Aquatic ecology

The Arctic may become ice-free for the first time on a late August or early September day in the 2020s to 2030s, 10 years earlier than expected, a shocking new study finds.Rare Polar Bear Attack in Canada | Extreme EarthThe polar region has been losing sea ice at an accelerated rate, shrinking by 12.2% each decade due to warmer temperatures. Under all emission scenarios, an ice-free Arctic could arrive much sooner than previous models had predicted, an ominous sign of the ongoing climate crisis that would have major…

Sea lions and dolphins that swim off California’s central coast are dying. Toxic algae blooms off the state’s coast are believed to be stranding and even killing the marine animals at alarming rates, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.Can the Government Change Social Media? | Gizmodo InterviewThe Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute has received over 1,000 reports of sick and dead marine mammals from June 8 through June 14, according to a recent report from the NOAA’s Fisheries…

The Supreme Court has ruled against the Environmental Protection Agency in a decision that significantly narrows the Clean Water Act’s protections. The majority, 5-4 opinion was authored by Justice Samuel Alito and supported by Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett—all conservative judges, two of whom were Donald Trump appointees.Bees Are Fish Now, I Guess?Technically, the decision was unanimous, with all nine SCOTUS judges agreeing that the EPA did not have the…

Officials in Alabama “engaged in a consistent pattern of inaction and/or neglect” when handling a rural Black community’s issues with their sewage, a Biden administration investigation into a long-standing environmental injustice found.James Gunn on Feeling Pressure to Add Adam Warlock to Guardians of the Galaxy | io9 InterviewIn an agreement with state and county agencies announced on Thursday, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services found that Lowndes County and Alabama health officials acted in a…

A floating blob of seaweed 5,000 miles across, spanning nearly the whole width of the Atlantic Ocean, is headed for Florida’s Atlantic Coast. The sargassum algae, a brown, branching, stringy seaweed that can turn seawater mud-colored when present in large quantities, is likely to cause serious problems for the Sunshine State as well as the Caribbean and parts of Mexico, per multiple reports.In past sizable seaweed blooms, sargassum has clogged up beaches with hundreds of tons of sticky, matted algae. To make matters even…

Red tides are “near annual” events for Florida, but they vary in their severity and how long they last. One particularly destructive instance lasted for more than 10 months in 2018. The dead fish here were photographed in 2018 in Sanibel, FL. Photo: Joe Raedle / Staff (Getty Images)People and fish alike along Florida’s west coast are feeling the effects of an ongoing red tide. The toxic algae bloom is making both humans and sea life sick as it persists along nearly 150 miles of the Sunshine State’s coastline. At least 13…

The latest Apple Watches have included blood oxygen sensors using green, red, and infrared LEDs, though researchers have noted for decades that such sensors routinely fail at accurately gauging blood oxygen on darker skin. Photo: Feline Lim (Getty Images)A new class action lawsuit claims the Apple Watch’s blood oxygen sensor isn’t formatted to take darker skin tones into account, which is only exacerbating the noted biases of blood sensing tech that has routinely failed to accurately gauge blood oxygen levels for Black…

Photo: Joe Raedle (Getty Images)This story was originally published by Grist. You can subscribe to its weekly newsletter here.As winters warm, pollution caused by chemicals common in industrial agriculture practices will increase dramatically across nearly half of the United States. That’s according to a new study that says nutrient pollution—chemicals from fertilizer and manure like nitrogen and phosphorus—pollutes lakes, rivers, and groundwater and has been linked to toxic algae blooms in waterways, contaminated…

Algae or “glacier blood” on the snow near Villar-d’Arene in the French Alps in 2021. Photo: PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP (Getty Images)Scientists are investigating how blood splatter-like spots in snow could be connected to climate change. The reddish dots are made up of tiny algae that grow on snowy mountain ranges. The algae is originally green, but when it’s hit with sunlight, it turns red, creating the eerie blush.Researchers at the Scientific Research National Center have collected samples of the red snow up in the Le…