Isaac Held, Ph.D., a senior research scientist with the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, N.J., will receive the prestigious BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award for his contributions to improved understanding of climate change and atmospheric circulation systems. He will accept the award at a ceremony in Madrid, Spain, in June. In his [...]
Jan 26 2012 | Posted in
Climate Change |
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By combining detailed chemical measurements in the deep ocean, in the oil slick, and in the air, NOAA scientists and academic colleagues have independently estimated how fast gases and oil were leaking during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The new chemistry-based spill rate estimate, an average of 11,130 tons [...]
NOAA is seeking public comment on a draft environmental impact statement describing how offshore oil and gas activities in the U.S. Beaufort and Chukchi seas could affect marine mammals and the Alaska Native communities that depend on them for subsistence. The document also examines measures to lessen potential effects. The draft EIS, released today, looks [...]
You won’t find Spirobranchus giganteus, also known as the Christmas tree worm, eating your fir tree this year. The common name for these worms is derived from their appearance, not their habitat or diet. Each worm has two brightly colored crowns that protrude from its tube-like body. These Christmas tree-like crowns are composed of radioles, [...]
Over the past decade, the greater Gulf of Mexico region has been battered not only by hurricanes and oil spills, but by numerous natural and human-caused events such as tornadoes, droughts, harmful algal blooms, dead zones, and wildfire. The impacts from these events have lasting effects on vital economic drivers such as fishing, boating and [...]
The amount of air pollutants in the atmospheric plume generated by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was similar to a large city according to a new NOAA-led study published today in a special issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers from the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) and NOAA’s Cooperative Institute [...]
There has been much sensational reporting in the media regarding the vast amount of debris that was set adrift in the Pacific Ocean as a result of the devastating tsunami that struck the Fukushima Prefecture of Japan on March 11, 2011. If we are to believe the media reports there is anywhere from 5 to [...]
A new U.S. federal policy was proposed on December 8th, 2011 that will help clarify which species or populations of species are eligible for protection under the Endangered Species Act and will provide for earlier and more effective opportunities to conserve declining species. The public is invited to comment on the policy, proposed by the Interior Department’s [...]
An international team of scientists who monitor the rapid changes in the Earth’s northern polar region say that the Arctic is entering a new state – one with warmer air and water temperatures, less summer sea ice and snow cover, and a changed ocean chemistry. This shift is also causing changes in the region’s life, [...]
A ‘brown cloud’ of pollution over the Indian Ocean resulting from human activities has led to stronger tropical cyclones in the Arabian Sea, according to an international team of scientists. The findings appear in a paper published this month in the journal Nature titled Arabian Sea tropical cyclones intensified by emissions of black carbon and [...]
Florida scientists and veterinarians studying the causes of sea turtle deaths in the Gulf of Mexico have been awarded $227,793 for the first year of an anticipated three-year, $653,379 project to determine how the red tide toxin, or brevetoxin, affects turtle health. Endangered sea turtles inhabit areas in the Gulf of Mexico where toxic red [...]
The globe experienced its eighth warmest October since record keeping began in 1880. Arctic sea ice extent was the second smallest extent on record for October at 23.5 percent below average. Additionally, La Niña conditions strengthened during October 2011. According to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, La Niña is expected to continue through the Northern Hemisphere [...]
NOAA’s updated Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI), which measures the direct climate influence of many greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, shows a continued steady upward trend that began with the Industrial Revolution of the 1880s. Started in 2004, the AGGI reached 1.29 in 2010. That means the combined heating effect of long-lived [...]
Nov 14 2011 | Posted in
Climate Change |
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NOAA has announced that the high number of seal deaths that have occurred along the New England coast since September has been declared an “Unusual Mortality Event.” This will enable the agency to direct additional resources to further investigate the cause of these seal deaths. “We want to remind people to not get close to [...]
Pathology experts contracted by NOAA have identified the bacteria Brucella in five bottlenose dolphins that died in the northern Gulf of Mexico. These five are among the 580 dolphins in higher than expected strandings that began in February 2010 and are continuing. NOAA has declared it an “unusual mortality event,” triggering a focused, expert investigation [...]
A peer-reviewed study commissioned by NOAA shows the American people assign an estimated total economic value of $33.57 billion for the coral reefs of the main Hawaiian Islands. “The study shows that people from across the United States treasure Hawaii’s coral reefs, even though many never get to visit them,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under [...]
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