oceanography

The Atlantic Ocean's main current system - the AMOC - could weaken without collapsing this century, according to modeling published in Nature. This finding contradicts earlier studies that predicted the collapse of the AMOC around 2050. The research uses models that include extreme changes in greenhouse gas concentrations and freshwater levels in the North Atlantic. This system of ocean currents is involved in regulating global temperatures.

Since the implementation of protective closures in 2022, bottom fishing in European waters has declined by 81% in 87 vulnerable marine ecosystems located at depths of 400-800 metres, a study published in Science Advances reveals. However, according to the authors, these deep-water regions continued to receive many incursions by Spanish and French vessels.

The fifth session of the United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution (INC-5) ended without a treaty in Busan, South Korea, in the early hours of the morning. The more than 100 countries participating in what was to be the final round of negotiations have agreed to continue negotiating, reports Reuters.

A study published today in Science reveals a new plastic as durable as conventional plastics that decomposes in seawater. According to the authors, this new material could help reduce microplastic pollution accumulating in the oceans and eventually entering the food chain.

A review published in the journal Science Advances examines how the expansion of marine aquaculture - the farming of aquatic organisms in the ocean - can lead to risks, such as degradation of the marine environment. The study is part of a special issue of the journal dedicated to this growing industry.

Global average surface temperatures may have already surpassed the 1.5°C warming mark and could exceed 2°C by the end of the decade, as suggested by an article published in Nature Climate Change. The projections are based on 300 years of preserved ocean temperature records found in Caribbean sponge skeletons.

Most research has studied marine heatwaves at the sea surface. Now, a study published in Nature Climate Change analyses the effects of these phenomena at depths of up to 2,000 metres. The research, based on data from waves occurring between 1993 and 2019, shows that these waves tend to be more intense between 50 and 200 metres, and that their duration increases up to twice as much with depth compared to the surface, which has an impact on the marine fauna living in that area.

The Atlantic Meridional Circulation (AMOC), a large system of ocean currents that transports warm water from the tropics to the North Atlantic, could collapse around the year 2050 with serious consequences for the climate, according to estimates by researchers at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark). The IPCC considered a complete collapse unlikely during the 21st century. The results are published in the journal Nature Communications and the authors do not rule out that this collapse may be partial.

This week, Japan began testing a new facility designed to discharge treated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific. The water has been used to cool the melted reactor. After filling more than 1,000 tanks, the storage should reach full capacity early next year.