WHOI Links
Oceanus Magazine Articles
Global Warming Q&A
A panel discussion was held in Woods Hole as part of the Institution’s spring trustee meeting on May 19, 2006. The discussion was introduced by Terry Joyce, director of the Ocean and Climate Change Institute and senior scientist, and moderated by Tom Wheeler, chairman of the corporation.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=13366
Ocean Conveyor's 'Pump' Switches Back On
The sinking of cold waters in the North Atlantic Ocean, which helps power global ocean circulation, had largely stalled since the mid-1990s, as the world warmed. To the surprise of scientists, it revved up again last winter—displaying once again just how complex the interactions between air, ocean, and ice really are.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=54347
Sunspots, Sea Changes, and Climate Shifts
Sometimes, clues to environmental conditions in Earth's past tell conflicting stories and point to competing mechanisms for change.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=18371
Interrogating the 'Great Ocean Conveyor'
The Greenland-Scotland Ridge stretches across the North Atlantic Ocean seafloor like a checkpoint regulating the two-way flow of ocean currents between the Nordic Seas and the Arctic Ocean to the north and the main body of the Atlantic to the south.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=20727
The Once and Future Circulation of the Ocean
Did changes in ocean circulation play a role in melting the vast ice sheets that covered North America and Europe during the last ice age? Could global warming cause ocean circulation changes that lead to dramatic climate changes in the future?
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=17906
Is Global Warming Changing the Arctic?
In the Arctic, the air, sea ice, and underlying ocean all interact in a delicately balanced system. Four ambitious Arctic projects are pulling back the icy veil that shrouds our understanding of the Arctic Ocean’s role in our climate system. (First of a five-part series.)
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=9206
What's After the Day After Tomorrow?
A science perspective on the science fiction movie.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=9948
Common Misconceptions about Abrupt Climate Change
Several decades of scientific research have yielded significant advances in understanding the ocean's role in regulating Earth's climate. This summary covers some of the major points about abrupt climate change that are often misunderstood.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=10149
An Ocean Warmer Than a Hot Tub
New evidence from ancient seafloor sediments suggests that current climate forecasting models may underestimate future ocean warming caused by the buildup of greenhouse gases.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=10366
A River Runs Through It
In the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, along the edge of the U.S. continental shelf, some of the most important currents in the world are flowing.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=2557
Abrupt Climate Change: Should We Be Worried?
A World Economic Forum white paper by WHOI President and Director Robert Gagosian presented in Davos, Switzerland, January 27, 2003
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=9986
Are We on the Brink of a 'New Little Ice Age?'
The authors discuss the paradox that global warming could, counterintuitively, instigate a new ‘Little Ice Age’ in the northern hemisphere.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=10046
The Heat Before the Cold
A New York Times Op-Ed by WHOI Scientist Terrence Joyce
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=10148
Sedimentary Record Yields Several Centuries of Data
Natural climate changes like the Little Ice Age and the Medieval Warm Period are of interest for a few reasons. First, they occur on decade to century time scales, a gray zone in the spectrum of climate change. Accurate instrumental data do not extend back far enough to document the beginning of these events, and historical data are often of questionable accuracy and are not widespread geographically.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=3842
Will Climate Change Affect the Greenland Ice Sheet?
A multimedia presentation on an expedition to Greenland's vast, empty whiteness. Also see related article: Getting to the Bottom of the Greenland Ice Sheet.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=55747
Tracking Nitrogen's Elusive Trail in the Ocean
Fertilizers have leaked into the oceans, loading coastal waters with excess nitrogen and possibly leading to another greenhouse gas to watch: nitrous oxide. Any attempts to restore the nitrogen balance on our planet requires more understanding of how nitrogen moves through the environment.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=53946
Another Greenhouse Gas to Watch: Nitrous Oxide
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=53680
DMS: The Climate Gas You've Never Heard Of
Scientists are just beginning to learn how a gas called dimethlysulfide cycles its way through the ocean and air, where it helps form clouds that can help cool the Earth. The airborne scent of DMS is also key to the survival of birds at sea. (See Seabirds Use Their Sense of Smell to Find Food.)
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=45946
Crack! A Lake Atop Greenland Disappears
Scientists document for the first time a long-suspected plumbing system for ice sheets. It sends water melted at the surface during summer all the way through the ice to the bottom, where the water greases the skids between ice and ground. What will happen in a warming world?
