Earth and Planetary Sciences · Oceanography
A study links high-latitude North Atlantic phytoplankton blooms with wetter conditions and increased plant productivity across central Europe. Earth system model experiments suggest that chlorophyll helped drive this connection by absorbing sunlight, warming the sea surface and changing atmospheric circulation.
A three-year sensor study in Romania’s Danube Delta found that intense metabolism in delta channels, combined with carbon dioxide-rich wetland discharge, doubled aquatic carbon dioxide emissions near the river mouth compared with an upstream station. Despite these emissions, the study estimates that carbon uptake across the wider landscape is likely five times larger than aquatic emissions.
New climate-model projections suggest that future productivity in major coastal upwelling regions will be shaped by more than changes in winds. The models disagree more with one another than they do across emissions scenarios, leaving the direction of change uncertain in many areas.
Minute-by-minute measurements in a channel linking Varna Lake with the Black Sea captured two episodes of unusually strong oscillations. Current speed and water level changed by as much as 0.8 metres per second and 0.8 metres, respectively, over 10 minutes.
An analysis of 54 climate models found 73 unusually large changes in ocean, sea-ice and atmospheric variables. The events, including winter Arctic sea-ice disappearance and a possible weakening of Atlantic overturning, were projected to occur earlier and at lower global warming than previous reviews assessed.
