Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook

Uproar After NC State Agent 'Fixes' Girl's Lunch Preschooler has to eat chicken nuggets instead of mom's meal »

Seals Plunge for Climate Data

Scientists use deep-diving creatures for Antarctic research

By Jess Kilby, Newser User

Posted Aug 17, 2008 1:29 PM CDT

(Newser) – Giant seals living in the chilly waters of Antarctica are helping researchers gather important data on climate change, reports Popular Mechanics. The elephant seals, tagged with hat-like sensors, make frequent dives deep into the Southern Ocean and surface with valuable details about water temperature and salinity. The dense waters of Antarctica drive ocean circulation around the planet.

The amount and thickness of Antarctic ice also has a huge effect on global weather patterns, and scientists are trying to understand more about how the ice forms. Satellites track surface changes, but most of what lies below the icy continent was a mystery until the seals were recruited in 2004. The massive mammals make an average of 60 dives per day, to depths of up to nearly 2,000 feet.

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (1)]

Researchers attach environmental sensors on a elephant seal in the Antarctic. (AP Photo)

Tagged seals have helped collect data from the Wilkins Ice Shelf, which began collapsing on Feb. 28. The seals' data shows a previously unknown area of warm water that may have hastened the collapse. (AP Photo/British Antarctic Survey, Jim Elliott)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

We've seen alpha males go through an entire breeding season with one of these tags on and seen no effects on his ability to mate. - UC Santa Cruz biologist Dan Costa, on the behavioral impact created by his team's sensors

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

'No Global Warming'? Critics Slam 2 Articles

Science scribes lambaste articles in the Wall Street Journal , Daily Mail

(NEWSER) - Science writers are in a tizzy over two articles this weekend that deny the existence of global warming. One, signed by 16 scientists in the Wall Street Journal , notes "the lack of global warming for well over 10 years now." It argues that a world economy unburdened by carbon controls would enjoy an excellent "benefit-to-cost ratio" and strengthen developing countries. Another, in the Daily Mail , warns readers that solar activity will soon die down and plunge Earth into "cold summers" and "bitter winters." Enter the critics: More»

Study: 14 Practical Steps Can Slow Climate Change

Try ditching wood cook stoves in developing world

(NEWSER) - Just because the world can't agree on a battle plan against carbon dioxide doesn't mean we can't take big strides against climate change, scientists say. In fact, a dozen or so relatively simple steps could cut global warming by nearly 1 degree Fahrenheit by mid-century, a process that could save countless lives and increase crop production, a study in Science asserts. That's because carbon dioxide isn't the only problem: Methane and soot are big contributors to climate change, too, the Washington Post reports. More»

CO2 Emissions 'Will Defer Ice Age'

Carbon dioxide levels creating long 'interglacial' period

(NEWSER) - On the glass-half-full side, our carbon dioxide emissions may fend off the next Ice Age, the BBC reports. Researchers say the Ice Age due in about 1,500 years won't happen because CO2 levels will be too high: "At current levels of CO2, even if emissions stopped now we'd probably have a long interglacial" period, says Luke Skinner of Cambridge University. The Earth's CO2 level must drop by about 150 parts per million to allow for another Ice Age, in case you're counting. More»

Scientists Find Dozens of New Hybrid Sharks

The animals are the first hybrid sharks in the world

(NEWSER) - Shark Week will have some new additions this year: Scientists found the first hybrid sharks in the world—57 of them—off the coast of Australia. The animals are a cross between the Australian blacktip shark and the common blacktip shark, and their existence may show that sharks are adapting to climate change, CNN reports. While such interbreeding occurs among fish, which lay eggs, it's more deliberate among sharks, which physically mate, notes a scientist. More»

Melting Peru Glaciers Threaten Water Crisis

Water is in decline 20 to 30 years earlier than expected

(NEWSER) - Peru’s arid Rio Santa watershed could find itself facing a serious water shortage, as rapidly melting glaciers are causing a decrease in supply 20 to 30 years earlier than anticipated. The glaciers in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range, which covered some 530 square miles in the 1930s, now cover less than 375, a new study finds. The glaciers are too small to maintain past water flow levels, meaning they will likely be 30% lower than historic levels during coming dry seasons. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Seals Plunge for Climate Data