Tag: ocean acidification

NOAA's Ship of Opportunity Program coordinates a fleet of vessels that collect surface ocean CO2 measurements across the world's oceans. Image credit: NOAA

AOML-led Carbon Dioxide Sampling Effort Helps Quantify the Ocean’s Role in Global Carbon Budget

Researchers with the Global Carbon Budget released their annual update for the global carbon budget in December 2015, revealing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuels increased slightly in 2014 (+0.6%), but are projected to decline slightly (by est. -0.6%) in 2015. The global oceans serve as a natural buffer, offsetting increased emissions by absorbing an estimated 27% of human-produced CO2 from the atmosphere in 2014. Data collected, in part, from long-term surface ocean CO2 monitoring efforts, funded by NOAA’s Climate Program Office and the Ocean Acidification Program, indicate that the oceans removed about 10.7 billion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere in 2015.

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spawning mountainous star colony. Photo and Video credit: NOAA

Video: Coral Spawning in the Florida Keys

AOML coral scientists participated in a NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service-led project to document coral spawning in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary during August & September 2015. The project aims to measure spawning success for two imperiled Caribbean species, elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) and mountainous star coral (Orbicella faveolata) in the Florida Keys. The team collected gametes from both species to be used in experiments that aim to improve the understanding of factors that may enhance the likelihood of coral larvae to survive and settle on the ocean floor. Experiments will also assess impacts of current and future global environmental changes, such as ocean acidification, on these vulnerable early life stages of corals. Click on the image below to view a video of a spawning mountainous star colony.

Photo and Video credit: NOAA

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A flourishing reef in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. Image credit: NOAA

AOML Establishes New Sites to Monitor Ocean Acidification in Gulf of America

Members of AOML’s Acidification, Climate, and Coral Reef Ecosystems Team (ACCRETE) recently traveled to two remote reef locations to expand the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program’s (NCRMP) network of sentinel climate and ocean acidification monitoring sites. The newly established sites, located in the Flower Garden Banks and the Dry Tortugas, will provide researchers with additional data and insights into the ocean’s changing chemistry and the progression of ocean acidification, as well as the ecological impacts of these variables across the Caribbean basin and the Gulf of America.

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The research team alongside the NOAA ship Gordon Gunter in Newport, RI prior to taking off on an ocean acidification cruise along the U.S. East coast. Image credit: NOAA

AOML Joins Ocean Acidification Program Research Cruise Along U.S. East Coast

A team of researchers, including scientists from AOML and the University of Miami, set sail June 19th on a research cruise aboard the NOAA ship Gordon Gunter to provide increased understanding of ocean acidification and its drivers along the U.S. East coast. The cruise, which is part of a larger effort supported by NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program, investigated near-shore and deep waters, and provided researchers with more detailed information about changing ocean chemistry in different environments.

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The Central Caribbean Marine Institute's Little Cayman Research Centre. Image Credit: CCMI

AOML Oceanographers to Participate in New Summer Lecture Series

This summer, AOML will be diving into a new outreach initiative with the Central Caribbean Marine Institute, a coral reef research organization based in the Cayman Islands. From June through August, NOAA oceanographers from AOML will give a series of talks on various oceanographic topics to the institute’s staff and students participating in the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at the institute’s Little Cayman Research Centre (LCRC).

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Waterways Program Features the Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Coral Reefs

The latest episode of the educational television series “Waterways” features coral research conducted by NOAA scientists in the Florida Keys. As the global ocean becomes more acidic, NOAA is documenting these changes and their impact on organisms like corals. The first part of the episode entitled “Ocean Acidification & Tortugas Tide Gauge”   features AOML [...]
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Renee Carlton diving in the Solomon Islands as part of the ongoing collaboration between the Khaled bin Sultan's Living Oceans Foundation and AOML's ACCRETE team to obtain baseline ocean acidification related data from remote coral reef locations across the Pacific Ocean. Image credit: Living Oceans Foundation

Living Oceans Foundation Global Reef Expedition

AOML coral scientists Renee Carlton participated in the Living Oceans Foundation Global Reef Expedition to the Solomon Islands from October 27, 2014 through November 25, 2014. Carlton collected seawater carbon dioxide data and coral cores for calcification analysis as part of the ongoing collaboration between the Living Oceans Foundation and AOML to obtain baseline ocean acidification-related data from remote coral reef locations across the Pacific Ocean.

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Tropical Cyclones Worsen Ocean Acidification at Coral Reefs

While tropical cyclones can dramatically impact coral reefs, a recent study reveals their passage also exacerbates ocean acidification, rendering reef structures even more vulnerable to damage. Calcifying marine organisms such as corals that thrive in alkaline-rich waters are increasingly imperiled as seawater becomes more acidic due to the ocean’s uptake of carbon dioxide. The detrimental effects upon these organisms have been documented, but less is known about how reefs might react to ocean acidification when coupled with an additional stress factor such as a tropical cyclone.

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