May 11, 2020 By Tom Banse Northwest News Network
American and Canadian marine scientists — and one talented dog — are seizing an unexpected opportunity presented by the coronavirus pandemic. They are trying to establish whether Pacifc Northwest whales benefit from the current drop in boat traffic and underwater noise.
May 6, 2020 By Jon Kelvey Eos
Every year, the Mississippi River dumps around 1.4 million metric tons of nitrogen into the Gulf of Mexico, much of it runoff from agricultural fertilizer. This nitrogen can lead to algal blooms, which in turn deplete oxygen concentrations in the water, creating hypoxic dead zones. The nitrogen cycle is a phenomenon environmental scientists would really like to understand better.
May 4, 2020 By Rob Picheta CNN
All of the defining images of the coronavirus pandemic seem to feature one thing: plastic. Surgical masks, gloves, protective equipment, body bags — the Covid-19 crisis has spurred a rapid expansion in the production of desperately-needed plastic products, with governments racing to boost their stockpiles and regular citizens clamoring for their share of supplies.
April 30, 2020 By Matt Simon Wired
Off the coasts of Corsica and Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea swirls an omnipresent yet vanishingly small menace: microplastics. By this point, it comes as no surprise to scientists that they would find the tiny bits of plastic in seafloor sediments—last year researchers found them in samples off the coast of Southern California. But in the Mediterranean, the sheer concentration of them is astounding.
April 24, 2020 By Jessica Aldred chinadialogue
Saving the whales may be more important than planting trees when it comes to tackling climate change and keeping our oceans healthy. The world’s biggest animals play a crucial role, helping fertilise the phytoplankton that absorbs 40% of the world’s CO2. They also capture vast amounts of carbon in their bodies before sinking to the bottom of the ocean when they die and locking it away, sometimes for centuries.