Climate change is making our oceans change color, new research finds

Welcome back. Friends to need to know. I'm Baker and I'm Hanna Doba time for some of our good to know headlines. Let's start with *** new weapon if in the fight against COVID-19. Researchers at Washington University in ST Louis built an air monitor that can detect particles of the virus in the air in just five minutes. They're saying this could be the most sensitive air monitor ever developed. The study was done on COVID-19, but the air monitor could also be used to detect the flu RSV or any other common contagious pathogens. This is just proof of concept. But the researchers say this could be an inexpensive way for schools, offices and other public spaces to constantly monitor whether or not someone in the area is infectious. I think this is *** great, great idea. I mean, we need more technology like and it's only showing that the technology is getting so much better, but we've learned so much from exactly. It's incredible because we used to sort of like know if COVID cases are rising by one test, people are testing the next place that you have to check is waste water, which is how they were able to find out *** lot to do. And exactly. So if you can find more cost efficient ways, especially if it's in *** place like *** school, *** work office. All those *** store that you can basically flag anything besides just COVID, as you mentioned, the flu RSV, all these other things, I think this is *** game changer huge. Meanwhile, *** new study shows there could be an unexpected side effect of climate change that's happening right on under our feet. Researchers over at Northwestern University used temperature sensors underground across Chicago and they found that the city's concrete structures like parking garages, basements or even train tunnels, they're absorbing heat from rising temperatures. And as *** result that's causing the city to slowly sink, they estimated that the ground temperature has increased 27 degrees in the last 70 years. So as temperatures increase the ground forms and if it's left unchecked, that could damage and crack building foundations and other civil infrastructure. And by the way, it's not just Chicago, researchers also say this is affecting cities worldwide. I mean, we got *** report here in New York City just *** few months ago because of um sea levels. The worry is is that we would start to sink. And so over time, they're gonna have to sort of build bigger barricades and barriers around Manhattan because of sort of the the rising sea levels here. So now you're adding this to this I mean, this is gonna be *** huge worry for any city that's close to the water, well, because of collapsing infrastructure. And again, we have to talk about costs here. I mean, you know, there is, there's so much weak infrastructure in our country when it comes to bridges and already. So now we're gonna add this to it as well. So there's *** lot, *** lot of costs in our future. And mcdonald's is discontinuing several items from its menu. Just three years after introducing them, the fast food chain will no longer offer its the cafe bakery menu, which includes apple fritters, blueberry muffins and cinnamon rolls. Yum mcdonald's initially introduced the items during the pandemic and suggested that now that people are back to their pre pandemic routines, they might not be as interested in baked goods. Other items like chocolate chip cookies and apple pies will remain on the menu. Mcdonald's recently expanded its partnership with crispy cream, letting customers order donuts from mcdonald's. I mean, is there *** better partnership and crispy? But what's interesting is this is also mcdonald's way of sort of going after the Starbucks, the Dunkin clientele that they were going after. It's clear from all the indications they have here, they must have very separate people that the Starbucks Dunkin crowd is not going to mcdonald's as much as they, you're *** Starbucks person would go to mcdonald's. But like the whole reason why you would be like, oh I would get my doughnut and coffee from Starbucks. Might as well get it from mcdonald's clearly, that was like *** crossover.

