Low oxygen areas in oceans threatening survival of fish

October 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has suggested that there may be plenty of oxygen available in the global ocean on Jupiter's moon Europa to support life, in fact, a hundred times more oxygen than previously estimated. The global ocean on Europa contains about twice the liquid water of all the Earth's oceans combined.

September 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Analysis of a rock type found only in the world's oldest oceans has shed new light on how large animals first got a foothold on the Earth. By analysing the isotopes of chromium in iron-rich sediments formed in the ancient oceans, a scientific team, led by Professor Robert Frei at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, has found that a rise in atmospheric oxygen levels 580 million years ago was closely followed by the evolution of animal life.

September 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A Princeton University-led team of scientists has turned the tables on a long-standing controversy to re-establish an old truth about nitrogen mixing in the oceans. For decades, scientists thought they had a handle on the workings of an intricate natural mechanism known as the nitrogen cycle, essential to maintaining life on Earth.

August 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Ever imagined why our blood, which is actually red in colour turns blue in veins? Well, it's because of the oxygen. According to experts, heart pumps blood to the lungs to pick up oxygen.

July 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, scientists have said that there is mounting evidence that human activity is changing the world's oceans in profound and damaging ways. The study was carried out by Professor Mike Kingsford of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University and colleague Dr Andrew Brierley of St Andrews University, Scotland.

July 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research by scientists from the University of Victoria has shown that fish avoid the divers and snorkelers who try to count them, and that is why using snorkelers and SCUBA divers may misrepresent the number of fish. Not all types of fish are equally frightened by the divers, and Faculty of 1000 member Helen Yap, who recommended the study, explains that therefore "such methods may not provide an accurate picture of the actual diversity and abundance of fish communities." Counting coral reef fish informs researchers about local ecological changes.

June 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the ocean can cause abnormally large growth in the otoliths, or ear bones, of fish, say researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. Considered a fundamental bodily structure in fish, otoliths serve a vital function in fish by helping them sense orientation and acceleration.

June 25th, 2009 Surprise: Fish in acidic waters grow bigger earsWASHINGTON — Listen up! Carbon dioxide being absorbed by the oceans is having a puzzling effect on fish — their ears get bigger. Now, that doesn't mean you're going to reel in the Mr.

May 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research by an international team of geologists, it has been suggested that Earth's earliest ice age may have been due to the rise of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere, which consumed atmospheric greenhouse gases and chilled the earth. The research was done by scientists from the University of Maryland, including post-doctoral fellows Boswell Wing and Sang-Tae Kim, graduate student Margaret Baker, and professors Alan J.

April 21st, 2009 US biologists say 3 pesticides harm salmonSEATTLE — Federal biologists say three pesticides commonly used by farmers threaten the survival of many Pacific salmon and steelhead listed as threatened or endangered species in the West. The National Marine Fisheries Service said Tuesday it is recommending labeling restrictions, buffer zones between fish habitat and areas that are sprayed, and a ban on using the pesticides in windy weather.

April 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has suggested that increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) and decreasing oxygen in the oceans will make it harder for deep-sea animals to "breathe". The study, by marine chemists at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), US, suggests that low-oxygen "dead zones" in the ocean could expand significantly over the next century.

April 9th, 2009 SYDNEY - The death of methane-producing microbes, among the earth's earliest life forms, gave us oxygen and life in all its complexity, according to a new study. Because they produced methane, a gas which reacts with oxygen, these early microbes prevented the earth's early atmosphere from being oxygenated, said the study's co-author Mark Barley, professor at University of Western Australia's (UWA) School of Earth and Environment.

April 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, scientists have found that a drop in the level of dissolved nickel in seawater may have caused the "Great Oxidation Event" 2.4 billion years ago, in which oxygen levels increased dramatically. The Earth's original atmosphere held very little oxygen, but this began to change around 2.4 billion years ago when oxygen levels increased during what scientists call the "Great Oxidation Event." "The Great Oxidation Event is what irreversibly changed surface environments on Earth and ultimately made advanced life possible," said research team member Dominic Papineau of the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory.

March 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Analysis of deep sea rocks in Australia has suggested that they date back to 3.46 billion years ago, suggesting that not only did the oceans contain abundant oxygen then, but that the atmosphere was as oxygen rich as it is today. The researchers drilled diagonally into the base of a hill in the Pilbara Craton in northwest Western Australia to obtain samples of jasper or hematite-rich chert that could not have been exposed to the atmosphere or water.

December 22nd, 2008 BHUBANESWAR - A rare catfish weighing 97 kg was caught by a fisherman from a river in Orissa's Jajpur district, an official said Tuesday. Ramakanta Dalei, 35, a fisherman from Rampur village, some 120 km from here, caught the fish, locally known as 'Kana Saranda', while fishing in Kharasrota river on Dec 20 midnight, the official said.