We’re familiar with how climate change is impacting the ocean’s biology, from bleaching events that cause coral die-offs to algae blooms that choke coastal marine ecosystems, but it’s becoming clear that a warming planet is also impacting the physics of ocean circulation.

Around this time last year, oceanographer Maureen Conte was on a research ship off the coast of Bermuda, hauling scientific instruments up out of the ocean.

Oceans are critical to stabilizing the world’s climate, absorbing a quarter of all carbon dioxide emissions and capturing 90 percent of the excess heat they generate. By some estimates, the ocean also accounts for up to half the annual emissions of another greenhouse gas – nitrous oxide (N2O), the third most important climate emission after carbon dioxide and methane. With the climate changing amid record high atmospheric levels of all three gases, the importance of the marine nitrogen cycle is ripe for study.

As the shipwreck capital of the world, Bermuda is known for its treacherous reefs. But these unique corals may also offer clues to heightened resilience in the face of a changing climate. Working at the edge of science – and living at the edge of the ocean – experts study and protect these islands and reefs they call home.

A new collaboration between BIOS and the Overview Collective provided an exciting educational opportunity for Bermudian students called The Climate Classroom. With support from lead sponsor HSBC, over 200 students participated in this gamified immersive learning experience for M2 students across Bermuda from April 18th– May 2nd. The spokesperson said, “HSBC Bermuda is delighted to be the lead sponsor for this important education program on climate change and its impact on Bermuda’s marine life. We believe this learning experience will equip our students with the tools they need to make a positive impact on the environment and contribute to a sustainable future.”

On February 16, 2023, BIOS published the second half of a two-part report on the local impacts of climate change in Bermuda. The new report, titled “Climate Change and Bermuda, Part II: Impacts and Societal Risk” was produced by the Bermuda Airport Authority’s Dr. Mark Guishard, a BIOS adjunct scientist and former Director of the Bermuda Weather Service, with the support of lead donor HSBC Bermuda.

Conducting research can be a career-defining opportunity for an undergraduate student. This experience helps build their CV for graduate school, it can open doors to internships and jobs, and many students present their results at international scientific conferences. Recognizing the increasingly critical role that independent research plays in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers, each fall BIOS welcomes a cohort of undergraduate interns as part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program.

A photograph taken over 150 years ago, originally intended to document British overseas military installations in Bermuda, is now a historical reference point helping scientists measure the impacts of local sea-level rise. Although the subjects of the photograph were the Commissioner’s House and various fortifications along the slip in the Royal Naval Dockyard, the image also captured a fixed biological phenomenon that can be used to interpret sea-level: a stable community of cyanobacteria that lives just above the high-water mark.

Paul Gensbigler, 20, is no stranger to the water, having spent the past two years studying the health of the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States. A junior majoring in molecular and cellular biology at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in Maryland, Gensbigler is researching the microbes that help control nutrient levels in the Bay. However, this January he traded the brackish waters of the northern Chesapeake for the salty waters of the northern Atlantic in a “Hopkins Intersession Abroad” program.

Living at the edge of darkness, the community of microbes and tiny animals in the ocean’s twilight zone upcycle nutrients to ensure their survival. A study led by researchers at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa revealed that small, free-floating animals called zooplankton rely mainly on an even smaller class of organisms, called microzooplankton, to consolidate the sparse waste products in the water and transform it into higher-quality food. The study was published in Limnology and Oceanography.