In the sea, there are large extensions of corals, sea fans and sponges. They form true animal forests, rich in biodiversity, which have a structure similar to terrestrial woodlands. But these underwater forests are under threat, and it is worth remembering that this is the International Year of Forests

APRIL 6TH, 2011

The European project called MedSeA, led by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, is setting out to research the ecological and socioeconomic impacts of the acidification of the Mediterranean Sea caused by global warming. The aim is to map vulnerable areas and devise strategies to mitigate its effects

STAFF | FEBRUARY 23RD, 2011

The depths of the Mediterranean are the silent scene of a race against time between advances in their study and their never-ending destruction. While scientists work to determine the ecological role of the seabed, human activities continue to damage them

FEBRUARY 22ND, 2011

One of the sailboats in the 2010 Barcelona World Race is carrying scientific instruments on board to measure the temperature and salinity of the waters it crosses. Scientists have already begun to receive data that will help them draw the first map of the temperature and salinity of unexplored areas of the ocean

STAFF | FEBRUARY 1ST, 2011

The website Recerca en Accio has recently launched a new project focused on the study of white coral reefs that grow between 50 and 1,000 meters deep in the Mediterranean. A group of oceanographers are investigating the ecology of these communities in locations such as the Canal of Menorca or the submarine canyon off Cap de Creus, on the Catalan coast. The information collected can be used to include these marine areas in the Natura 2000 network.

STAFF | SEPTEMBER 20TH, 2010

A team of Catalan scientists discovered a new species of sponge in the depths of Antarctica and because of it similarities with the famous Chupa Chups lollypop gave it the scientific name of 'Stylocordyla chupachups'.

ANNI MONREAL | SEPTEMBER 10TH, 2010

Barcelona’s Institute of Marine Sciences has succeeded for the first time ever in reproducing the most common species of jellyfish found in the Mediterranean in its laboratories.

Staff | June 22, 2010

Today, June 1, at 21:30 the 17th edition of Barcelona International Environmental Film Festival (FICMA) gets under way at Cines Alexandra. This year, for the first time, programming will also be available on the website of the festival, which lasts until June 6.

1 june 2010

At the 6th European Conference for Research Infrastructure (ECRI) yesterday in Barcelona, the Ministry of Science and Innovation promoted scientific institutes in the Catalan capital: Mare Nostrum, MELiSSA, and Sarmiento de Gamboa.

Ànnia Monreal | 26 March 2010

The Institute of Marine Sciences (CSIC) is studying the marine environment and its living organisms, researching the functioning of its ecosystems and the possibility to ensure its protection and recovery. But the ocean is huge, too large to get to know it relying only on the Institute's own work. In order therefore to give voice to other 'researchers', observers, naturalists, marine professionals and lovers of the ocean, the Institute has created the portal 'Observer of the sea'. Thus, the Institute seeks to achieve a more appropriate, current and realistic vision of the oceans.

The Mediterranean Sea nearly dried out six million years ago, when it got isolated from the oceans for a long period of time, due to actual tectonic lifting of the Gibraltar Strait. When the Atlantic once again found a way through the Straits, the Mediterranean filled with the biggest and most sudden flood that Earth has ever known. The finding is published in Nature.

Staff | 11 december 2009

The 2nd of November, at three o'clock in the morning the satellite SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) was launched into orbit from the space station of Plesetsk, in the north of Russia.

17 November 2009

Ignacio Corbella, Earth and Space

A team at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) has installed an undersea laboratory for early warning of tsunamis. 'GEOSTAR', the first laboratory of its kind to be installed in Europe, has been installed in the Gulf of Cadiz, 60 miles from Cape St. Vincent at a depth of 3,300 meters. The area has been selected for its proximity to the contact area between the tectonic plates of Eurasia and Africa, a band with seismic activity and tsunamis.

A.R. | 13 november 2009

The calculation of variations in the sea level is relatively simple. It is by far more complicated then to determine the change in the water mass. A team of geodesists and oceanographers from the University of Bonn, as well as from the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences and the Alfred-Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Sciences, two centres of the Helmholtz Association, have now, for the first time, succeeded in doing this.

A.R. | 13 november 2009

Is the water cycle on Earth accelerating? Is climate change increasing the rhythm of evaporation and, therefore, water circulates at a faster speed?” This was the question posed by oceanographer Jordi Font just a few hours prior to the launch of the European Space Agency´s (ESA) new satellite, the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS). This new instrument orbits the planet since November, collecting information to answer these questions.

Mónica Salomone | 5 November 2009