{"id":217426,"date":"2025-06-13T11:12:37","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T21:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=217426"},"modified":"2025-06-13T11:12:37","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T21:12:37","slug":"coal-steel-industry-pollution-ocean-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/06\/13\/coal-steel-industry-pollution-ocean-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Coal, steel industry pollution alters North Pacific ocean life thousands of miles away"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"large
Rosette water sampler prepped for deployment onboard the R\/V Kilo Moana (Photo credit: Ryan Tabata)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Iron is essential for the growth of microscopic phytoplankton in the ocean\u2014the foundation of the aquatic food web. However, a new study led by oceanographers at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa revealed that iron released from industrial processes, such as coal combustion and steel making, is altering an ecosystem thousands of miles away in the North Pacific Transition Zone, a region just north of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> that is important for fisheries in the Pacific. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Coal power plant (Photo credit: Arnold Paul)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Iron from human activities billows into the atmosphere and can be carried to distant lands or oceans before being scrubbed from the skies by rain. Industrial iron has previously been detected in the North Pacific Transition Zone, however, it was unclear what effect iron was having on the ecosystem.<\/p>\n

The team found that phytoplankton in the region are iron-deficient during the spring, so an increase in the supply of iron boosted the spring phytoplankton bloom that is typical in the area. However, as a result of a booming bloom, other nutrients were depleted more quickly, leading to a crash in phytoplankton later in the season. The phytoplankton\u2019s decline can ripple through the ecosystem, ultimately impacting fish populations and the fisheries that depend on them.<\/p>\n

A ‘one-two punch’<\/h2>\n

“The ocean has boundaries that are invisible to us but known to all sorts of microbes and animals that live there,” said Nick Hawco, lead author of the study and assistant professor in the Department of Oceanography<\/a> at the UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology<\/a>. “The North Pacific Transition Zone is one of these boundaries. It divides the low nutrient ocean gyres from the high nutrient temperate ecosystems to the north. With more iron coming into the system, that boundary is migrating north, but we are also expecting to see these boundaries shift northward as the ocean warms.”<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the regions of the Transition Zone that are closer to Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> are among those that are losing out.<\/p>\n

“It’s a one-two punch: industrial iron is impacting the base of the food web and the warming of the ocean is pushing these phytoplankton-rich waters further and further away from Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>,” Hawco said.<\/p>\n

To piece together the season cycle of iron input, phytoplankton growth and ocean mixing, Hawco and collaborators from several universities analyzed water and phytoplankton samples and studied ocean dynamics during four different expeditions to this region of the Pacific Ocean. They also assessed the iron in these waters to determine whether it had the unique isotope signature of iron that is released from industrial processes.<\/p>\n

The research team is developing new techniques to monitor the iron nutrition of ocean plankton. This will shed light on how changes in iron supply, from both natural or industrial sources, could impact ocean life.<\/p>\n

“This is an example of the large-scale impact that human pollution can have on marine ecosystems that are thousands of miles away from the source,” said Hawco.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Industrial iron from coal and steel production is disrupting marine ecosystems thousands of miles from its source.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[1467,1363,1314,107,158,92,73,9],"class_list":["post-217426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-manoa-excellence-in-research","tag-manoa-research","tag-manoa-sustainability","tag-oceanography","tag-publication","tag-school-of-ocean-and-earth-science-and-technology","tag-sustainability","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t