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.
In our next Profile we interview Dr. Derek Burkholder. Derek talks to us about his journey from growing up in Michigan to studying sharks and sea turtles in Florida where he teaches at Nova Southeastern University and oversees a sea turtle conservation program and marine environmental education center. We ask him how coronavirus has affected his research and what brings him hope for the future of the ocean.
May 5, 2020 By Jordi Boada oceanographic
Deserts are among the most impressive landscapes on earth. The loneliness and vastness of terrestrial deserts have attracted explorers since ancient times, succumbing to their bleakness. But I never imagined deserts like this could exist underneath the surface of the ocean.
May 4, 2020 By Basten Gokkon Mongabay
Conservationists see an opportunity to strengthen oversight of the shark trade in Indonesia as fishing activity grinds to a halt amid the COVID-19 outbreak. West Nusa Tenggara province, home to one of the world’s biggest shark and ray markets, saw its trade in the species in the first quarter of 2020 drop by 68% from a year earlier, to less than 1,900 kilograms (4,200 pounds). Much of the shark and ray products from the province are exported to China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, the U.S. and elsewhere.
May 4, 2020 By Katie Pavid Natural History Museum
Climate change is having a bigger impact on animals and plants in the ocean than those on land, according to new research. This could be because organisms that live on land are better able to avoid the negative consequences of global warming than their ocean counterparts.