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=44666
Earth, Wind, and Fire in Antarctica
From a windy, isolated camp in southern Victoria Land, Antarctica, three scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution explore how the waterless, lifeless, volcanic terrain forms and changes. Read the story and watch the video.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=44187
Melting Ice Threatens Polar Bears' Survival
Some climate studies project that summer Arctic ice may disappear by mid-century. If it does, the polar bear may follow soon after.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=35187
Proposals Emerge to Transfer Excess Carbon into the Ocean
Giant plastic tubes, swarms of transparent animals called salps, adding acid to the sea, and other proposals to increase carbon storage in the ocean.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=35866
Dumping Iron and Trading Carbon
How will ocean fertilization schemes be regulated and how soon are they likely to become profitable? (fifth in a six-part series).
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=35826
Lessons from Nature, Models, and the Past
To project what adding iron to the oceans might do, scientists use several types of evidence to augment what they have learned from small-scale iron-addition experiments conducted since 1993 (fourth in a six-part series).
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=35746
What Are the Possible Side Effects?
Assemble a list of the ways iron fertilization potentially could harm the ocean, and it quickly becomes lengthy and distressing.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=35668
Will Ocean Iron Fertilization Work?
The first of a five-part series beginning today on the debate on proposals to add iron to the oceans to help reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=35609
Fertilizing the Ocean with Iron
Scientists, policymakers, economists, and environmental advocates gathered at a symposium at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to iron out the uncertainties of fertilizing the oceans with iron as a means to mediate global warming.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=34167
Highlights of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2007 Report and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Research on the Ocean's Role on Climate Change
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=27608
Sunspots, Sea Changes, and Climate Shifts
Sometimes, clues to environmental conditions in Earth's past tell conflicting stories and point to competing mechanisms for change.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=18371
How Long Can the Ocean Slow Global Warming?
About one-third of the excess carbon dioxide humans emit has dissolved into the oceans. But that also makes seawater more acidic and corrosive to the shells of marine life.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=17726
Will Climate Change Disrupt the Arctic Ecosystem?
Forty-six researchers with different scientific expertise headed on a 39-day voyage to unravel the complexities of the Arctic food chain, which begins with algae growing on the underside of sea ice.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=43826
Observations on Global Warming
As presented to the Aspen Institute by OCCI Director Terrence M. Joyce
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=14087
The Coral-Climate Connection
Much like tree rings, many species of corals have growth bands. Using complex geochemical analyses, scientists can extract precise information about ocean conditions in the past at the times when the coral bands formed.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=17026
The Once and Future Circulation of the Ocean
Did changes in ocean circulation play a role in melting the vast ice sheets that covered North America and Europe during the last ice age? Could global warming cause ocean circulation changes that lead to dramatic climate changes in the future?
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=17906
An Ocean Warmer Than a Hot Tub
New evidence from ancient seafloor sediments suggests that current climate forecasting models may underestimate future ocean warming caused by the buildup of greenhouse gases.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=10366
Abandoned Walrus Calves Reported in the Arctic
On a research cruise to investigate possible impacts of global warming on the delicately balanced Arctic Ocean ecosystem, scientists found warmer-than-usual ocean temperatures, a dearth of nearshore sea ice, and baby walruses unaccompanied by mothers in areas where they likely could not survive.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=13087
Is Global Warming Changing the Arctic?
In the Arctic, the air, sea ice, and underlying ocean all interact in a delicately balanced system. Four ambitious Arctic projects are pulling back the icy veil that shrouds our understanding of the Arctic Ocean’s role in our climate system. (First of a five-part series.)
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=9206
Earth Can't Soak Up Excess Fossil Fuel Emissions Indefinitely
A new-generation computer model indicates that the capacity of land and ocean to absorb and store the heat-trapping greenhouse gas will reach its peak by the end of the century—removing a brake that has been tempering the effects of global warming.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=7486
Fresher Ocean, Cooler Climate
Large and climatically sensitive regions of the North Atlantic Ocean have become less salty since the late 1960s, a trend that could alter global ocean circulation and spur climate changes by the 21st century.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=7115
Rising Sea Levels and Moving Shorelines
New tools and techniques show promise for better predictions and decisions about coastline change
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=2484
WHOI News Releases
Fine-tuning the Steps in the Intricate Climate Change Dance
New scientific findings are strengthening the case that rapid climate change may be related to how vigorously ocean currents move heat between low and high latitude.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=8839
How Much Excess Fresh Water Was Added to the North Atlantic in Recent Decades?
