2019 Arctic Sea Ice Wintertime Extent is Seventh Lowest

April 8, 2019 / activist360 / Leave a comment

Every year, sea ice fluctuates through the seasons, growing in the winter and shrinking in the summer. This year, Arctic sea ice reached its annual maximum March 13, 2019. It wasn’t a record low, but it continued a trend of declining sea ice maximums and minimums. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Katy Mersmann

The Post-Sandy Choice: Redevelop? Or Return the Land to Nature?

April 5, 2019 / activist360 / Leave a comment

After Superstorm Sandy ripped through Staten Island five years ago, killing 24 people, some residents sold their land to developers, and a few others, like Joe Herrnkind and his neighbors, sold their land to the New York State Governor’s office so it could be returned to nature.

Full article at Mother Jones: http://bit.ly/2DA9hbK

How Does Ocean Acidification Affect Coral Reefs?

April 2, 2019 / activist360 / Leave a comment

Climate change could pose a risk to coral by driving “ocean acidification” – a phenomenon that occurs as seawater absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere.

Of the CO2 released into the atmosphere by humans, around 30-40% of it dissolves in the oceans, while the rest remains in the atmosphere or is absorbed by living things on land. This has caused oceans, which are alkaline, to become more acidic over time. The overall pH of seawater has fallen from 8.2 to 8.1 from the start of the industrial era to present day.
The chemical reactions associated with ocean acidification also drive a reduction in the availability of calcium carbonate – a compound that hard corals use to build their tough outer shell. With less calcium carbonate available, hard corals find it more difficult to repair or grow their skeletons.

Music credit: Into Infinity artists Unrecognisable Now, Naohito Uchiyama, Languis (CC BY-NC 3.0 US).