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#salinity

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Rising surface salinity and declining sea ice - a new Southern Ocean state revealed by satellites: pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2500 -> "Using satellite observations, we reveal a marked increase in surface #salinity across the circumpolar Southern Ocean since 2015. This shift has weakened upper-ocean stratification, coinciding with a dramatic decline in Antarctic sea ice coverage. Additionally, rising salinity facilitated the reemergence of the Maud Rise polynya in the Weddell Sea, a phenomenon last observed in the mid-1970s. Crucially, we demonstrate that satellites can now monitor these changes in real time, providing essential evidence of the Southern Ocean’s potential transition toward persistently reduced sea ice coverage" -> A change in the Southern Ocean structure can have climate implications: icm.csic.es/en/news/change-sou (the original version of this press release was full of errors as bsky.app/profile/mkreutzfeldt. has documented but - as bsky.app/profile/micefearboggi points out - the correction was done in a most intransparent way).

Strange Atlantic cold spot linked to century-long slowdown of major ocean current

The #AMOC acts like a giant conveyor belt, delivering heat and salt from the tropics to the North #Atlantic. A slowdown in this system means less warm, salty water reaches the sub-polar region, resulting in the cooling and freshening observed south of #Greenland.

When the current slows, less heat and salt reach the North Atlantic, leading to cooler, fresher surface waters. This is why salinity and temperature data can be used to understand the strength of the AMOC.

The study also found that the weakening of the AMOC correlates with decreased #salinity. This is another clear sign that less warm, salty water is being transported northward.

The consequences are broad. The South Greenland anomaly matters not just because it's unusual, but because it's one of the most sensitive regions to changes in ocean circulation. It affects #weather patterns across #Europe, altering #rainfall and shifting the #JetStream, which is a high-altitude air current that steers weather systems and helps regulate temperatures across North #America and Europe.

The slowdown may also disturb marine #EcoSystems as changes in salinity and temperature influence where species can live.

phys.org/news/2025-06-strange-

#ClimateScience
#ClimateCrisis

@yappari
The Gulf of Maine was special in that the cold-salty Labrador Current dominated there. Now, due to climate change, the Labrador Current gets fresher and weaker from Arctic meltwater. And the warm salty Gulf Stream takes over in the Gulf of Maine, letting it warm three times faster than the global oceans. Says so here in a new, beautiful reporting on how this affects coastal and sea life in the GOM: nationalgeographic.com/environ

If indeed the GOM deep #ocean temperature and #salinity have decreased in the past 6 months, (not mentioned in the NatGeo article but in the article quoted in #1) it would mean that the contribution by the Gulf Stream flowing in from the South got weaker and the Labrador Current was able to resume its dominion temporarily.

@DoomsdaysCW

www.nationalgeographic.com · The Gulf of Maine is warming fast. What does that mean for lobsters—and everything else?By Brian Skerry

US Aims to Improve #Ocean Observations with $ Millions for New Robotic Floats marinetechnologynews.com/news/

"$2.7 million from #Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will be used to replenish and expand an important array of robotic #ArgoFloats that measure ocean and #climate data. The #Argo array is made up of a fleet of robotic instruments that measure #temperature and #salinity in the global ocean, drifting freely with #OceanCurrents... helping #NOAA understand the ocean and its role in climate"

#Genomic analysis sheds light on how #seagrasses conquered the sea
phys.org/news/2024-01-genomic-

#Seagrass #genomes reveal ancient #polyploidy and adaptations to the marine environment nature.com/articles/s41477-023

"Seagrasses evolved from their #freshwater ancestors only 3x. To do this required specialized ecological tolerance to high #salinity, lower light, a wide range of temperature tolerances, #underwater carbon capture, different #pathogen defense, structural flexibility and underwater #pollination"

New research on #microbes expands the known limits for life on Earth and beyond phys.org/news/2024-01-microbes

#SingleCellAnalysis in #hypersaline brines predicts a water-activity limit of #microbial anabolic activity science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv

"the research shows how increasing #salinity changes microbial community composition, rates of #metabolism. These can impact nutrient cycling, as well as the lives of #crustaceans & #insects, which are essential food sources for migratory #birds, other #animals"

Growing salt-tolerant vegetables could help with managing the soil-salinity crisis that makes more land unproductive for other farming each year in Australia and around the world.

Farmers in Western Australia are finding a growing market for their salt-tolerant vegetables amongst chefs eager to serve customers something different.
#environment #salinity

abc.net.au/news/2023-10-06/wa-

ABC News · Farmers defying dryland salinity crisis with salt-tolerant vegetables in Western AustraliaBy Briana Fiore

Polar experiments reveal seasonal cycle in #Antarctic sea ice #algae phys.org/news/2023-09-polar-re

#Microbial metabolomic responses to changes in temperature and #salinity along the western #AntarcticPeninsula nature.com/articles/s41396-023

"In the frigid waters surrounding #Antarctica, an unusual seasonal cycle occurs. As #seawater freezes it rejects salts, creating pockets of extra-salty #brine where #microbes live in winter. In summer, the sea ice melts, producing warmer, fresher water at the surface."