By Julia Conley

Common Dreams

April 25, 2023

Scientists are so alarmed by a new study on ocean warming that some declined to speak about it on the record, the BBC reported Tuesday.

"One spoke of being 'extremely worried and completely stressed,'" the outlet reported regarding a scientist who was approached about research published in the journal Earth System Science Data on April 17, as the study warned that the ocean is heating up more rapidly than experts previously realized—posing a greater risk for sea-level rise, extreme weather, and the loss of marine ecosystems.

Scientists from institutions including Mercator Ocean International in France, Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the United States, and Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research collaborated to discover that as the planet has accumulated as much heat in the past 15 years as it did in the previous 45 years, the majority of the excess heat has been absorbed by the oceans.

In March, researchers examining the ocean off the east coast of North America found that the water's surface was 13.8°C, or 14.8°F, hotter than the average temperature between 1981 and 2011.

The study notes that a rapid drop in shipping-related pollution could be behind some of the most recent warming, since fuel regulations introduced in 2020 by the International Maritime Organization reduced the heat-reflecting aerosol particles in the atmosphere and caused the ocean to absorb more energy.

But that doesn't account for the average global ocean surface temperature rising by 0.9°C from preindustrial levels, with 0.6°C taking place in the last four decades.

The study represents "one of those 'sit up and read very carefully' moments," said former BBC science editor David Shukman.

Lead study author Karina Von Schuckmann of Mercator Ocean International told the BBC that "it's not yet well established, why such a rapid change, and such a huge change is happening."

"We have doubled the heat in the climate system the last 15 years, I don't want to say this is climate change, or natural variability or a mixture of both, we don't know yet," she said. "But we do see this change."

Scientists have consistently warned that the continued burning of fossil fuels by humans is heating the planet, including the oceans. Hotter oceans could lead to further glacial melting—in turn weakening ocean currents that carry warm water across the globe and support the global food chain—as well as intensified hurricanes and tropical storms, ocean acidification, and rising sea levels due to thermal expansion.

A study published earlier this year also found that rising ocean temperatures combined with high levels of salinity lead to the "stratification" of the oceans, and in turn, a loss of oxygen in the water.

"Deoxygenation itself is a nightmare for not only marine life and ecosystems but also for humans and our terrestrial ecosystems," researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in January. "Reducing oceanic diversity and displacing important species can wreak havoc on fishing-dependent communities and their economies, and this can have a ripple effect on the way most people are able to interact with their environment."

The unusual warming trend over recent years has been detected as a strong El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is expected to form in the coming months—a naturally occurring phenomenon that warms oceans and will reverse the cooling impact of La Niña, which has been in effect for the past three years.

"If a new El Niño comes on top of it, we will probably have additional global warming of 0.2-0.25°C," Dr. Josef Ludescher of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research told the BBC.

The world's oceans are a crucial tool in moderating the climate, as they absorb heat trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases.

Too much warming has led to concerns among scientists that "as more heat goes into the ocean, the waters may be less able to store excess energy," the BBC reported.

The anxiety of climate experts regarding the new findings, said the global climate action movement Extinction Rebellion, drives home the point that "scientists are just people with lives and families who've learnt to understand the implications of data better."

Read more.

Volcanoes of the Deep Sea (2003)

Watching the film that got me excited about tube worms and the deep ocean when I was just a small child, lost at the Pacific Science Center. Somehow I ended up in a showing of the film all on my own, absolutely riveted by the deep ocean life and geology, until security found me and brought me back to my parents.

I don't remember if I was there from the start of the film, but a few minutes in they have some beautiful shots of lobate ctenophores, and I wonder if that day might have been the first time I ever saw a ctenophore.

I've included a link to where the movie is free to watch, in case anyone is interested.

At the start of this summer my research advisor actually got invited to be part of the Titanic submarine tour as an expert scientist (she's a kickass deep sea pioneer) but she turned down the offer cuz she gets seasick and didn't want to puke on the boat before getting in the submersible.

She also apparently wouldn't have been paid. They just wanted her to talk to the rich people about her life's work. (The tickets for the tour are literally around $250,000 from what she told us....)

Glad my PI didn't get stuck at the fucking bottom of the atlantic ocean

If you like the ocean.

