State of the Oceans — Log 56
YOUR WEEKLY BRIEFING FROM PARLEY
Photos by Lars Borges
SPACETIME
We don’t often cover particle physics, but it’s not every week that scientists discover that the fabric of our very universe could be like a foamy, turbulent ocean.
A forthcoming article suggests that “spacetime foam” could hold the key to finally unify and explain phenomenon at both a quantum and cosmological scale, moving us towards the elusive Theory of Everything. Physicists are examining the structure of the universe at the smallest possible scale, with surprising findings. Spacetime might not be the trampoline-like plane scientists once envisioned—it might be a foamy mess of bubbles all containing mini-universes living and dying inside our own.
As one scientist explained: “Imagine yourself flying a plane over an ocean. At high altitudes the ocean appears smooth. But as you descend, it begins to show roughness. Close enough to the ocean surface, you see bubbles and foam. Analogously, spacetime appears smooth on large scales; but on sufficiently small scales, it will appear rough and foamy.”
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RENEWABLE ENERGY
Following last week’s announcement that renewables have overtaken fossil fuels in the UK, the last seven days have seen more positive news on the green energy front. First, the International Energy Agency announced global supplies of renewable electricity are growing faster than expected and could expand by 50% in the next five years, powered by a resurgence in solar energy. Renewables are expected to grow by 1,200GW in the next five years, the equivalent of the total electricity capacity of the US. Next, researchers found that Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions will stop rising and gradually start to fall over the next three years, and a comprehensive study released today finds that offshore windfarms alone could generate enough electricity to power every home and business on Earth.
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OCEAN ACIDIFICATION
New research suggests that one of the planet’s most dramatic extinctions was caused in part by ocean acidification, which has become a problem in our own era. The worst day in the history of life on Earth (so far) happened 66 million years ago, when an asteroid roughly the size of Manhattan slammed into the Yucatán Peninsula. The impact changed the chemical content of the ocean, rendering seawater more acidic and inhospitable to the tiny plankton that form the base of the marine food chain. The finding is worrying, because our oceans are acidifying again today. Carbon dioxide, the same air pollutant that causes global warming, also dissolves in the oceans and increases the acidity of seawater. Since the late 1980s, the planet’s oceans have become about 0.02 pH units more acidic every decade
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CORAL REEFS
Coral coverage around some of the most popular tourist islands on the Great Barrier Reef has dropped by almost half in the last 18 years, according to a new study. Scientists said they were “shocked” after analysing data from monitoring dives between 1999 and 2017 at 100 different locations across the Whitsunday Islands, Magnetic Island, Keppel Islands and Palm Islands. The study looked at the coverage of hard corals – the rock-like structures that are the foundations for building reefs – and found they were being hit by multiple impacts, including heat stress causing bleaching, cyclones, flood plumes and poor water quality.
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MARINE CONSERVATION
Leading scientists, supported by Sea Shepherd’s conservation patrol vessels, are carrying out the second leg of a scientific expedition to study the critically endangered vaquita porpoise. The team has encountered dozens of fishing skiffs, including one in close proximity to a live vaquita, within the 150 square kilometer “zero tolerance” area of the federally protected Vaquita Refuge in Mexico’s Biosphere Reserve of the Upper Gulf of California and Colorado River. These recent incursions into the refuge come despite Mexico pledging to heighten enforcement in the area.
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