Located southeast of Bermuda, Hydrostation ‘S’—a set of unmarked geographic coordinates (32 degrees 10 minutes North, 64 degrees 30 minutes West)—has yielded measurements of temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity and other parameters every two weeks for seven decades.
Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda is warmer and more acidic than ever, 40 years of observation show
December 15, 2023
Oceans are constantly changing. These changes don’t only affect marine life but also have wide-reaching consequences for land dwellers. To document them, monitoring stations in the North Atlantic Ocean have been active for decades. Now, researchers have reported on the latest changes, showing that compared to 40 years ago, the ocean near the island of Bermuda is warmer, saltier, more acidic, and has lost oxygen. Long-term monitoring can provide information about existential challenges societies will face in the near future, the researchers said.
The Ocean Responds to a Warming Planet
April 03, 2020
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.
Long-term data show a recent acceleration in chemical and physical changes in the ocean
October 16, 2020
New research published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment uses data from two sustained open-ocean hydrographic stations in the North Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda to demonstrate recent changes in ocean physics and chemistry since the 1980s. The study shows decadal variability and recent acceleration of surface warming, salinification, deoxygenation, and changes in carbon dioxide (CO2)-carbonate chemistry that drives ocean acidification.
The Sargasso Sea has become warmer and saltier, and the loss of oxygen and ocean acidification is accelerating
October 16, 2020
These are the findings from nearly forty years of shipboard observations made in the deep Sargasso Sea offshore of the verdant island and surrounding coral reefs of Bermuda.
Robust Year Ahead for BIOS-Operated Research Vessel
January 31, 2021
BIOS marine superintendent and ship captain Quentin Lewis is calling the months ahead for the Institute’s research vessel the Atlantic Explorer “very healthy in terms of operating days.” At the start of 2021, BIOS has 195 days at sea funded for science programs, he said.
Upper ocean water masses shrinking in changing climate: Less efficient CO2 sink
June 08, 2020
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.
Study Highlights Importance of Mineral Iron in Ocean Ecosystems
August 31, 2023
New research published in Nature has revealed the importance of mineral forms of iron in regulating the cycling of this bio-essential nutrient in the ocean.
Illuminating Effects of Mesoscale Eddies on Coral Reefs
August 31, 2023
This summer marks year two of a three-year ASU BIOS study designed to expand understanding of how ocean eddies might be affecting coral reefs, as well as what role eddies may have played in reef accretion and overall functioning in the past.
Discovery of a New Calcifying Phytoplankton Species off Bermuda
October 25, 2023
A newly described coccolithophore species, Calciopappus curvus was recently found in 2020 in the Sargasso Sea near Bermuda by scientists affiliated with the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, a unit of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University (ASU BIOS). This newly named species has also been observed prior to its discovery off Bermuda in water samples from far-flung locations as the North Atlantic to tropical and subtropical regions of the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Ocean.