Randy Showstack
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Environment, Earth Science, Ocean Science, Climate Change, Science Policy, Space Science, Energy, Federal Science Agencies, STEM Education, Natural Hazards and Many Other Earth Science-Related Issues.
Environment, science and health journalist, editor, communication consultant. Past President,DC Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists. RandyShowstack.com
Articles by Randy Showstack
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) recently completed the successful relocation of the Pioneer Array to the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB). “If you wanted to go to one of the most complex coastal regions on the east coast of the United States, this would be it,” says Al Plueddemann, a senior scientist with WHOI and Principal Investigator for the Coastal and Global Scale Nodes (CGSN) of OOI, pointing to the southern MAB.
Research Analyzes the Role of Ocean Heat Transport and Surface Heat Exchange in Warming the Arctic Ocean and Reducing Sea Ice
By Randy Showstack With the Arctic Ocean warming much more rapidly than the global average over the past several decades, the extent and thickness of sea ice in the Arctic has decreased dramatically. Climate models project that these trends will accelerate even more in the future.
James Webb Space Telescope
Posted inNews A new trove of free-floating planets, smaller and paired up more than expected, challenges stellar and planet formation models. Posted inNews Five galaxies, two nebulae, an exoplanet, and the early universe—JWST’s first images provide a cross section of the science yet to come. Posted inAGU News In August, Eos looks at what the first round of observations with the James Webb Space Telescope might reveal about faraway worlds.
What’s happening with the AMOC?
A recent article in Nature Communications warns of a forthcoming collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), with a transition most likely to occur between 2025-2095. Other scientists, though, say it is questionable whether a collapse could occur this century.
On the Move
OOI engineers and mooring operations staff work together to deploy a section of a mooring over the aft deck of R/V Neil Armstrong. (Photo courtesy of Al Plueddemann, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) The Coastal Pioneer Array is moving south in 2024.
Economic accounting system should include natural resources and environment, Panel recommends
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dinosaurs Archives - Eos
Posted inNews by The underwater crater, spotted serendipitously in commercial observations of seafloor sediments, is believed to have formed at roughly the same time as the famous Cretaceous-Paleogene impact event. Posted inScience Updates New research supports the hypothesis that dinosaurs were done in by climate change after an asteroid impact kicked up a massive plume of sulfur gases that circled the globe for several decades.
Waiting on the next freshwater flush
The Arctic, as one of the fastest changing oceans and regions on Earth, “lends an urgency to understanding it better,” including understanding the Beaufort Gyre, says WHOI physical oceanographer Isabela Le Bras, a principal investigator on the Beaufort Gyre Observing System (BGOS). The gyre is a massive clockwise ocean circulation pattern in the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska. The currents swirl around as if contained in a bowl about 1000 kilometers across, she says.
Commercial ship tracks Gulf of Mexico’s hurricane heat potential
When the commercial ship, M/V Bulk Xaymaca was in dry dock earlier this year, the owners of the oceangoing dry bulk carrier voluntarily cut a hole in its bottom to install a scientific sensor to measure water current speeds at various ocean depths.
Satellite Altimetry Mission Promises Huge Advances for Physical Oceanography and Hydrology
By Randy Showstack Thomas Farrar, the oceanography science co-lead for the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, says that when the satellite launches in late 2022, it will provide huge advances for physical oceanography and revolutionize hydrology. The $754.9 million spacecraft and its precise satellite altimeter will detect ocean features with 10 times better resolution than current technologies.
Accessible Oceans
Oceanographer Amy Bower, legally blind since 1993, wants more people with disabilities to have the same opportunities that she has had to do something exciting like studying ocean science. “It’s just heartbreaking to think that there could be a kid who has the same curiosity and interest in the world but can’t access stuff because they’re blind.
WHOI scientists monitor the ocean with innovative tools and techniques to improve hurricane forecasting
By Randy Showstack Steve Jayne says that flying through hurricanes on a Lockheed-Martin WC-130J Weatherbird aircraft with the U.S. Air Force Reserve’s Hurricane Hunters sounds more exciting than it is. He’s never felt in any danger, though sometimes the turbulence associated with the rising air in a storm’s eyewall “can get a little spicy,” he said.
A rare mission north
Bob Pickart was eating lunch in the mess of the R/V Sikuliaq last November 13 when a unique scientific opportunity knocked. A colleague on board the ship told him that the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, the United States’ sole heavy icebreaker, would sail to the Arctic from Seattle in early December, instead of traveling to its usual wintertime destination—the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) McMurdo Station in Antarctica.
