A major study has concluded that the die-off was the result of a huge disruption to energy flow through food webs, precipitated by “the blob” — an unprecedented mass of warm, nutrient-poor water that emerged off the Pacific coast of the US from 2013.

The blob was up to 6 degrees Celsius above typical maximum temperatures in places and extended to a depth of 200 metres, and more than 3,000 kilometres up the US coastline into Alaska.

As well as the huge seabird die-off, the researchers believe the marine heatwave caused the mass mortality of a suite of other fish, mammal and bird species during 2014–17.

Sea surface temperature imagery shows warm waters returned off the US west coast in 2019.

Did Australia’s mutton birds suffer the same fate?

Late last year, as only trickles of mutton birds showed up at their regular southern Australian roosting sites, ecologists feared the worst.

For some reason, many had failed to make the annual migration from Alaska.

A study published this week showed that 2019 was the hottest year in recorded history for our oceans, a trend that is predicted to continue as climate change intensifies.

And ocean warming has been greatest in the Atlantic and Southern Oceans.

In late 2019, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that the blob had reformed off the west coast of the US.

“ gives rise to these heatwave events and it makes them more frequent and of greater magnitude.”

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2020-01-16/blob-seabird-murre-die-off-climate-change-marine-heatwave/11867264

Nice try PM, global warming pffftt

The-Spectator said:

Nice try PM, global warming pffftt

Are you also known as PWM?

Any fish breeding cycles disrupted?

dv said:

Any fish breeding cycles disrupted?

Presumably as many fish species are disrupted by the increased temperatures.

PermeateFree said:

dv said:

Any fish breeding cycles disrupted?

Presumably as many fish species are disrupted by the increased temperatures.

It’s getting to the point we need a long long list we add to as we discover more things going wrong

El Nino is more significant. Remember, it was discovered by irregularities in fish stock numbers.

But as it happens, increased atmospheric carbon dioxide has led to nearly a doubling of plankton concentrations in near-shore areas around the world. And that’s a superb positive for seabirds.

read that, interesting

mollwollfumble said:

El Nino is more significant. Remember, it was discovered by irregularities in fish stock numbers.

But as it happens, increased atmospheric carbon dioxide has led to nearly a doubling of plankton concentrations in near-shore areas around the world. And that’s a superb positive for seabirds.

During the period that the blob persisted off the coast of the US, production of phytoplankton or microscopic algae dropped, and “the largest harmful algal bloom in recorded history” stretched from California to the Gulf of Alaska in 2015, the researchers said.

PermeateFree said:

mollwollfumble said:

El Nino is more significant. Remember, it was discovered by irregularities in fish stock numbers.

But as it happens, increased atmospheric carbon dioxide has led to nearly a doubling of plankton concentrations in near-shore areas around the world. And that’s a superb positive for seabirds.

During the period that the blob persisted off the coast of the US, production of phytoplankton or microscopic algae dropped, and “the largest harmful algal bloom in recorded history” stretched from California to the Gulf of Alaska in 2015, the researchers said.

I need to correct my statement. Inshore phytoplankton blobs, or as I call them “whale feeding grounds” have nearly doubled around the world. This has been a huge boon to seabirds. But I can’t say with any certainty that this is due to more CO2 on which the phytoplankton feeds. It could also be due in part or in all to increased fertiliser run-off from rivers, a change in ocean temperatures (such as el nino in the Eastern Pacific), to increased iron oxide runoff in rivers, or to decreased levels of heavy metal pollution (cadmium, mercury, lead, etc.) in runoff.

The most important thing to remember is that increased phytoplankton blooms are excellent news in at least 90% of individual cases. Good for fish, seabirds and marine mammals. Not necessarily good for crustaceans, molluscs and corals.

mollwollfumble said:

PermeateFree said:

mollwollfumble said:

El Nino is more significant. Remember, it was discovered by irregularities in fish stock numbers.

But as it happens, increased atmospheric carbon dioxide has led to nearly a doubling of plankton concentrations in near-shore areas around the world. And that’s a superb positive for seabirds.

During the period that the blob persisted off the coast of the US, production of phytoplankton or microscopic algae dropped, and “the largest harmful algal bloom in recorded history” stretched from California to the Gulf of Alaska in 2015, the researchers said.

I need to correct my statement. Inshore phytoplankton blobs, or as I call them “whale feeding grounds” have nearly doubled around the world. This has been a huge boon to seabirds. But I can’t say with any certainty that this is due to more CO2 on which the phytoplankton feeds. It could also be due in part or in all to increased fertiliser run-off from rivers, a change in ocean temperatures (such as el nino in the Eastern Pacific), to increased iron oxide runoff in rivers, or to decreased levels of heavy metal pollution (cadmium, mercury, lead, etc.) in runoff.

