In The News

[GordMay]

The State of the Atlantic Ocean report, released this week, summarizes the overall health and trends in the Atlantic Ocean, based on scientific research and monitoring from DFO and Environment and Climate Change Canada. The DFO report says all three Atlantic zones (Newfoundland and Labrador, the Scotian Shelf and the Gulf of St Lawrence) are undergoing environmental changes.
For example, it says warming sea temperatures off Nova Scotia have led to declines in northern shrimp and snow crab, which prefer cooler waters, but have helped drive a big increase in the lobster population. Species are also shifting. Silver hake has moved into Newfoundland, a possible indicator of changes that will be seen with climate change.
The most abundant, energy-rich species of zooplankton, a copepod called Calanus finmarchicus, is declining; while a smaller, less nutritious and warm-water copepod called Pseudocalanus is increasing, and is now at record levels throughout the region. This change will make the ocean less productive, with the potential to ripple throughout the food web.
The report is careful not attribute all changes directly to climate change.
“Canada’s Oceans Now: Atlantic Ecosystems, 2018" ~ Fisheries and Oceans Canada
➥ Fisheries and Oceans Canada

[GordMay]

Endangered right whale experiencing mini-baby boom off New England
The critically endangered North Atlantic right whale is experiencing a mini-baby boom in New England waters, researchers on Cape Cod have said.
The right whale is one of the rarest species of whale on the planet, numbering only about 411. 7 baby right whales have been spotted so far this year, after no calves survived last year
More ➥ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-...2019-1.5097243

[JPA Cate]

One can hope the Right Whales make a recovery.

About the laws which fine one for getting too close, though. Yes, a good idea to slow down the traffic so the whales can better escape, and not allow tourist vessels too close. But woe betide the poor yachtie who is approached by the whale: the bacon in the sandwich between reef and whale. If observed, you could be fined, too, and whales do approach you. It is a situation to keep quiet about.

We've never had one hit us, but their idea of "close" to something as insignificant as a small sailboat, well, let's just say it differs from legislators'.

Ann

[gamayun]

Ann, from what I'm told, if a protected marine species approaches you (whales, seals, etc) you won't be faulted for this. Just try to turn in a direction that reduces the possibility of a crossing and turn the engine off (if it's on) so you can drift with the animal. This is also how the tourist boats do it to stay out of trouble but they can sometimes get a bit obnoxious and "play" with the grey zone because of the need to satisfy paying customers.

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Ann, from what I'm told, if a protected marine species approaches you (whales, seals, etc) you won't be faulted for this. Just try to turn in a direction that reduces the possibility of a crossing and turn the engine off (if it's on) so you can drift with the animal. This is also how the tourist boats do it to stay out of trouble but they can sometimes get a bit obnoxious and "play" with the grey zone because of the need to satisfy paying customers.

Seals are protected? where? I remember fishermen shooting them, and hunters clubbing them.

They are having a resurgence in Tasmania and also in Port Phillip Bay, at the moment. There are fish in Tassie, and a penguin resurgence in PPB.

Population blooms are cyclical. I wonder when that will hit humans?

Ann

[StuM]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Seals are protected? where? I remember fishermen shooting them, and hunters clubbing them.

In the USA - US Marine Mammal Protection Act. Also many ther countries.
In Australia -

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

Under the EPBC Act all seals and sea lions occurring within Australian waters are listed as marine species (EPBC Act 1999; section 248). It is an offence to kill, injure, take, trade, keep, or move any member of a listed marine species on Australian Government land or in Commonwealth waters without a permit.
Where these animals occur in state jurisdictions relevant state legislation applies.