Science RoCS Initiative increases ocean monitoring capacity
A commercial ship’s mid-May deployment of two tube-shaped Argo robotic instruments to measure the temperature, salinity, and other properties of the North Atlantic opens a new chapter in ocean monitoring. The deployment of the free-drifting instruments by a merchant vessel is the first collaboration under a new effort—the Science Research on Commercial Ships (Science RoCS) initiative—between research institutions and industry to monitor the vast and open ocean.
astronauts Archives - Eos
Posted inNews by We spoke with science writer Kate Greene about her experiences on a 4-month-long Mars analog mission. Posted inNews by Leland Melvin proves that dedication and hard work can help anyone overcome the odds. Posted inNews by Scientists focus on how the Apollo 11 mission has shaped our understanding of the Moon, Earth, and planetary neighborhood. Posted inNews by Apollo 11’s golden anniversary is this weekend, but the celebration lasts all year long.
The coastal ocean can intensify atmospheric rivers, researchers find
By Randy Showstack Atmospheric Rivers (ARs) are plumes of intense water vapor content and strong winds that flow out from the humid tropics like rivers. These ARs travel eastward above the Pacific Ocean, eventually causing heavy rainfall along the U.S. West Coast. In this study, researchers looked at how the coastal ocean influences the intensity of ARs just before these plumes impact the heavily-populated coastline.
Amidst pandemic, researchers deploy new monitoring station in tropical Pacific
The third time was the charm for WHOI researchers and their Chilean partners to replace an instrument-rich surface mooring in the eastern tropical Pacific, 976 nautical miles east of Valparaiso. Two earlier attempts to deploy a new Stratus Ocean Reference Station to collect atmospheric and oceanographic data had been scrubbed. First, because of the coronavirus and then because of the ship’s late unavailability. Each time, the buoy had been shipped to Chile and then sent back to Woods Hole.
Tracking changes in the Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is a dynamic place, and climate change is making it even more so. In order to find out what is changing—and what the future might hold—it’s essential to have a reliable picture of past conditions. That picture is gradually becoming clearer, thanks to data collected by the Beaufort Gyre Observation System (BGOS), an ocean monitoring network developed and maintained by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) researchers for nearly two decades.
Science Moms Look to Enlist Other Moms to Tackle Climate Change
Founding science mom Melissa Burt and her four-year-old daughter Mia at Horsetooth Reservoir in Fort Collins, Colorado in December 2020. Science Moms Air quality scientist Tracey Holloway wants her children, nine month old Henry and 11 year old Peter, to be able to look back at the 2020s as the time when the U.S. and the world turned a corner on tackling climate change. That's why she has joined forces with other climate scientists to launch Science Moms.
Science Moms Look to Enlist Other Moms to Tackle Climate Change
Founding science mom Melissa Burt and her four-year-old daughter Mia at Horsetooth Reservoir in Fort Collins, Colorado in December 2020. Science Moms Air quality scientist Tracey Holloway wants her children, nine month old Henry and 11 year old Peter, to be able to look back at the 2020s as the time when the U.S. and the world turned a corner on tackling climate change. That's why she has joined forces with other climate scientists to launch Science Moms.
Convergence Accelerator could help to meet “An Ocean of Need”
Huge societal challenges related to the oceans require innovative thinking, and a new National Science Foundation (NSF) program, called the Convergence Accelerator, is a promising initiative to help confront these challenges, said Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution President and Director Peter de Menocal at the Smart Oceans 2020 conference in October.
White House Data Chief Stresses Benefits of Better Communication
The Earth and space sciences produce some of the best data scientists, and they need to stay in these fields, according to the chief data scientist at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
North Atlantic Ocean yields clues for better weather predictions
When Young-Oh Kwon was a graduate student in physical oceanography about 20 years ago, scientists knew a fair amount about how the atmosphere influences the ocean, and many felt that ocean variability doesn’t affect the atmosphere in a meaningful way outside of the tropics. “Our knowledge of the interaction”—between the ocean and the atmosphere—“was mostly one way,” says Kwon, a senior scientist in WHOI’s Department of Physical Oceanography.
Group Calls for More Focus on Potentially Hazardous Asteroids
A group of astronauts, scientists, business leaders, and artists are calling for a dramatic increase in detecting and monitoring asteroids that could potentially strike the Earth catastrophically. They have announced that 30 June 2015 will be a global asteroid awareness day.
Focus on Climate Solutions, Panelists Say
Despite their own predictions of dire potential impacts from climate change, a panel of climate specialists at a major meeting of geoscientists and space scientists this week rejected a gloom and doom attitude. Instead, they called for a sharp focus on ways to achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris climate accord despite steep obstacles. “We’re really at a point where I think most people would say 1.5 degrees is already pretty much impossible.
