Drivers of Antarctica's dramatic sea ice decline could accelerate global warming
University of New South Wales (UNSW)
Published: 11 May 2026
A study in Science Advances reveals a triple whammy of ocean heat, atmospheric warming, and wind changes driving Antarctic sea ice loss, with East Antarctic ice melted by deep ocean heat surges and West Antarctic ice by trapped heat from subtropical air.
Keywords: Antarctic sea ice, Southern Ocean, ocean warming, climate change, sea ice decline, deep ocean heat, atmospheric circulation, ice shelves
Massive Atlantic Sargassum blooms traced to West Africa
University of Miami Rosenstiel School
Published: 25 April 2026
A new study used physics-based modeling and probabilistic analysis to trace massive Atlantic Sargassum blooms to coastal West Africa, not the Sargasso Sea, overturning long-held assumptions about their origin.
Keywords: Sargassum, seaweed blooms, West Africa, Atlantic Ocean, Bayesian inversion, ocean transport, Gulf of Guinea, marine ecology
Using vessel movements to forecast invasive seaweed spread
Australian Institute of Marine Science
Published: 11 May 2026
AIMS-led research used vessel tracking data to predict invasive Caulerpa seaweed spread in New Zealand, identifying 13 high-risk coastal sites from 4,000 anchorage events originating from infested areas.
Keywords: invasive species, Caulerpa, vessel tracking, biosecurity, marine ecology, seaweed, New Zealand, coastal management
