 1,500-3,000 metres (5,000-10,000 feet) and more, where seabed mineral deposits are located.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/14798220

https://streetartutopia.com/2024/04/23/the-sea-starts-here-dont-litter/

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/8531184

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/8531183

Ward said the impact of bleaching had been extensive across 16 sites that she visited in the reef’s southern section, affecting coral species that had usually been resistant to bleaching. Some coral had started to die, a process that usually takes weeks or months after bleaching occurs.

“I feel devastated,” she said. “I’ve been working on the reef since 1992 but this [event], I’m really struggling with.”

As do I Dr. Ward, with ever election result reinforcing the deveststation of the orthodoxy and the disregard my fellow citizens have for a livable biosphere.

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/environment@beehaw.org/t/803634

Three new levels added by US Coral Reef Watch after ‘extreme’ unprecedented heat, with highest alert warning of ‘near complete mortality’

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/environment@beehaw.org/t/704516

A program in the United Arab Emirates is growing corals native to the Persian Gulf that have evolved to withstand high temperatures.