Diatoms can also drive large-scale phytoplankton bloom in southwest Indian Ocean

October 12th, 2009 SYDNEY - Reports indicate that the red dust storm that dumped thousands of tons of soil across eastern Australia two weeks ago has caused an explosion in microscopic life in Sydney Harbor and beyond. According to a report in ABC News, the findings are a result of an analysis of the impact on the sea of the September 23 dust storm that swept across New South Wales and southeast Queensland, by Ian Jones, director of the Ocean Technology Group at University of Sydney.

August 25th, 2009 LONDON - In a new research, scientists have found that plankton, the basis of marine food webs, might grow faster in warmed up oceans. The sheer diversity of ocean food webs has made experts fear it would be impossible to predict how climate change will affect marine ecology.

August 10th, 2009 USGS: huge earthquake hits in Indian OceanWASHINGTON —U.S. officials on Monday reported that a huge 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck in the Indian Ocean and issued a regional tsunami watch for India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh that was lifted later.

August 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has determined that seasonal winds might drive current variability in the northern Indian Ocean. The research was carried out by J.

July 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has concluded that significant sea ice formation occurred in the Arctic earlier than previously thought, which suggests that sea ice formed in the Arctic before it did in Antarctica. "The results are also especially exciting because they suggest that sea ice formed in the Arctic before it did in Antarctica, which goes against scientific expectation," said scientific team member Dr Richard Pearce of the University of Southampton's School of Ocean and Earth Science based at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS).

July 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, scientists have obtained evidence for ice-free summers with intermittent winter sea ice in the Arctic Ocean during the Late Cretaceous period, which should help predict how the Arctic is likely to respond to future global warming. The Late Cretaceous, the period between 100 and 65 million years ago leading up to the extinction of the dinosaurs, is crucial in this regard because levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) were high, driving greenhouse conditions.

July 9th, 2009 LONDON - In a new study, scientists have said that as global warming removes the Arctic's icy lid, the region is expected to teem with life by the year 2030. According to a report in New Scientist, the study of what the Arctic looked like just before dinosaurs were wiped off the planet has provided a glimpse of what could be to come within decades.

May 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have launched a first global study on the health and productivity of ocean plants using a unique signal detected by US space agency NASA's Aqua satellite. Ocean scientists can now remotely measure the amount of fluorescent red light emitted by phytoplankton and assess how efficiently these microscopic plants turn sunlight and nutrients into food through photosynthesis.

May 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have conducted the first global analysis of the health and productivity of ocean plants using a unique red glow detected by NASA's Aqua satellite. Using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite, scientists have now observed "red-light fluorescence" over the open ocean.

May 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Siberia's Lake Baikal, the world's largest freshwater lake, faces severe ecological threats due to climate change, a new study has found. The planet's most biologically diverse water body, Lake Baikal is considered a treasure trove for biologists.

May 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - An analysis by a joint US-Russian team has determined that Siberia's Lake Baikal, the world's largest and most biologically diverse lake, faces the prospect of severe ecological disruption as a result of climate change. The analysis was done by Marianne V.

March 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research by Michigan State University (MSU) scientists has indicated that tiny creatures at the bottom of the food chain called diatoms could become less able to "sequester" greenhouse gas as the climate warms. Diatoms, microscopic algae that are a major component of plankton living in puddles, lakes and oceans, suck up nearly a quarter of the atmosphere's carbon dioxide (CO2).

March 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, scientists have used detailed satellite data to suggest that the changing climate is affecting not just the penguins at the apex of the food chain in Antarctica, but simultaneously the microscopic life that is the base of the ecosystem. The research was carried out by scientists with the National Science Foundation's (NSF) LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) program.

March 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - New findings have shown that some sources of dust that is deposited in oceans also carry toxic elements that can kill marine alagae. Dust blown off the continents and deposited in the open ocean is an important source of nutrients for marine phytoplankton, the tiny algae that are the foundation of the ocean food web.

March 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - An international team of scientists has described a novel strategy for phytoplankton growth in the vast nutrient-poor habitats of tropical and subtropical seas. Until now, it was thought that all cells are surrounded by membranes containing molecules called phospholipids - oily compounds that contain phosphorus, as well as other basic elements including carbon and nitrogen.