This Week: Exploring the Deep Blue Sea and the Starry Sky
These Women Unlocked the Mysteries of the Deep Sea. This engaging read showcases some of the women who took part in early deep-ocean explorations, in the 1930s. Think bathyspheres, Bermuda, and beautiful illustrations of exotic marine life. —Timothy Oleson, Science Editor How Big Oil and Big Soda Kept a Global Environmental Calamity a Secret for Decades.
UN Report: 2019 Was Likely the Second-Warmest Year in Recorded History
“The indications are crystal clear: Global heating is accelerating,” United Nations (UN) secretary-general António Guterres said at a 10 March briefing to release a new report on climate change. The year 2019 is likely the second warmest in instrumental records, the past 5 years are the five warmest on record, and the past 10 years represent the warmest 10-year average on record, according to the report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a specialized agency of the UN.
This Week: Mars, Our Mini Moon, and Marina
When a Mars Simulation Goes Wrong. A crew of hardy pioneers does a practice run for a Mars mission on the slopes of a Hawaiian volcano. What could possibly go wrong? —Nancy McGuire, Contract Editor The Children Are the Future (of Space Exploration). Jerry Morrison has always been fascinated by space. The 7-year-old was inspired by his Uncle Joey, who works as a NASA engineer.
This Week: Creation Stories, Climate Skeptics, and Wine
Wine Grape Diversity Buffers Climate Change–Induced Losses. New research on climate change and your favorite grape varieties…wine not read more? —Melissa Tribur, Production Specialist Is an Aboriginal Tale of an Ancient Volcano the Oldest Story Ever Told? A fascinating look at how a story in the oral tradition of the Aboriginal Gunditjmara people about a giant turning into a volcano might have a scientific link.
From the Arctic to the Austral, and All the News Between
Endless Night at –50 Degrees: A Look at Life on an Icebreaker. Brrr! The German research icebreaker Polarstern is purposely trapped in the ice in the Arctic Ocean for the Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition. Want to get a sense of what that means for expedition members?
Bill Calls for Dramatically Cutting Plastic Pollution
Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-N.Y.) waved his credit card during a briefing on Capitol Hill about plastics pollution. “Anybody want to volunteer to eat this thing?” he asked. In addition to plastic fouling the oceans, littering the landscape, choking wildlife, and being incinerated, a recent study by Australia’s University of Newcastle found that people might be ingesting the equivalent of a credit card’s worth of plastic each week. Plastic pollution “is not just simply an ecological crisis.
From Glaciers in Antarctica to Emissions in England
Diagnosing Thwaites. Antarctica’s remote Thwaites Glacier is the focus of much research these days, with dozens of scientists traveling there as part of a years-long international collaboration to study why this particular block of ice—about the size of Great Britain, mind you—is melting so fast.
Helping Alaskan Communities Facing Climate Risks
Darlene Tocktoo Turner fondly recalls growing up in Shishmaref, Alaska, a community on Sarichef Island, just north of the Bering Strait. She remembers, for instance, venturing out with her family and the dog team to the spring camp where her father would hunt for bearded seals. “It was fun,” she said, reminiscing about a time before they used snowmobiles and when sea ice better buffered waves from hitting the coast.
30 by 30: A Push to Protect U.S. Land and Water
An initiative to conserve at least 30% of land and ocean in the United States by 2030 can help to confront the threats of climate change and biodiversity loss, and it should not be thwarted by White House inaction, said Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) at a 7 February briefing in Washington, D.C., about the initiative.
China Challenges U.S. Science Dominance
“The best way to lead the future is to invent it,” Diane Souvaine, chair of the National Science Board (NSB), testified at a 29 January congressional hearing about the state of U.S. competitiveness with China and other countries on science and technology. However, Souvaine and other witnesses, as well as members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, said that the United States needs to do more to maintain its leadership in these areas in the face of surging expenditures by China.
This Week: From Rising Roads in Miami to Dead Zones in the Gulf
Raising Flood-Prone Roads Has Angered Miami Beach Residents. Experts Say They Need to Go Higher. According to new calculations, city consultants say that Miami Beach, Fla., needs to raise its roads even higher than they already have to avoid flooding from rising sea levels. Sounds simple, right? As this article from the Miami Herald shows, it’s anything but. I really appreciate this window into the real-life complications of climate adaptation.
Clean Water Act in the Balance?
