The Miyawaki Forest is one of the most promising developments today in the fight against climate change. “Miyawaki Forest” is a term for a dense urban pocket forest filled with native species of trees, shrubs, and grasses. It is named for Akira Miyawaki, the famed Japanese botanist who is no longer with us. As a…
Phytoplankton in the Gulf of Maine have become 65% less productive. The Gulf of Maine is home to the North Atlantic right whale, a critically endangered species with less than 350 left alive. Right whales feed on zooplankton, krill, and other small crustaceans. These animals are fed by phytoplankton, organisms at the base of the…
None of us are strangers to the reports of the Gulf of Maine heating 97% faster than the world’s oceans. However, the actual reasons for this can be lost in the constant headlines about global warming and rising greenhouse gases. To explain this extraordinary phenomenon, let’s look closely at four factors: surface seawater temperatures, heat…
Why did sea surface temperatures go up when summer air temperatures did not? This perplexing question arose after last summer’s unusual findings. Ocean surface water temperatures off Boston, Portsmouth, and Portland were nearly two degrees Fahrenheit warmer than usual, aligning with the long-term trend of increasingly warm conditions primarily driven by climate change. To understand…
As if the ocean wasn’t scary enough, some of its dangerous inhabitants lurk unseen beneath the surface. And they’re not only limited to oceans but also rivers, ponds, and other bodies of water. Micro-pests have a significant impact on other water creatures as well as humans, sometimes causing serious illnesses. Here’s how micro-pests are tracked…
The Problem The North Atlantic right whale is a critically endangered whale. In the 1970s, with the first whale watches, there were estimated to be 350 right whales, and the population was growing. Then, in 2017, right whales took a turn for the worse. By 2020, the population had fallen to 338 right whales, with…
There was no ambiguity to the title of the juried science journal article: “Warning of a forthcoming collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.” Any year within this century, ocean currents will completely stop if we continue to emit the same level of greenhouse gasses as we do today. When the movement of the Atlantic…
Excessive greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere are warming our planet, damaging ecosystems, and increasing extreme weather events with devastating costs. There are currently 422 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere, but scientists have set the critical goal of reducing those levels to 350 ppm. The question is, where can that carbon go? Soil is the…
