Toby Weiss’ Post

In 2019, MIT Joint Program Senior Research Scientist Stephanie Dutkiewicz used computer models to predict future changes in ocean color, but her results did not make clear if the changes were due to climate change or normal oceanic patterns. A recent study, which added satellite data, indicates that the color changes were "very likely due to human-induced changes to the climate," says Dutkiewicz. Those color changes, in turn, indicate changes in ocean ecosystems. https://bit.ly/4brHLMp #ClimateChange #ocean #ecosystems MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative

Research suggests that by the end of the century, much of the ocean could be in a permanent heat wave relative to historical thresholds, depending on the quantity of greenhouse gases that humans emit. Many other changes will unfold alongside those hot ocean temperatures: stronger hurricanes, rising sea levels, unmanageable conditions for marine life. Our seas, in other words, will be altered within decades.

#Coral around the world is turning white and even dying as recent record #oceanheat takes a devastating toll. It has triggered the fourth global mass #coralbleaching event, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). #Bleaching happens when coral gets stressed and turns white because the water it lives in is too hot. Coral sustains #ocean life, #fishing, and creates trillions of dollars of revenue annually. Ocean heat records have been falling for months but this is the first global evidence of how this episode is affecting #sealife.

🌍 The blue planet is becoming greener. Not because the forests are regaining ground, but because the oceans are changing color. And the prime suspect in this process is climate change on Earth, to which man contributes in a decisive way. It is a global phenomenon that cannot be explained by natural variability alone. This is certainly the international group of researchers, from among others MIT and the British National Oceanography Center, who have just published a study on the subject in the journal Nature in which they investigate the changes that have occurred in the last 20 years. The team found that more than half of the oceans are changing color: 56% of the global marine surface. This is an area larger than the entire surface occupied by the land. Most affected are the tropical regions. #SENnews #environmnent #globalwarming #greeneconomy #solar #eolic #energy #greenenergy #solarenergy #windenergy #sustainable #sustainabledevelopment

⏰ Another wake-up call that human induced climate change has significantly impacted the earth system. More than 56% of the world’s oceans have changed colour to an extent that cannot be explained by natural variability. Tropical oceans close to the equator have become greener in the past two decades, reflecting changes in their ecosystems, according to a study by nature (Cael et al., 2023). Changes to the composition or amount of phytoplankton will alter entire food chains, due to the finely balanced state of ocean ecosystems. “All changes are causing an imbalance in the natural organisation of ecosystems. Such imbalance will only get worse over time if our oceans keep heating,” - Stephanie Dutkiewicz (Senior research scientist in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences). These changes will affect the ocean’s ability to act as a natural carbon sink, since different planktons absorb different amounts of carbon. We need to protect our natural carbon sinks to combat releasing additional amounts of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. #heatwave #carbonsinks #climatechange #ecosystems

Greenland’s Icecap did indeed melt away during previous interglacials. A new study published last week shows that a large portion of Greenland was an ice-free tundra landscape—perhaps covered by trees and roaming woolly mammoths—in the recent geologic past, new University of Vermont-led research shows. This indicates that the ice sheet on Greenland may be more sensitive to human-caused climate change than previously understood—and will be vulnerable to irreversible, rapid melting in coming centuries. “It's really the first bulletproof evidence that much of the Greenland ice sheet vanished when it got warm,” says University of Vermont scientist Paul Bierman. He co-led the new study with lead author Drew Christ, a post-doctoral geoscientist who worked in Bierman’s lab; Professor Tammy Rittenour from Utah State University; UVM professor Nicholas Perdrial in the Department of Geography and Geosciences; UVM research scientist Lee Corbett; and sixteen other scientists from around the world. Understanding Greenland’s past is critical for predicting how its giant ice sheet will respond to climate warming in the future and how quickly it will melt. Since about twenty-three feet of sea-level rise is tied up in Greenland’s ice, every coastal region in the world is at risk. The new study provides strong and precise evidence that Greenland is more sensitive to climate change than previously understood—and at grave risk of irreversibly melting off. The study site is 138 miles inland from the coast and only 800 miles from the North Pole; the new Science study shows that the region entirely melted and was covered with vegetation during Marine Isotope Stage 11, a long interglacial with temperatures similar to or slightly warmer than today. Sediment from these cores also suggest that the giant ice sheet melted in the recent geologic past. The combination of these earlier cores with the new insight from the study reveal the fragile nature of the entire Greenland ice sheet—in the past (at 280 parts per million of atmospheric CO2 or less) and today (422ppm and rising). #climatechange #greenland #ice #glaciers #sealevelrise https://lnkd.in/e-Rc9Yts

Even Northwest Greenland was once green. Scientists found 400,000-year-old plant remains in an almost forgotten 60-year-old ice core. However, the climate change at that time took place over tens of thousands of years. #Arctic #Greenland #climatechange #research #CampCentury

Six of the nine boundaries are transgressed. In addition, ocean acidification is approaching its planetary boundary. https://lnkd.in/eb-Ciumw

Sunday is nature watch day ! Attention what is the impact of ocean heat waves on the environment. These heat waves often go unnoticed, but they can have severe consequences for marine life and ecosystems. 🌊🔥 In British English, the term "ocean heat wave" may not be as commonly used as in American English, but the phenomenon is just as significant. #EnvironmentalSustainability #Recruitment #SustainableBusiness

IS THE WORLD WAKING UP TO THE LIVING PLANET PARADIGM? For decades the Gaia theory guided my thinking and after a quiet period the world seems to wake up to it. Once you see it, you understand how the climate chaos is caused by the damaged we inflicted on the biosphere. Once you see it, you understand that if we reverse the damage, the Earth will regenerate fast and our climate becomes calmer and cooler again. #greenuptocooldown https://lnkd.in/gc4GxNAT