Most of the concerns about climate change have focused on the amount of greenhouse gases that have been released into the atmosphere. But in a new study published in Science, a group of Rutgers researchers have found that circulation of the ocean plays an equally important role in regulating Earth’s climate… The ocean conveyor system, Rutgers scientists believe, changed at the same time as a major expansion in the volume of the glaciers in the northern hemisphere as well as a substantial fall in sea levels. It was the Antarctic ice, they argue, that cut off heat exchange at the ocean’s surface and forced it into deep water. They believe this caused global climate change at that time, not carbon dioxide in the atmosphere… “We argue that it was the establishment of the modern deep ocean circulation — the ocean conveyor — about 2.7 million years ago, and not a major change in carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere that triggered an expansion of the ice sheets in the northern hemisphere,” says Stella Woodard, lead author and a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences. Their findings, based on ocean sediment core samples between 2.5 million and 3.3 million years old, provide scientists with a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of climate change today.
Fisheries/Aquaculture
Fast-Growing Fish Risk Dramatic Fall in Population
In a counterintuitive discovery, scientists have found that ocean fish species that grow quickly and reproduce frequently are more likely to experience dramatic plunges in population than larger, slower growing fish such as sharks or tuna… “Rabbits are doing pretty well compared to rhinos. Mice thrive while lions, tigers and elephants are endangered,” said Malin Pinsky, assistant professor of ecology and evolution in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University in US… After studying population changes in 154 species of fish worldwide over 60 years, Pinsky was surprised to see marine equivalents of rabbits and mice collapsing to low levels – still shy of extinction but serious enough to disrupt ocean food chains or fishing-based societies… In his research, Pinsky found that in nearly all of the cases, overfishing was the culprit.
Sardines, Anchovies, Other Fast-Growing Fish Vulnerable to Dramatic Population Plunges
A Rutgers marine biologist studying the rise and fall of fish populations worldwide recently made a counterintuitive discovery: ocean species that grow quickly and reproduce frequently, such as sardines, anchovies and flounder, are more likely to experience dramatic plunges in population than larger, slower growing fish such as sharks or tuna… Why is this counterintuitive? Because for life on land, the situation is in stark contrast…”Rabbits are doing pretty well compared to rhinos,” said Malin Pinsky, assistant professor of ecology and evolution in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. “Mice thrive while lions, tigers and elephants are endangered.”… In his research, published this week in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Pinsky sought an answer to this riddle. In nearly all of the cases, overfishing was the culprit.
Underwater Robot Tracked Ocean Sediment During Hurricane Sandy
A Teledyne Webb autonomous underwater glider RU23 belonging to Rutgers University deployed off the New Jersey coastline in 2012… In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy struck the northeastern United States around New Jersey and devastated a number of large…
Study: Flooding Frequency to Increase
A new study finds that rising seas from climate change will bring in the second half of this century frequent flooding at elevations now only inundated once in every 100 years… Sea level in North Carolina is forecast to rise by between 12 and 20 inches by the middle of the century and by as much as 4.2 feet by the year 2100 unless there is a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new study published in the journal Climate Change… “Scenarios of future rise are dependent upon understanding the response of sea level to climate changes. Accurate estimates of past sea-level variability provide a context for such projections,” said Rutgers oceanographer Benjamin Horton, another of study’s authors.
Climate Change and the Warming Oceans
For this month’s hourlong Climate Cast, we talk to experts to learn how different parts of the ocean handle a changing climate… Last month, University of Texas researchers published a study finding that coral reefs are adapting to warmer ocean water …
Study Looks at Gender Change in Black Sea Bass as Survival Tactic
Scientists have long known black sea bass are “protogynous hermaphrodites,” a species in which fish that begin life as females can switch gender to male. But the details of how and why that happens are not completely understood. A study led by Professor of Marine and Coastal Sciences Olaf Jensen suggests that this behavior may […]
Rutgers Scientist Says Sex-Switching Fish May Reveal Environmental Clues
If you’ve seen the Jurassic Park movies, this story might just ring a bell with you. A Rutgers University biologist is studying how and why some breeds of fish can convert from female to male. And, sometimes, back again… That it’s possible has been k…
Seeking Mates, Fish Switch Sex
When mating prospects are grim, certain females in Jersey Shore waters appear to have developed a clever strategy: changing sex. That is what Rutgers University scientists think is happening with black sea bass, apparently in response to declining numbers of males… “You don’t need that many males in a population,” said Rutgers biologist Olaf Jensen. “But you do need some.”… Gender gibes aside, the knowledge that scientists have gleaned so far is expected to be useful next year when federal regulators set catch limits for this important commercial species. Last time they did so, the sex-changing ability was not taken into account, and boat captains felt the resulting limits were too restrictive.
A Big Shift is Coming to the Maine Lobster Population — And it Could Devastate the Local Economy
There aren’t many foods more closely associated with Maine than the lobster. So it’s pretty scary that this valued American crustacean could one day soon become a Canadian treasure- a change that could have a devastating impact on Maine’s local economy… While we can’t know for sure what the future holds, it seems that as ocean temperatures continue to increase, lobsters will likely keep moving north, study researcher Malin Pinsky, of Rutgers University, told Business Insider… At a rate of 43 miles per decade, it could only be 30 years or so until Maine lobsters are mostly in Canadian waters… Two factors will impact how quickly this happens, Pinsky told Business Insider: Greenhouse gas production and the rate of ocean temperature increase. If temperatures and gasses continue to rise, Pinsky says lobsters moving to Canada is, “not out of the question.”
