NOCS was created in 1995 jointly between the University of Southampton and the UK Natural Environment Research Council and is located within the port of Southampton at a purpose-built dockside campus with modern facilities. In 2010 the University and NERC components demerged, and the NERC-managed component became the National Oceanography Centre (NOC – with the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory in Liverpool). The two components of NOCS continue close collaboration through the jointly run Graduate School, shared research facilities and laboratories, complementary research groups, and many joint research grants and publications. The University component “Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton” (OES) is part of the Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences, (FELS). It was ranked 46th in the world for Earth and Marine Sciences by the QS World University Rankings in 2019.In November 2019, NOC became formally independent from the NERC and now operates as a company limited by guarantee with charitable status.
Reliable predictions of species responses to intensifying temperature extremes are crucial for managing climate change impacts. However, limited data of species' responses to heat stress across their distribution restricts prediction accuracy. Here we analyse three-decades of kelp abundance observations in Australia, including cool to warm-edge populations, relative to marine heatwaves (MHWs). As MHWs intensified, changes in kelp abundances shifted from positive to negative. Warm-edge populations displayed steeper declines in abundance change than central and cool-edge populations under comparable MHWs. Our results support a hybrid thermal performance model, whereby thermal limits differ between populations, but performance volatility increases toward species' warm-edge, heightening vulnerability of warm-edge populations. Importantly, realised impacts of MHWs were evident at smaller thermal anomalies than predicted by experiments and distribution models, highlighting the importance of calibrating theoretical approaches with realised ecological change. By integrating a multi-faceted approach, our study is generalisable for improving predictions of species' population vulnerability.
To meet our Net Zero commitments, the past decade has seen a dramatic increase in wind power, with hundreds of thousands of wind turbines already in place. Many studies have focused on the environmental impact of windfarms; however, wind turbine-induced ground seismic vibrations have received less attention. Prior seismic observations near wind turbines show apparently contradictory spatio-temporal noise patterns and complex relationships to operational parameters. Here, we investigate these contradictions, categorizing seismic observations from wind farms worldwide, and explain the causes for this variation. We link the ground seismic response to the fundamentals of wind, the structural response of wind turbines, and the interactions of their foundations with variable geology. We summarise these approaches and discuss potential implementation in noise management, alongside noise suppression technologies. We finally explore the use of wind turbine noise as a seismic source to potentially monitor the structural health of wind turbine structures, and the subsurface. The latter is highly relevant to measurement, monitoring and verification of CO2 and H2 storage, where cost-effective and long-term monitoring solutions are necessary.
ABSTRACT The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) plays a key role in the climate system, especially in the global meridional heat transport. Historical reconstructions indicate that the AMOC has weakened by about 15% since the mid‐20th century. Paleoclimate records, ocean theory, as well as a hierarchy of climate models suggest that the AMOC is a tipping element, sensitive to changes in buoyancy fluxes at the air‐sea interface, and could transition into a substantially weaker or fully collapsed state. Such a transition would have significant climate impacts on decadal to centennial timescales, potentially exceeding societal adaptability. Assessing the probability of such a transition, particularly before 2100, requires evaluating whether a collapsed AMOC state is possible under current forcing conditions. While conceptual and intermediate‐complexity models have long identified collapsed states, comprehensive global climate models have only recently done so. Based on integrating model diagnostics with observations and current AMOC theory this review article critically evaluates the current arguments for and against the evidence of a multi‐stable AMOC regime. We conclude that the evidence base in favor of such a regime has broadened over the last years and that the present‐day AMOC is in such a regime. This article is categorized under: Paleoclimates and Current Trends > Modern Climate Change Paleoclimates and Current Trends > Earth System Behavior Climate Models and Modeling > Knowledge Generation with Models
Abstract Modern submarine communication cables, though fiber‐optic in nature, remain vulnerable to space weather hazards due to their internal conductive cables used for powering repeaters. During geomagnetic storms, variations in the geomagnetic field induce geoelectric fields that drive geomagnetically induced voltages along these cables. This study validates the Submarine Cable Upset By Auroral Streams (SCUBAS) model framework by analyzing the induced voltages on two transatlantic submarine cables—TAT‐1 and TAT‐8—during the 11 February 1958 and 13 March 1989 superstorms, respectively. SCUBAS models the cable as a segmented conductor placed atop oceanic and subsea conductivity structures and calculates voltages from both cable‐parallel electric fields and coastal Earth potential at cable terminals. Model outputs are compared against digitized observations from historical literature. SCUBAS successfully captures both large‐scale voltage patterns and event‐specific dynamics, reproducing peak voltages within a median percentage error of <30%. High skill scores (>0.85) further confirm the reliability of the model across events and spatial locations. The results highlight that both subsea induction and coastal Earth potential shifts contribute significantly to geomagnetically induced voltages, emphasizing the need for comprehensive modeling in space weather risk assessments. This validation positions SCUBAS as a robust tool for evaluating the vulnerability of submarine cables to geomagnetic disturbances, with relevance for space weather forecasting, improving infrastructure resilience, and future mitigation strategies.
We demonstrate the combined utility of distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) and repeat conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) profiling for observing internal tide dynamics over a sloping seafloor. While DAS has been widely proposed as a method to infer ocean temperature variability from seafloor cables, quantitative in situ validation has been limited. Here we present the first published detailed comparison between DAS-inferred bottom temperature fluctuations and near-bottom temperature measured from high-resolution yoyo-CTD time series reaching 5 m above the seafloor, conducted over the EllaLink/GeoLab cable on the slope of Madeira. Linear regressions yield an empirical DAS temperature sensitivity of 21-37 & micro;strain , a factor 2.5-4 greater than commonly used theoretical estimates. The calibrated DAS record reveals semidiurnal internal tide bores propagating upslope to 1,300 m depth, where propagation halts and transitions to a complex interference pattern. These observations highlight the potential of combining seafloor fiber sensing with targeted in situ profiling to observe near-bottom internal tide breaking processes.
