The Australian bushfires of the 2019/2020 summer had far-reaching effects. It has now been revealed in new research published in Nature that the smoke produced a phytoplankton bloom larger in area than all of Australia, thousands of kilometres away in the Southern Ocean between New Zealand and South America.
In this paper, the researchers investigated how a major glacier tongue break in the Mertz polynya in Antarctica impacted phytoplankton blooms. Larger phytoplankton blooms increase the amount of carbon that can be stored in the deep ocean.
High resolution ocean modelling has found the world’s strongest ocean currents, which play key roles in fisheries and ocean ecosystems, will experience more intense marine heatwaves than the global average over coming decades.
CLEX researchers used real-world observations with satellite observations to calculate the quantity of nutrients carried into the Subantarctic Zone by mesoscale eddies. They found these eddies carried high nitrate and low silicate waters into the Subantarctic Zone.
CLEX researchers evaluate the performance of satellite chlorophyll observations in the tropical Pacific Ocean and suggest algorithm improvements.
This paper reviews the societal and scientific motivations, current status, and future directions of IndOOS, while also discussing the need for enhanced observations in priority areas.
The Climate Variability program has seen an extraordinary amount of activity over the past four months with new arrivals, a clutch of thesis submissions, awards, research voyages and a wealth of research.
In this project, the selected student will use a one-dimensional numerical ocean model to simulate and understand the physical and biogeochemical processes in the ocean near Australia. The student will utilise the long-term oceanographic measurements conducted at one of the National Reference Stations maintained by the Australian Integrated Marine Observing System (i.e., the Maria Island, the Port Hacking, and the Rottnest Island).
CLEX researchers and colleagues discovered which species are most important in transferring climate change impacts through the ecosystem using a model that simulated the southeast Australian ecosystem through to 2050.
An improved Tropical Pacific Observing System that is responsive to user needs will provide for better understanding and prediction of the climate system, which will reduce climate uncertainty for society.