Science Media Centre

Extreme volcanic activity and ocean acidification were responsible for the worst mass extinction in history, according to an international research team including a University of Otago scientist. In a paper published last Friday in the leading journal Science, the team described how 252 million years ago extreme volcanic activity caused the oceans to absorb huge amounts […]

In the pages of the Dominion Post, New Zealand climate scientists David Wratt, James Renwick and Andy Reisinger  respond to a previous opinion article questioning the science of anthropogenic climate change and the need for action. An excerpt (read in full here): Human role in climate change is clear Warming of the climate system is […]

A leading New Zealand oceanographer is one of a team of international scientists warning that so many threats are converging on the world’s oceans, a global, integrated approach is urgently needed. The marine researchers, which includes NIWA biological oceanographer, Dr Julie Hall, have warned that the cost of damage to the world’s oceans from climate change […]

Warming of the oceans may not be as  terrible an experience for fish in some waters which are already warm — such as the Coral Sea —  according to a leading Australian ecologist,   of the University of Queensland, who says that, personally, he is not worried about an increase of couple of degrees in temperature. […]

 Australian scientists have  released a new report on climate change in the Pacific detailing rising sea levels, increasing temperatures andincreases in ocean acidity with  drastic implications for coral-based eco-systems from hitting home in less than 40 years. “The Pacific is getting hotter, sea-levels are rising, rainfall is changing, and equatorial winds have weakened,” said researcher, […]

Australian marine scientists claim rising carbon dioxide levels in the world’s ocean could deal a “disastrous blow” to coral reefs, which are already subject to bleaching and destruction of their ecosystem. New research from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and the University of Queensland, to be published in PNAS this week, […]