{"667675":{"#nid":"667675","#data":{"type":"external_news","title":"The Oceans Are Missing Their Rivers","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn a rhythm that\u2019s pulsed through epochs, a river\u2019s plume carries sediment and nutrients from the continental interior into the ocean, a major exchange of resources from land to sea. More than 6,000 rivers worldwide surge freshwater into oceans, delivering nutrients, including nitrogen and phosphorus, that feed phytoplankton, generating a bloom of life that in turn feeds progressively larger creatures. They may even influence ocean currents in ways researchers are just starting to understand. But today, in rivers around the world, humans are altering this critical phenomenon. In many places, the culprit is a dam. Researchers led by \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/people\/bracco-dr-annalisa\u0022\u003EAnnalisa Bracco\u003C\/a\u003E, professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/home\u0022\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E, investigated these dynamics\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1029\/2021JC017572\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ein a study\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;of the plume created by the Mekong River, the 12th-longest river in the world. The study found that current and proposed Mekong River dams will dramatically reduce its annual mean flow, its seasonal cycle, and sediment loading. The scientists\u0026nbsp;argue that a reduced productivity of the offshore water of the South China Sea along the pathway of the summer jet may be an undesirable outcome as well.\u0026nbsp;Other EAS researchers in the study are \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/people\/zeng-xiyuan-0\u0022\u003EXiyuan Zeng\u003C\/a\u003E, graduate student, and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/filippos-tagklis-80a587184\u0022\u003EFilippos Tagklis\u003C\/a\u003E, postdoctoral scholar.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn a rhythm that\u2019s pulsed through epochs, a river\u2019s plume carries sediment and nutrients from the continental interior into the ocean, a major exchange of resources from land to sea. More than 6,000 rivers worldwide surge freshwater into oceans, delivering nutrients, including nitrogen and phosphorus, that feed phytoplankton, generating a bloom of life that in turn feeds progressively larger creatures. They may even influence ocean currents in ways researchers are just starting to understand. But today, in rivers around the world, humans are altering this critical phenomenon. In many places, the culprit is a dam. Researchers led by \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/people\/bracco-dr-annalisa\u0022\u003EAnnalisa Bracco\u003C\/a\u003E, professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/home\u0022\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E, investigated these dynamics\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1029\/2021JC017572\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ein a study\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;of the plume created by the Mekong River, the 12th-longest river in the world. The study found that current and proposed Mekong River dams will dramatically reduce its annual mean flow, its seasonal cycle, and sediment loading. The scientists\u0026nbsp;argue that a reduced productivity of the offshore water of the South China Sea along the pathway of the summer jet may be an undesirable outcome as well. Other EAS researchers in the study are \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/people\/zeng-xiyuan-0\u0022\u003EXiyuan Zeng\u003C\/a\u003E, graduate student, and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/filippos-tagklis-80a587184\u0022\u003EFilippos Tagklis\u003C\/a\u003E, postdoctoral scholar.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2023-05-08 16:03:12","changed_gmt":"2023-05-08 16:03:12","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","publication":"Nautilus","field_article_url":"","publication_url":"https:\/\/nautil.us\/the-oceans-are-missing-their-rivers-302187\/","dateline":{"date":"2023-05-03T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-05-03T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"364801","name":"EAS"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166926","name":"School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences"},{"id":"171968","name":"Annalisa Bracco"},{"id":"192597","name":"Xiyuan Zeng"},{"id":"192598","name":"Filippos Tagklis"},{"id":"192599","name":"rivers"},{"id":"176359","name":"oceans"},{"id":"192600","name":"Mekong River"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}