Marine biologist Hannah Bernard has observed the slow decline of a shallow reef off Maui’s Kahekili Beach Park for 3 decades. Bernard, executive director and cofounder of the Hawaii Wildlife Fund, remembered how much more pristine the reef was 28 years ago when she moved to Hawaii. There were more species of fish and a higher percentage of coral cover than now, she recalled.
Doomsday Clock Ticks Closer to Midnight
The symbolic doomsday clock moved closer to midnight than it has ever been, just 100 seconds away, because of the urgent threats of nuclear warfare and climate change, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced today, 23 January.
Scientists Say Land and Ocean Are Key to Tackling Climate Crisis
Scientists laid out strong arguments for Congress to take tougher action on climate change at a hearing on Wednesday, 15 January. The panelists received general agreement from both sides of the aisle, though no significant moves forward were made.
Snowflakes, SDGs, and Other Winter Wonders of the Week
Toward a Grand Unified Theory of Snowflakes. Humidity and temperature influence the formation of snow crystals. Credit: Kenneth Libbrecht The “pope” of snowflake physics issues a gorgeous papal bull, informed by studies ranging in time and place from ancient China to Kepler’s study, Reconstruction New England to prewar Japan, and his own lab in sunny California. —Caryl-Sue, Managing Editor Get the Sustainable Development Goals Back on Track.
House Democrats Introduce Ambitious Climate Change Plan
Democrats in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce have released the legislative framework for what they are calling a bold, ambitious, and sweeping plan to achieve the goal of a 100% clean U.S. economy by 2050. “We’re really treating climate change like the existential emergency that it is.” “We’re really treating climate change like the existential emergency that it is,” said committee chair Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) at an 8 January briefing.
Bipartisan Focus on Energy Innovation Emerges
A congressional subcommittee has advanced three energy-related bills that push for technological innovation in geothermal energy development, battery storage, and power grid modernization—innovations that could help to slow greenhouse gas emissions.
Former NOAA Head Calls for Renewed Social Contract for Science
Stating that “this is a moment of truth” about the climate crisis and related issues like biodiversity loss and ecosystem disruptions, renowned environmental scientist Jane Lubchenco has called for “a renewed social contract for science.” Lubchenco, a former administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and U.S. undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, is challenging the scientific community to think about “our obligations as scientists [and] our...
Scientists and Activists Examine Need for Climate Action
For Varshini Prakash, the climate crisis “is obviously very depressing” and “terrifying with the timeline that we’re working on” to curb greenhouse gas emissions. However, Prakash isn’t letting that stop her as she works to organize and mobilize youth and others to stop climate change. She is the cofounder of the Sunrise Movement, an organization that advocates for climate action and supports the Green New Deal initiative.
Ocean Science Decade Calls Attention to a Wave of Concerns
With the global ocean under a barrage of assaults, including climate change, pollution, and overfishing, scientists hope that the upcoming United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development will bring needed worldwide attention to these issues and encourage advances in research, monitoring, and mapping the ocean.
Direct Air Capture Offers Some Promise in Reducing Emissions
When Jennifer Wilcox began researching the direct air capture of carbon dioxide (CO₂) about a decade or so ago, she was skeptical about how useful the technique could be. That was before climate models started including negative emissions to meet climate goals, she said. “We traveled along the business-as-usual trajectory for far too long to get to choose what we want to do at this point,” Wilcox said about insufficient efforts to curb CO₂ and the need now to look into many different options.
Scientists Explore How Best to Communicate About Climate Change
Don Haas, like many Earth scientists, wants to communicate effectively about the urgency of climate change. To make his point, Haas often uses an 8-foot piece of lumber.
Momentum Grows for Mapping the Seafloor
This is a “superexciting” time for seafloor mapping, according to Vicki Ferrini. This is a “superexciting” time for seafloor mapping, according to Vicki Ferrini, a marine geophysicist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, N.Y. More than 80% of the seafloor remains unmapped at a resolution of 100 meters or better, but there is growing momentum to close that gap, according to Ferrini.
Hearing Explores Resilience to Climate-Related Natural Disasters
With climate change implicated in a growing number of natural disasters such as floods and wildfires, members of Congress and witnesses at a 20 November congressional hearing called for stronger mitigation and adaptation measures to curb the increasing social, economic, and environmental risks and costs associated with these disasters.
Giving Thanks to Geosci
This year I am thankful for all of the scientists who stand up for what’s important and what’s right in the face of opposition. For climate scientists who continue to raise their voices to save our planet. For scientists who testify before Congress to create fact-driven legislation for the environment. For government scientists who fight to maintain the integrity of federal science agencies.
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