Many of the fish we eat play a key role in maintaining the seabed – and therefore our climate, new research shows.

New Curtin University research has revealed that a massive meteorite struck northwestern Scotland about 200 million years later than previously thought, in a discovery that not only rewrites Scotland’s geological history but alters our understanding of the evolution of non-marine life on Earth.

Around the world, millions of tons of small fish are processed into fishmeal and fish oil (FMFO) each year—key ingredients in aquaculture that helps farmed fish, like salmon, grow. A new University of British Columbia (UBC) study has revealed the global distribution of FMFO factories for the first time, shedding light on a critical area of the aquaculture supply chain, identifying where these ingredients are being produced, and who controls the industry’s footprint.

Flash floods resulting from extreme rainfall pose a major risk to people and infrastructure, especially in urban areas. Higher temperatures due to global climate change affect continuous rainfall and short rain showers in somewhat equal measure. However, if both types of precipitation occur at the same time, as is typical for thunderstorm cloud clusters, the amount of precipitation increases more strongly with increasing temperature, as shown in a study by two scientists from the University of Potsdam and the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) in Bremen. The study has just been published in the journal “Nature Geoscience”.

New research involving Rutgers professors has revealed that expected, extreme changes in India’s summer monsoon could drastically hamper the Bay of Bengal’s ability to support a crucial element of the region’s food supply: marine life. The study, published in Nature Geoscience, was conducted by scientists from Rutgers University, the University of Arizona and collaborators from India, China and Europe. To reach their conclusions, the scientists examined how the monsoon, which brings heavy rains to the Indian subcontinent, has influenced the Bay of Bengal’s marine productivity over the past 22,000 years.

University of Maine researchers documented shifts in shellfish populations along the Damariscotta and Medomak River estuaries by working with local harvesters and studying intertidal mudflats. Researchers formally documented how tidal river ecosystems have changed over time and how shellfish harvesters and other estuary users have adapted. The team found that the populations of soft shell clams have shifted dramatically over time, an estimated decline of up to 90% in the upper Damariscotta River estuary.

The Frontiers Planet Prize, the world’s largest science competition to enhance planetary health by fast-tracking innovative research, has announced National Champions from 19 different countries who now advance to the International competition, which will award three winners $1M each to scale up their research. Suzanne Tank and co-authors from the Arctic Great Rivers Observatory (ArcticGRO), a multinational project founded at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), were recognized for their publication, “Recent trends in the chemistry of major northern rivers signal widespread Arctic change,” published in Nature Geosciences.

A new study has found worrying signs that climate change may be undermining the capacity of Arctic fjords to serve as effective carbon sinks. The findings suggest that the capacity of polar oceans to remove carbon from the atmosphere may be reduced as the world continues to heat up.

Animals facing distress due to human action or aggression may react in several ways, for example, by fleeing or retaliating. New research showed that sharks may defend themselves – not unlike land-dwelling animals or humans. In French Polynesia, scientists observed a previously undocumented, rapidly delivered but usually non-lethal type of shark bite in response to human aggression. These new insights should be considered by the media to stop systematically blaming sharks, especially if motivated by self-defense, the researchers said.