[GordMay]

Ice Ages occur when tropical islands and continents collide
Collisions in tropics expose rocks that take up carbon dioxide, cooling normally balmy Earth.
Earth's steady state is warm and balmy, but half a dozen times over the past billion years, the planet developed ice caps and glaciers. Researchers have now amassed evidence that these cold snaps occurred when tectonic activity propelled continents headlong into volcanic island arcs in the tropics, uplifting ophiolites that rapidly absorbed carbon dioxide, cooling Earth. Once collisions stopped, CO2 again built up from volcanic eruptions and a runaway greenhouse effect warmed the planet.
More ➥ https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0411115221.htm

“Arc-continent collisions in the tropics set Earth’s climate state” *~ by Francis A. Macdonald et al.
On multimillion-year time scales, Earth has experienced warm ice-free and cold glacial climates, but it is unknown whether transitions between these background climate states were the result of changes in carbon dioxide sources or sinks. Low-latitude arc-continent collisions are hypothesized to drive cooling by exhuming and eroding mafic and ultramafic rocks in the warm, wet tropics, thereby increasing Earth’s potential to sequester carbon through chemical weathering. To better constrain global weatherability through time, the paleogeographic position of all major Phanerozoic arc-continent collisions was reconstructed and compared to the latitudinal distribution of ice sheets. This analysis reveals a strong correlation between the extent of glaciation and arc-continent collisions in the tropics. Earth’s climate state is set primarily by global weatherability, which changes with the latitudinal distribution of arc-continent collisions.
The Study ➥ https://science.sciencemag.org/conte.../6436/181.full


* If you google the title, you may escape the paywall, and get right to the paper.

[SailOar]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Ice Ages occur when tropical islands and continents collide
Collisions in tropics expose rocks that take up carbon dioxide, cooling normally balmy Earth.
Earth's steady state is warm and balmy, but half a dozen times over the past billion years, the planet developed ice caps and glaciers. Researchers have now amassed evidence that these cold snaps occurred when tectonic activity propelled continents headlong into volcanic island arcs in the tropics, uplifting ophiolites that rapidly absorbed carbon dioxide, cooling Earth. Once collisions stopped, CO2 again built up from volcanic eruptions and a runaway greenhouse effect warmed the planet.
More ➥ https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0411115221.htm

“Arc-continent collisions in the tropics set Earth’s climate state” *~ by Francis A. Macdonald et al.
On multimillion-year time scales, Earth has experienced warm ice-free and cold glacial climates, but it is unknown whether transitions between these background climate states were the result of changes in carbon dioxide sources or sinks. Low-latitude arc-continent collisions are hypothesized to drive cooling by exhuming and eroding mafic and ultramafic rocks in the warm, wet tropics, thereby increasing Earth’s potential to sequester carbon through chemical weathering. To better constrain global weatherability through time, the paleogeographic position of all major Phanerozoic arc-continent collisions was reconstructed and compared to the latitudinal distribution of ice sheets. This analysis reveals a strong correlation between the extent of glaciation and arc-continent collisions in the tropics. Earth’s climate state is set primarily by global weatherability, which changes with the latitudinal distribution of arc-continent collisions.
The Study ➥ https://science.sciencemag.org/conte.../6436/181.full


* If you google the title, you may escape the paywall, and get right to the paper.

From your Science Daily link:

....Unfortunately for Earth's future, the geologic processes that consume CO2 are slow and unable to contend with the massive CO2 emissions that result from the burning of oil, coal and natural gas. Over millennia, Earth's natural carbon sequestration program will restore balance, Swanson-Hysell said, but this will be a long wait for modern civilization, which has been so successful in Earth's current, cooler climate....
[my emphasis]

[Reefmagnet]

Does this mean the milankovitch theory of ice ages is new deprecated?

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

Does this mean the milankovitch theory of ice ages is new deprecated?

Milankovitch's theory (changes in eccentricity of Earth’s orbit. Ie: precession, obliquity, and the eccentricity cycles) does, in fact, correspond to periods of climate change.

However, climate dynamics are very complex, involving much more than insolation.

Numerous feedback mechanisms are at work, that are hard to model or explain. On the other hand, an analysis of the existing signals shows that astronomical factors most likely play a role in the Earth’s long-term climate. In the absence of anthropogenic disturbance, Milankovitch cycles remain important to the long-term climate variability of the earth; even while other forcing factors (tectonic activity, etc) also influence climate variability.

