N E W S F R O M T H E R O S E N S T I E L S C H O O L O F M A R I N E & AT M O S P H E R I C S C I E N C E SPRING 2019
R E S EARCH Unique Immunity Genes in One Widespread Coral Species A recently published study shows one species of coral may be better prepared for environmental change than others. Roughly 30 percent of the cauliflower coral’s (Pocillopora damicornis) genome is unique compared to several other reef-building corals. This diversity of genes related to immune function may be important for the long-term survival of coral reefs as climate change and ocean acidification continue to alter
the environment to which corals are adapted. “This coral is traditionally thought of as a weed, and yet it may be one of the last corals to survive environmental changes such as climate change,� said senior author of the study Nikki Traylor-Knowles, an assistant professor
of marine biology and ecology at the Rosenstiel School. READ MORE
Waters West of Europe Drive Ocean Overturning Circulation, Key for Regulating Climate A new study shows that most of the overturning and variability is occurring
not in the Labrador Sea off Canada, as past modeling studies have suggested, but in regions between Greenland and Scotland. The warm, salty, shallow waters carried northward from the tropics by currents and wind, sink and convert into colder, fresher, deep waters moving southward through the Irminger and Iceland basins.
The North Atlantic has the largest reservoir of anthropogenic carbon. Overturning circulation carries vast amounts of this carbon deep into the ocean, helping to slow global warming. It also transports tropical heat northward, meaning any changes to it could have an impact on glaciers and Arctic sea ice. Understanding what is happening, and what may happen in the years to come, is vital to better understanding long-term climate change. READ MORE