After days of waiting around in Port Angeles, Washington, Earth and Space Sciences’ T.J. Fudge finally got some good news: a helicopter would be able to drop him and another researcher into the wilderness of Olympic National Park. Fudge didn’t know it yet, but nasty weather would prevent the helicopter from returning to pick them up, leaving the scientists no choice but to hike out.
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Scientists have long known that when it comes to the environment and ecosystems, everything is connected. Accounting for those interactions and complexities in nature is a difficult task, yet one that is becoming increasingly important as scientists and managers strive to understand the nitty-gritty of how our world works. The more we understand, the better we can manage and sustain thriving ecosystems and the natural resources that flow from them.
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Tiny drifting algae called diatoms generate about 20 percent of the oxygen produced on Earth each year—more than all of the world’s rainforests. A new study from the College of the Environment’s School of Oceanography and Seattle’s Institute for Systems Biology looked at how common species of diatoms will adjust to sudden and long-term increases in carbon dioxide. The scientists found that when CO2 spikes, as might happen during a sudden change in ocean currents, the diatoms produce a signaling molecule that reduces the energy-intensive process required to concentrate the carbon dioxide.
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A research team that includes scientists from the College of the Environment’s School of Oceanography found that warmer ocean temperatures and decreasing levels of dissolved oxygen as a result of climate change will increase metabolic stress on marine animals. These new findings suggest that warmer water will speed up animals’ metabolic need for oxygen, but will simultaneously hold less of the oxygen needed to fuel their bodies.
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The Ecosystem Studies of Sub-Arctic Seas Program (ESSAS) will hold its 10th Annual Science Meeting in Seattle over three days, beginning June 15. Cosponsored by the College of the Environment, and in coordination with the Future of Ice Initiative, the meeting will feature several speakers who will address topics associated with the ecosystem changes being documented or predicted in the Arctic and sub-Arctic, and the effects those are having on people and economies connected to the region.
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