The color of the ocean has changed significantly over the last 20 years and human-caused climate change is likely responsible, according to a new study.Video above: Study shows climate change is causing cities to sinkMore than 56% of the world’s oceans have changed color to an extent that cannot be explained by natural variability, said a team of researchers, led by scientists from the National Oceanography Center in the U.K. and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S., in a statement.Tropical oceans close to the equator in particular have become greener in the past two decades, reflecting changes in their ecosystems, according to the study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.The color of the ocean is derived from the materials found in its upper layers. For example, a deep blue sea will have very little life in it, whereas a green color means there are ecosystems there, based on phytoplankton, plant-like microbes that contain chlorophyll. The phytoplankton forms the basis of a food web that supports larger organisms such as krill, fish, seabirds and marine mammals.It’s not clear exactly how these ecosystems are changing, said study co-author Stephanie Dutkiewicz, senior research scientist in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences and the Center for Global Change Science. While some areas are likely to have less phytoplankton, others will have more – and it’s likely all parts of the ocean will see changes in the types of phytoplankton present.Ocean ecosystems are finely balanced and any change in the phytoplankton will send ripples across the food chain. “All changes are causing an imbalance in the natural organization of ecosystems. Such imbalance will only get worse over time if our oceans keep heating,” she told CNN.It will also affect the ocean’s ability to act as a store of carbon, Dutkiewicz said, as different plankton absorb different amounts of carbon.While the researchers are still working to unpick exactly what the changes mean, what is clear, they said, is that the changes are being driven by human-induced climate change.‘Clear trend’The researchers monitored changes in ocean color from space by tracking how much green or blue light is reflected from the surface of the sea.They used data from the Aqua satellite which has been monitoring ocean color changes for more than two decades and is able to pick out differences that are not visible to the human eye.They analyzed color variation data from 2002 to 2022 and then used climate change models to simulate what would happen to the oceans both with additional planet-heating pollution and without.The color changes matched almost exactly what Dutkiewicz predicted would happen if greenhouse gases were added to the atmosphere – that around 50% of our oceans would change color.Dutkiewicz, who has been running simulations that showed the oceans were going to change color for years, said she is not surprised at this finding. “But still I found the results very sobering; yet another wake-up call that human induced climate change significantly impacted the earth system,” she told CNN via email.Dutkiewicz told CNN it was difficult to say whether color changes could become visible to humans if the process continues. “If a big tipping point was reached in some places: maybe. Though you’d have to study the colors for a while to be able to pick up on the changes,” said Dutkiewicz. Next up, Dutkiewicz will try to better understand the color changes in different ocean regions, as well as look into what might be causing them, she said.

The color of the ocean has changed significantly over the last 20 years and human-caused climate change is likely responsible, according to a new study.

Video above: Study shows climate change is causing cities to sink

More than 56% of the world’s oceans have changed color to an extent that cannot be explained by natural variability, said a team of researchers, led by scientists from the National Oceanography Center in the U.K. and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S., in a statement.

Tropical oceans close to the equator in particular have become greener in the past two decades, reflecting changes in their ecosystems, according to the study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

The color of the ocean is derived from the materials found in its upper layers. For example, a deep blue sea will have very little life in it, whereas a green color means there are ecosystems there, based on phytoplankton, plant-like microbes that contain chlorophyll. The phytoplankton forms the basis of a food web that supports larger organisms such as krill, fish, seabirds and marine mammals.

It’s not clear exactly how these ecosystems are changing, said study co-author Stephanie Dutkiewicz, senior research scientist in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences and the Center for Global Change Science. While some areas are likely to have less phytoplankton, others will have more – and it’s likely all parts of the ocean will see changes in the types of phytoplankton present.

Ocean ecosystems are finely balanced and any change in the phytoplankton will send ripples across the food chain. “All changes are causing an imbalance in the natural organization of ecosystems. Such imbalance will only get worse over time if our oceans keep heating,” she told CNN.

It will also affect the ocean’s ability to act as a store of carbon, Dutkiewicz said, as different plankton absorb different amounts of carbon.

While the researchers are still working to unpick exactly what the changes mean, what is clear, they said, is that the changes are being driven by human-induced climate change.

‘Clear trend’

The researchers monitored changes in ocean color from space by tracking how much green or blue light is reflected from the surface of the sea.

They used data from the Aqua satellite which has been monitoring ocean color changes for more than two decades and is able to pick out differences that are not visible to the human eye.

They analyzed color variation data from 2002 to 2022 and then used climate change models to simulate what would happen to the oceans both with additional planet-heating pollution and without.

The color changes matched almost exactly what Dutkiewicz predicted would happen if greenhouse gases were added to the atmosphere – that around 50% of our oceans would change color.

Dutkiewicz, who has been running simulations that showed the oceans were going to change color for years, said she is not surprised at this finding.

“But still I found the results very sobering; yet another wake-up call that human induced climate change [has] significantly impacted the earth system,” she told CNN via email.

Dutkiewicz told CNN it was difficult to say whether color changes could become visible to humans if the process continues.

“If a big tipping point was reached in some places: maybe. Though you’d have to study the colors for a while to be able to pick up on the changes,” said Dutkiewicz.

Next up, Dutkiewicz will try to better understand the color changes in different ocean regions, as well as look into what might be causing them, she said.

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