Most science conferences are like little in-group parties, where people who know each other’s work intimately get together to discuss their latest results, and query each other about what to do next. Don’t get me wrong – I love them. You meet interesting people, learn A LOT, and come home with new ideas, and great [...]
Posts Tagged ‘marine ecosystems’
28 Jan
The Largest Ecosystem on Earth: Deep, Diverse, and Definitely Different
The Census of Marine Life brought together thousands of researchers to “Make Ocean Life Count.” (I’ve written about it here and here.) But this amazing effort was more than just an enumeration of what lives where. The goal was much greater: to draw detailed seascapes of the many diverse ecosystems that make up the world [...]
24 Jan
Speeding Up Natural CO2 Reduction and Saving the Oceans at the Same Time
The planet is warming. The release of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, from the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities, is causing global temperatures and sea levels to rise, glaciers to melt, and climate patterns to change all over the world. It’s also affecting the oceans. But there may be some good news, a new way to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere AND acid in the oceans. Read on!
7 Jan
An Ocean of Writing: Brave Blue Words in 2010, 2011 and Beyond
Wanna know what you can expect from Brave Blue Words in 2011? As before, many of my posts will come from the science headlines. I love keeping up on the latest research, and starting this year I’ll even have Science delivered to my door (a special offer for non-members who register for the AAAS annual meeting before January 27, 2011). I’ve also come up with a long list of topics that I am itching to learn and write about. Here’s a partial list of what I have on deck…
29 Dec
Brave Blue Word’s End of the Year Ocean Round-up 2010
2010 was a hard year for the oceans. The biggest disaster was, of course, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which raged on for a mind-boggling, stomach-curdling three months. While BP and the Feds are alternating between pointing fingers, and patting themselves on the back for saving the Gulf, the true impacts of the disaster [...]
21 Dec
Sea-level study of Chesapeake Bay & Evidence of an Impact 35 Million Years Ago
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about sea-level rise. Well, here’s a quick update to start the week (albeit a day or so late) on that same subject, but a little closer to home – for me at least. From ScienceDaily, one of my favorite online new sources, comes good and bad news [...]
17 Dec
Coming soon to a beach near you – the jellyfish blob
The meek shall inherit the Earth – at least the wet parts of it. The lowly jiggly jellyfish, those simple critters that are mostly water and stomach, may be the big winners in the high-stakes gamble we’re playing in the oceans on a global scale. Beautiful and bizarre, jellyfish are on the rise in many [...]
23 Nov
Riches Beyond Your Wildest Dreams: More on the Census of Marine life
I had planned to write a cool post about tides today, followed by one or more about tide pools, the intertidal zone, and other (possibly) related topics. I’d even thought of a clever title (which I won’t tell you in case you disagree with my wit). But then, as often happens, I was distracted by [...]
25 Oct
Where the rare is common and extreme is the norm
The U.S. Census was not the only enumeration completed this year. The Census of Marine Life, an unprecedented collaboration of 2,700 scientists from 81 countries culminated in 2010 after ten years, and more than 540 ocean expeditions. And the results are staggering. The Census documented a changing ocean, richer in diversity, more connected through distribution [...]
