A new U.S. Geological Survey report finds that accelerating sea level rise and intensifying storms pose a threat to barrier islands like those of the Cape Lookout National Seashore, which the superintendent says confirms what park staff have been observing over the years.
Science
Controlled burns boost marsh island root systems: study
UNC undergraduate students found that areas that frequently undergo controlled burning have stronger root systems than those that are never or are occasionally burned.
Chemist develops purification system that removes PFAS
UNC Charlotte professor Dr. Jordan Poler received a grant aimed at helping make his lab’s water-purification method, which cleans drinking water of toxins including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, available to consumers.
Researchers aim to offer Nags Head wave energy options
Could the ocean’s power be tapped as a renewable, acceptable, backup energy source for Outer Banks residents? That’s what National Science Foundation-funded research at the Coastal Studies Institute seeks to find out.
Teams take to sky to survey North Atlantic right whales
Small survey teams will again this year collect information and aerial imagery off the North Carolina and South Carolina coasts on North Atlantic right whales during calving season.
Warming oceans intensified hurricanes’ strength: Studies
Human-caused climate change has pumped up peak, pre-landfall Atlantic hurricane wind speeds by an average of 13 to 18 mph in recent years, according to the authors of two companion research papers published Wednesday.
Whales that use echolocation mistake plastic for prey: study
A Duke University doctoral candidate in a new study found that deep-diving whales that rely on sound to forage for food are mistaking plastic for prey.
Samantha Farquhar finds trust a must in fishing research
Studying the intersects of food security, industrial fisheries and climate change, the doctoral researcher has learned that no matter whether its Nepal, Madagascar, Greenland or Wanchese, building relationships is the first step.
Vesta says olivine sand carbon project at Duck yielding data
The light green sand from a Norway mine deposited nearshore earlier this year in Duck is part of a pilot project studying how the material, when activated by seawater, removes carbon from the ocean and atmosphere.
Conchologists expand, revise popular seashell field guide
Seashell enthusiasts teamed up to revise and expand the decades-old “Seashells of North Carolina” written in 1997 by Hugh Porter, who had a 55-year career at UNC Institute of Marine Sciences, and Lynn Houser.
Division, nonprofit team to tag red drum, track by satellite
Popular among anglers, little is known about the reproduction and migration of the state’s official saltwater fish, which the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries and N.C. Marine & Estuary Foundation’s new pilot tagging study seeks to remedy.
Transition to La Niña may offer East Coast flooding relief
After a period of record flooding along the North Carolina coast, a recurring cooling trend in the Pacific is set to bring some relief here, according to a new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration outlook.
UNCW team IDs mystery species infecting bay scallops
Using DNA sequencing, University of North Carolina Wilmington researchers have identified a species of trematode, a parasitic and suspected invasive species here that has further set back the state’s already struggling bay scallop stocks but is no threat to humans.
New guide helps tackle ID’ing state’s freshwater fishes
Check out the recently published “A Guide to North Carolina’s Freshwater Fishes” to find out which of the 40 families of freshwater fish are on the coast and where.
Tree rings show summer 2023 was hottest in 2 millennia
After last year’s record-breaking temperatures, forecasts for this summer indicate another scorcher ahead, just as researchers find more troubling climate data and elected officials point to relief efforts.
Recent whale deaths unfortunate, not alarming: Scientists
Researchers say the stranded whales that washed ashore in quick succession earlier this year “may just be an unfortunate statistical anomaly” and were unrelated to offshore wind development.