Recommend looking at frutiger aero (it's kinda spacy and mainly aquatic, and weird. But it goes hard. /pos) unless you've heard of it idk kskdk

so i looked it up,, and its an aesthetic? 👁️👁️ wha. highkey confused but yeah, it does go kinda hard. not rlly our thing but cool nonetheless :] its just a bit too… light for us or something. i dunno man im bad at words 😦

i make art sometimes and i think its pretty cool. her name is kjitty and shes my girliepop. more kjitty below the cut. ever so mild nudity. shes a girl with top surgery scars and those r shown in the second one (third overall second below the cut)

and heres an alt with the original tail!!! i like both but i like the top one better :3

But i’m sure it has, it shouldn't have

We're gonna pluck You off baby, come to daddy Daddy's come to baby come to daddy baby, come to daddy baby, come to daddy Daddy's come to baby baby, come to daddy Daddy's Come to baby come to daddy easy you shove it back where it came I can has, and everything

04.16.23 Novel Forms of Chaos

Woke early. Cuppa coffee, watching climate drama Extrapolations. Episode 1 hits hard with a possible near future. Sends me searching.  Then, saw this: "And here’s the scary part. Even before that El Nino officially forms, we’re already seeing global ocean temperatures setting a new all-time record, breaking the one set in 2016. The next jump in temperature will start from such a high base that Jim Hansen, the world’s most renowned climatologist, recently predicted that not only will we see a new global record air temperature in 2024 (“even a little futz of an El Niño should be sufficient for record global temperature”), but that it could, at least temporarily, bust through the 1.5 degree mark that the world swore to avoid in Paris just eight years ago. Hansen’s not alone in the prediction “It’s very likely that the next big El Niño could take us over 1.5C,” said Prof Adam Scaife, the head of long-range prediction at the UK Met Office. “The probability of having the first year at 1.5C in the next five-year period is now about 50:50.” As this happens, novel forms of chaos will ensue. No human has ever left us a shred of evidence about what life is like on a globe with these average temperatures. I imagine the phrase “on steroids” will get a regular workout, but it’s not quite right, since pharmaceutical enhancements work on the existing body. A planet at 420 parts per million co2 is a different planet than one at 275 parts per million. If Captain Kirk was landing on it, the first thing his tricorder would register is the composition of the atmosphere; when you’re talking planets, it’s a pretty basic data point. So we don’t really know what surprises are in store—though that news that the Antarctic current was starting to slow like a hose with a crimp is fair warning." We're in for a stretch of heavy climate - Source for above clip Deep Antarctic current slowing?? Is this true? sez me Melting Antarctic ice predicted to cause rapid slowdown of deep ocean current by 2050 | the guardian "A team of Australian scientists looked at the deep ocean current below 4,000 metres that originates in the cold, fresh and dense waters that plunge down off Antarctica’s continental shelf and spread to ocean basins around the globe. Prof Matt England, of the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New South Wales and a co-author of the research published in Nature, said the whole deep ocean current was heading for collapse on its current trajectory. “In the past, these circulations have taken more than 1,000 years or so to change, but this is happening over just a few decades. It’s way faster than we thought these circulations could slow down. “We are talking about the possible long-term extinction of an iconic water mass.” Welp. I want to be able to push this away with claims of untested science and doomsaying, but you know what? I cannot. So far, climate science predictions are on track. We are experiencing the things they described. In fact, climate changes are happening faster than scientists' earlier predictions.

fucking love iron lung…..

I'm on hiatus from thinking for the next while. Discursive and analytical fandom practices I love you so so much you are in everything I do, including the silliest of headcanons and comics but FUCK I am not equipped to think about. Anything right now

Oh, hullo!

It's very nice to meet you. :)

My name is Turtle. I'm studying to be a marine ecologist, but I'm also an artist and a writer. My special interest is marine biology, and my favourite media is World Trigger, Hunter x Hunter, The Moomins and Pokémon.

My Ao3 is here, my instagram is here and my youtube is here! My art tag is turtle arts and my writing tag is turtle writes, while the general nonsense and tomfoolery will be it's turtle time. Other (non-fandom) posts and reblogs will be in either the hoard or science time. Occasionally I'll share posts that I think are important but it'll mostly be shits and giggles.

I hope you enjoy your time here! You're always welcome in these woods.

Today started off rough but then i walked in to work to find pumpkin cold brew at my desk, my new office chair waiting to be assembled, an email to schedule my next covid vaccine, and now my coworker has brought me this

Because I quote "I'm a two scent guy and they send me all this product to test and review, but I'll never use it in the long run, so I want to know they're being appreciated. I'll bring you a couple more next week."

Tuesday is working very hard to redeem itself lads

Possibly the funniest trigger warning I've seen yet

Anyways did you guys know the billionaire submarine was actually Called Ocean Gate, or are you like me and thought it was another Gamer Gate/Pizza Gate situation

where the fuck did all my fish go

I know we talk about girls witchy phase and their mythology phases but did anyone else out there go through a shipwreck phase?