PMEL in the News
Warm water 'blob' off northwest coast returns
There is an ominous presence in the waters off the Pacific Northwest and it has the potential to play havoc with ocean wildlife and could interfere with your winter plans. "The Blob," a mass of warm water floating off the coast of northern Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska, is back, writes University of Washington atmospheric science professor Cliff Mass.
Oceans Are Absorbing Almost All of the Globe’s Excess Heat
Ocean temperatures have been consistently rising for at least three decades. Scientists believe that global sea surface temperatures will continue to increase over the next decade as greenhouse gases build up in the atmosphere.
Searching for Answers at Sea: 2016 West Coast Ocean Acidification Cruise
“We are presently conducting the biggest experiment in human history on our global atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial ecosystems,” according to Dr. Simone Alin, supervisory oceanographer for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Marine Environment Laboratory (NOAA PMEL).
Melting Arctic ice a boon for humpback, minke whales
The Arctic ice melt is creating a "new normal" in the far northern marine ecosystem that has created conditions for a whale population boom. Biological oceanographer Dr Sue Moore from the US Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle said that the loss of sea ice in late northern summer means that "ocean habitat for cetaceans has expanded".
Study finds increased ocean acidification due to human activities
Oceanographers from MIT and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution report that the northeast Pacific Ocean has absorbed an increasing amount of anthropogenic carbon dioxide over the last decade, at a rate that mirrors the increase of carbon dioxide emissions pumped into the atmosphere.