South Atlantic Ocean

State of the Climate in Asia 2024

The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …

Southern Hemisphere westerlies as a driver of the early deglacial atmospheric CO2 rise

The early part of the last deglaciation is characterised by a ~40 ppm atmospheric CO2 rise occurring in two abrupt phases. The underlying mechanisms driving these increases remain a subject of intense debate. Here, we successfully reproduce changes in CO2, δ13C and Δ14C as recorded by paleo-records during Heinrich stadial …

Coastal leatherback turtles reveal conservation hotspot

Previous studies have shown that the world’s largest reptile – the leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea – conducts flexible foraging migrations that can cover thousands of kilometres between nesting sites and distant foraging areas. The vast distances that may be travelled by migrating leatherback turtles have greatly complicated conservation efforts for …

Quake of magnitude 7.4 strikes northwest of Ascension Island - USGS

An earthquake of magnitude 7.4 struck 975 km (606 miles) northwest of Ascension Island in the Atlantic Ocean on Monday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS )reported. There was no immediate warning of any tsunami triggered by the quake, which occurred at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), the …

An extensive reef system at the Amazon River mouth

Large rivers create major gaps in reef distribution along tropical shelves. The Amazon River represents 20% of the global riverine discharge to the ocean, generating up to a 1.3 × 106–km2 plume, and extensive muddy bottoms in the equatorial margin of South America. As a result, a wide area of …

Impacts of Indian and Atlantic oceans on ENSO in a comprehensive modeling framework

The impact of the Indian and Atlantic oceans variability on El Niño–Southern-Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon is investigated through sensitivity experiments with the SINTEX-F2 coupled model. For each experiment, we suppressed the sea surface temperature (SST) variability in either the Indian or Atlantic oceans by applying a strong nudging of the SST …

Modeling marine surface microplastic transport to assess optimal removal locations

Marine plastic pollution is an ever-increasing problem that demands immediate mitigation and reduction plans. Here, a model based on satellite-tracked buoy observations and scaled to a large data set of observations on microplastic from surface trawls was used to simulate the transport of plastics floating on the ocean surface from …

Large-scale climatic anomalies affect marine predator foraging behaviour and demography

Determining the links between the behavioural and population responses of wild species to environmental variations is critical for understanding the impact of climate variability on ecosystems. Using long-term data sets, we show how large-scale climatic anomalies in the Southern Hemisphere affect the foraging behaviour and population dynamics of a key …

The seasonal sea-ice zone in the glacial Southern Ocean as a carbon sink

Reduced surface–deep ocean exchange and enhanced nutrient consumption by phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean have been linked to lower glacial atmospheric CO2. However, identification of the biological and physical conditions involved and the related processes remains incomplete. Here we specify Southern Ocean surface–subsurface contrasts using a new tool, the combined …

How thermodynamic environments control stratocumulus microphysics and interactions with aerosols

Aerosol–cloud interactions are central to climate system changes and depend on meteorological conditions. This study identifies distinct thermodynamic regimes and proposes a conceptual framework for interpreting aerosol effects. In the analysis, ten years (2003–2012) of daily satellite-derived aerosol and cloud products are combined with reanalysis data to identify factors controlling …

Global estimate of submarine groundwater discharge based on an observationally constrained radium isotope model

Along the continental margins, rivers and submarine groundwater supply nutrients, trace elements, and radionuclides to the coastal ocean, supporting coastal ecosystems and, increasingly, causing harmful algal blooms and eutrophication. While the global magnitude of gauged riverine water discharge is well known, the magnitude of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is poorly …

The extreme 2014 flood in south-western Amazon basin: the role of tropical-subtropical South Atlantic SST gradient

Unprecedented wet conditions are reported in the 2014 summer (December–March) in South-western Amazon, with rainfall about 100% above normal. Discharge in the Madeira River (the main southern Amazon tributary) has been 74% higher than normal (58 000 m3 s−1) at Porto Velho and 380% (25 000 m3 s−1) at Rurrenabaque, …

Antarctic ice core reveals how last ice age ended

Analysis of an Antarctic ice core has revealed that warming in the frozen continent began about 22,000 years ago, a few thousand years earlier than suggested by earlier records. The new research shows that Antarctic warming began at least two, and perhaps four, millennia earlier than had been previously believed. …

Gas released from oceans behind ozone destruction

London: Scientists have found that a gas released from the oceans on Earth may play a significant role in the destruction of ozone layer. Researchers at the Universities of York and Leeds found that the principal source of iodine oxide can be explained by emissions of hypoiodous acid (HOI) — …

Impact of intensified Indian Ocean winds on mesoscale variability in the Agulhas system

South of Africa, the Agulhas ocean current system transports warm, salty water from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. This study shows that the mesoscale variability of the Agulhas system has intensified over recent decades, apparently owing to enhanced trade winds over the tropical Indian Ocean.

“Indication of global warming”

A massive iceberg — twice the size of Manhattan — has broken off of a glacier in Greenland, according to NASA satellite imagery, in what could be the latest indication of global warming. The images released on Wednesday show the massive chunk of ice breaking off of the Petermann Glacier …

Impact of intensified Indian Ocean winds on mesoscale variability in the Agulhas system

South of Africa, the Agulhas Current retroflects and a portion of its waters flows into the South Atlantic Ocean, typically in the form of Agulhas rings. This flux of warm and salty water from the Indian to the Atlantic Ocean (the Agulhas leakage) is now recognized as a key element …

Study Reveals Impacts of Environmental Changes on Southern Ocean Food Web

In January of this year, a comprehensive study of animals in the Southern Ocean was completed, showing that the region is under threat from climate change. The scientific journal Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography featured the findings of an international group of researchers who wrote over …

Atlantic Sturgeon Declared an Endangered Species

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association today designated the Atlantic sturgeon an endangered species, providing it greater legal protections, following a petition the Natural Resources Defense Council submitted in September 2009. NOAA's Fisheries Service today announced four subpopulations or distinct population segments of Atlantic sturgeon, which are treated as individual …

The case against climate regulation via oceanic phytoplankton sulphur emissions

More than twenty years ago, a biological regulation of climate was proposed whereby emissions of dimethyl sulphide from oceanic phytoplankton resulted in the formation of aerosol particles that acted as cloud condensation nuclei in the marine boundary layer. In this hypothesis—referred to as CLAW—the increase in cloud condensation nuclei led …

Prehistoric Greenhouse Data from Ocean Floor Could Predict Earth's Future, Study Finds

New research from the University of Missouri indicates that Atlantic Ocean temperatures during the greenhouse climate of the Late Cretaceous Epoch were influenced by circulation in the deep ocean. These changes in circulation patterns 70 million years ago could help scientists understand the consequences of modern increases in greenhouse gases. …

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