Continued Freshening of the North Atlantic Could Slow the Conveyor in the 21st Century
Rate of Ocean Circulation Directly Linked to Abrupt Climate Change in North Atlantic Region
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=883
Tropical Plants Help Identify Lags Between Abrupt Climate and Vegetation Shifts in Different Parts of the World
Clues to the timing and cause of abrupt climate changes in the past may lie in ocean floor sediments, according to a study by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=879
New Study Reports Large-scale Salinity Changes in the Oceans
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=897
Ocean Islands Fuel Productivity and Carbon Sequestration Through Natural Iron Fertilization
An experiment to study the effects of naturally deposited iron in the Southern Ocean has filled in a key piece of the puzzle surrounding iron’s role in locking atmospheric carbon dioxide in the ocean. The research, conducted by an international team led by Raymond Pollard of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, and included Matthew Charette, a marine chemist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, found that natural iron fertilization enhanced the export of carbon to the deep ocean.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=55147
Emperor Penguins March toward Extinction?
Popularized by the 2005 movie “March of the Penguins,” emperor penguins could be headed toward extinction in at least part of their range before the end of the century, according to a paper by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) researchers published January 26, 2009, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=55028
Study links swings in North Atlantic Oscillation variability to climate warming
Using a 218-year-long temperature record from a Bermuda brain coral, researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have created the first marine-based reconstruction showing the long-term behavior of one of the most important drivers of climate fluctuations in the North Atlantic.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=54686
Surprising Return of North Atlantic Circulation Pump
One of the “pumps” contributing to the ocean’s global circulation suddenly switched on again last winter for the first time this decade, scientists reported Tuesday (Dec. 23) in Nature Geoscience. The finding surprised scientists, who had been wondering if global warming was inhibiting the pump—which, in turn, would cause other far-reaching climate changes.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=54366
Lakes of Meltwater Can Crack Greenland’s Ice and Contribute to Faster Ice Sheet Flow
Researchers from WHOI and the University of Washington have for the first time documented the sudden and complete drainage of a lake of meltwater from the top of the Greenland ice sheet to its base. From those observations, scientists have uncovered a plumbing system for the ice sheet, where meltwater can penetrate thick, cold ice and accelerate some of the large-scale summer movements of the ice sheet.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=40786
Warmer than a Hot Tub: Atlantic Ocean Temperatures Much Higher in the Past
Scientists have found evidence that tropical Atlantic Ocean temperatures may have once reached 107°F, about 25°F higher than ocean temperatures today and warmer than a hot tub. While these high ocean temperatures occurred millions of year ago, the new study suggests climate models underestimate future warming.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=10346
Walrus Calves Stranded by Melting Sea Ice
Scientists have reported an unprecedented number of abandoned walrus calves in the Arctic Ocean, where melting sea ice may be forcing mothers to abandon their pups.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=12209
How Much Excess Fresh Water Was Added to the North Atlantic in Recent Decades?
Continued Freshening of the North Atlantic Could Slow the Conveyor in the 21st Century
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=5098
Earth's Ability to Absorb Increased Carbon Emissions May Be Limited
The ability of the planet to absorb increased emissions of carbon dioxide is limited, according to a recent study using a new computer model of Earth's climate that takes into account the planet's carbon cycle.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=6258
Fine-tuning the Steps in the Intricate Climate Change Dance
New scientific findings are strengthening the case that rapid climate change may be related to how vigorously ocean currents move heat between low and high latitude.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=8839
New Study Reports Large-scale Salinity Changes in the Oceans
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=897
Briefings and Testimony
Bigger Hurricanes: A Consequence of Climate Change?
In the wake of three destructive hurricanes that pummeled Florida and Caribbean islands this fall, WHOI Research Specialist Ruth Curry (PO) flew to Washington DC on September 20 to brief members of Congress on extreme weather events and climate instability.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=9947
Testimony to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
Former OCCI Director, William Curry, describes changes in the ocean that have been detected in only the last two years and discusses possible ocean and climate changes that may occur in the future if the planet continues to warm.
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=9949
The Ocean's Role in Climate
Testimony to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation from WHOI scientist Raymond W. Schmitt
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=282&cid=10146