[SailOar]

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

Does this mean the milankovitch theory of ice ages is new [sic?] deprecated?

My guess is NO. The Milankovitch cycles play out over a period of about 100,000 years and have been most apparent over the last few million years, while the freezing periods mentioned in GordMay's articles are not regularly cyclical and both the warm periods and the cold periods last for many millions of years.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycles

Note that the Milankovitch Cycles suggest we may be headed for another ice age. Some have suggested that we should carefully husband our burning of precious fossil fuels to keep Earth's temperature from plunging as long as possible, and not burn them in the equivalent folly of a few-centuries-long massive bonfire.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geolog...erature_record

The Milankovitch Cycles have played out during the relatively short Pleistocene era. Note that the time scale changes across the graph.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


Estimate of Proterozoic glacial periods.[2][1] Dating of pre-Gaskiers glaciations is uncertain.
As for the Kaigas, its very existence is doubted by some. An earlier and longer possible snowball phase, the Huronian glaciation, is not shown.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowball_Earth

[GordMay]

How to make sense of the black hole image, according to 2 astrophysicists
Think on this: The light at the center of the black hole picture (See posts #131, & #135) has been forever removed from the observable universe.
Two astrophysicists, Sheperd Doeleman, the project leader of the Event Horizon Telescope, and Katie Mack of North Carolina State University, who was not involved with the effort, walk us through a few of the coolest aspects of the image that help us appreciate just wonderfully mind-blowing it is.
First, check out the singularity, and the light we can’t see.
Second, think about what’s happening to the light we can see.
The final thing that we should appreciate about the black hole image: that we can see it at all.
More ➥ https://www.vox.com/science-and-heal...on-singularity

[GordMay]

“New discovery makes fast-charging, better performing lithium-ion batteries possible” ~ by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Creating a lithium-ion battery that can charge in a matter of minutes but still operate at a high capacity is possible, according to research*, from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, just published in Nature Communications. This development has the potential to improve battery performance for consumer electronics, solar grid storage, and electric vehicles.
In a traditional lithium-ion battery, the anode is made of graphite, while the cathode is composed of lithium cobalt oxide.
In this most recent work, Koratkar and his team improved performance by substituting cobalt oxide with vanadium disulfide (VS2).
"It gives you higher energy density, because it's light. And it gives you faster charging capability, because it's highly conductive.
More ➥ https://phys.org/news/2019-04-discov...batteries.html

“Vanadium disulfide flakes with nanolayered titanium disulfide coating as cathode materials in lithium-ion batteries” ~ by Nikhil Koratkar et al.
* ➥ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-09400-w

[Puddleduck]

Originally Posted by GordMay

The most abundant, energy-rich species of zooplankton, a copepod called Calanus finmarchicus, is declining; while a smaller, less nutritious and warm-water copepod called Pseudocalanus is increasing[/url]

Yes, bye bye major source of epa, dha from the web

[GordMay]

Astrophysicists find elusive molecule that 'kick-started' the universe*

Astrophysicists have found the helium hydride ion (HeH+)*, believed to be the first molecule to form in the universe, in the planetary nebula NGC 7027.
The Big Bang occurred roughly 13.8 billion years ago, when a single point that was extremely dense and hot rapidly inflated. This is when space and time began.
Temperatures cooled and the first atoms formed: helium, hydrogen and lithium. These elements existed separately, but scientists knew that, in order to create the elements we see today, there had to be a bonding of elements. They theorized that the first would be a joining of helium and hydrogen. But they couldn't find any trace of this anywhere in space.
The formation of HeH+ was the universe's first molecular bond, and paved the way for the creation of other molecules. When it reacted with a hydrogen atom, for example, it created H2, or molecular hydrogen — marking the beginning of the modern universe.
More ➥ https://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/pressreleases/2019/5

*The results are published in this week’s issue of Nature:
“Astrophysical detection of the helium hydride ion HeH+” ~ by Rolf Güsten et al.
➥ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1090-x