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 …
BP Plc, citing low oil prices, tried to whittle away at $13.7 billion in potential fines under the Clean Water Act on Tuesday as the penalty phase started in its trial over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP said its fine should be modest as it took extensive …
Five years after the Gulf of Mexico disaster, oil company faces a fine of up to $13.7bn as Judge Carl Barbier begins assessment This Tuesday, close to five years after an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig claimed 11 lives and poured millions of barrels of oil into the …
PARIS – A sharp rise in sea temperature can inflict potentially catastrophic “bleaching” on corals, but new research has identified factors that may render some reefs more resilient than others. Five conditions can determine whether or not a reef is doomed after bleaching — episodes that threaten a valuable source …
A team of scientists, in a groundbreaking analysis of data from hundreds of sources, has concluded that humans are on the verge of causing unprecedented damage to the oceans and the animals living in them. “We may be sitting on a precipice of a major extinction event,” said Douglas J. …
Mass mortality events (MMEs), the rapid, catastrophic die-off of organisms, are an example of a rare event affecting natural populations. Individual reports of MMEs clearly demonstrate their ecological and evolutionary importance, yet our understanding of the general features characterizing such events is limited. Here, we conducted the first, to our …
The proliferation of a number of pressures affecting the ocean is leading to a growing concern that the state of the ocean is compromised, which is driving society into pessimism. Ocean calamities are disruptive changes to ocean ecosystems that have profound impacts and that are widespread or global in scope. …
Increasing CO2 atmospheric levels lead to increasing ocean acidification, thereby enhancing calcium carbonate dissolution of calcifying species. We gathered peer-reviewed experimental data on the effects of acidified seawater on calcifying species growth, reproduction, and survival. The data were used to derive species-specific median effective concentrations, i.e., pH50, and pH10, via …
Polar bears may face starvation and reproductive failure by the year 2100 due to heavy loss of Arctic sea ice, a new study has warned. Shifts in the timing and duration of Arctic ice cover, especially the possible lengthening of ice-free periods, may impact polar bear population under projected warming …
The Indian Coast Guard has given clean chit to ships earlier held responsible for polluting the sea, after tar balls surfaced on Goan shore during monsoon. "It is not the ships, but the industries located along the coast that are responsible for this pollution, which is adversely affecting the tourism …
As carbon dioxide continues to enter out Earth's atmosphere, the ocean is continuing to acidify. Now, scientists have developed a new way to measure how this acidification is affecting marine ecosystems over an entire oceanic basin. When CO2 enters our atmosphere, it also mixes with seawater. This accumulation of CO2 …
The world's oceans need expanded regions where fishing is barred to help preserve fragile ecosystems and protect them from what one leading biologist dubbed "a silent storm" driven by climate change. The World Parks Congress, a once-in-a-decade event, wrapped up in Sydney on Wednesday with calls to ensure at least …
Asia and the Pacific region is expected to be hit hard by the impacts of climate change. Developing member countries (DMCs) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are among the most vulnerable, with seven of the top ten vulnerable countries being in the region. Scaling-up of mitigation and adaptation efforts …
Japan has unveiled a plan to kill 333 minke whales in the Southern Ocean next year as part of its push to resume whaling following a legal setback instigated by Australia. The plan, released by the Japanese government on Tuesday, sets out a 12-year program that would result in the …
This publication presents 18 case studies to demonstrate how Protected Areas (PAs) can be better managed for disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA). The chapters vary from scientific studies to good practices, as well as (existing or required) policy frameworks that enable appropriate management. The book presents …
Meeting of 25 nations, including Russia and Ukraine, in Hobart will consider proposals on the future of Antarctic research and marine protection. Tense international relations could sway the outcome of vital research and protection proposals for the Antarctic, the head of a global meeting of scientists says. Russia and China …
In the summer of 2010-2011 Western Australia experienced an unprecedented heatwave — but not on land. Between December 2010 and April 2011, sea temperatures off the WA coast reached 3C above average, and for two weeks peaked at 5C above average — 28C compared to the normal 23C. The effects …
Scientists warn that pollution may be dramatically increasing the rate of ocean acidification in inshore areas, threatening coral It has long been known that pollution is having a devastating impact on the Great Barrier Reef but now scientists are warning that it may also be dramatically increasing the rate of …
Ocean acidification and coral reef damage is likely going to cost the world economy over a trillion dollars by 2100, according to a new report by United Nations (UN) experts. The report was released on Wednesday by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, which has been assessing the economic impacts …
The researchers performed a global assessment of how fish biomass has changed over the last 100 years, applying a previously developed methodology using ecological modeling. Our assessment built on more than 200 food web models representing marine ecosystems throughout the world covering the period from 1880 yo 2007. All models …
Canada will have trouble ensuring marine safety in the Arctic as climate change melts the sea ice and shipping increases, Parliament's environmental watchdog said on Tuesday. Canada, said Environment Commissioner Julie Gelfand, had "no long-term national vision" to cope with more shipping in the region, where firms are trying to …