The most important thing to remember is that increased phytoplankton blooms are excellent news in at least 90% of individual cases. Good for fish, seabirds and marine mammals. Not necessarily good for crustaceans, molluscs and corals.

>>As Hurricanes Irma and Harvey swept along the Atlantic this summer, they were followed by a huge undercurrent of phytoplankton. Although the two storms claimed countless lives and caused billions of dollars in damage, there was at least one unexpected benefit: Phytoplankton—single-celled organisms like plants and bacteria that populate the surface of the ocean—bloomed behind them.

For decades, researchers have pointed to phytoplankton as one of the planet’s most valuable resources. They form the basis of the marine food chain and provide half the ocean’s oxygen (while trees, shrubs, and grasses provide the other half). Hurricanes churn the ocean, bringing up nutrients like nitrogen, phosphate, and iron from the depths of the ocean and introducing them to the surface levels where plankton live. In turn, the phytoplankton bloom and spread, and marine life grows with it.

But even as hurricanes are increasing and intensifying, scientists say that phytoplankton is still in serious danger of dying out.

“Over the next 100 years, the climate will warm as greenhouses gases increase in our atmosphere,” says Andrew Barton, oceanographer and associate research scholar at Princeton University. As the climate warms, Barton says, so will the oceans—bad news for phytoplankton, since warm waters contain less oxygen, and therefore less phytoplankton, than cooler areas. Already, gradually warming ocean waters have killed off phytoplankton globally by a staggering 40 percent since 1950.<<

https://psmag.com/environment/global-warming-is-putting-phytoplankton-in-danger

PermeateFree said:

mollwollfumble said:

PermeateFree said:

During the period that the blob persisted off the coast of the US, production of phytoplankton or microscopic algae dropped, and “the largest harmful algal bloom in recorded history” stretched from California to the Gulf of Alaska in 2015, the researchers said.

I need to correct my statement. Inshore phytoplankton blobs, or as I call them “whale feeding grounds” have nearly doubled around the world. This has been a huge boon to seabirds. But I can’t say with any certainty that this is due to more CO2 on which the phytoplankton feeds. It could also be due in part or in all to increased fertiliser run-off from rivers, a change in ocean temperatures (such as el nino in the Eastern Pacific), to increased iron oxide runoff in rivers, or to decreased levels of heavy metal pollution (cadmium, mercury, lead, etc.) in runoff.

The most important thing to remember is that increased phytoplankton blooms are excellent news in at least 90% of individual cases. Good for fish, seabirds and marine mammals. Not necessarily good for crustaceans, molluscs and corals.

>>As Hurricanes Irma and Harvey swept along the Atlantic this summer, they were followed by a huge undercurrent of phytoplankton. Although the two storms claimed countless lives and caused billions of dollars in damage, there was at least one unexpected benefit: Phytoplankton—single-celled organisms like plants and bacteria that populate the surface of the ocean—bloomed behind them.

For decades, researchers have pointed to phytoplankton as one of the planet’s most valuable resources. They form the basis of the marine food chain and provide half the ocean’s oxygen (while trees, shrubs, and grasses provide the other half). Hurricanes churn the ocean, bringing up nutrients like nitrogen, phosphate, and iron from the depths of the ocean and introducing them to the surface levels where plankton live. In turn, the phytoplankton bloom and spread, and marine life grows with it.

But even as hurricanes are increasing and intensifying, scientists say that phytoplankton is still in serious danger of dying out.

“Over the next 100 years, the climate will warm as greenhouses gases increase in our atmosphere,” says Andrew Barton, oceanographer and associate research scholar at Princeton University. As the climate warms, Barton says, so will the oceans—bad news for phytoplankton, since warm waters contain less oxygen, and therefore less phytoplankton, than cooler areas. Already, gradually warming ocean waters have killed off phytoplankton globally by a staggering 40 percent since 1950.<<

https://psmag.com/environment/global-warming-is-putting-phytoplankton-in-danger

>>An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in freshwater or marine water systems, and is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from their pigments.<<

>>The harmful effects from such blooms is due to the toxins they produce or from using up oxygen in the water which can lead to fish die-offs. Not all algal blooms are harmful, however, with some only discoloring water, producing a smelly odor, or adding a bad taste to the water.<< Wikipedia

I think you might be confusing good algae with bad algae blooms that are increasing.