Deep Sea Webcam Will Help Monitor Climate Change Effects

deep sea web cam monitoring climate change photo
Photo via AP Photo/MBARI via Discovery

An enormous 502 lb web camera was launched into the sea, where it will dive 3,000 feet under the Pacific waves to monitor climate change on marine life.

The Monterey Accelerated Research Station, or MARS, is an underwater observatory launched last November, and a whole range of innovative tools are used to gather information about how global climate change is impacting and shifting life under the sea. Watching seismic activity, acidity, and other aspects of ocean life will help scientists understand the health of the oceans.

The $600,000 Web camera offers scientists, students and others the opportunity to watch life at 500 fathoms. The camera captures images illuminated with "far-red" lights, a spectrum of luminescence invisible to undersea animals.
"The revolution in oceanography is to replace expeditionary science with a permanent presence in the ocean in the deep sea," said Widder, a senior scientist at the Ocean Research and Conservation Association, a nonprofit that develops high-tech equipment for ocean study.

With Google Earth entering the underwater scene as well as MARS, which will be one of hopefully many underwater observatories around the world very soon, the ocean may not stay unexplored territory for long. Not only will the camera help with monitoring the health of the sea, but also with new species discovery.

More details can be found at Discovery News

Via Discovery News

More on Monitoring Climate Change
Japanese Satellite First to Monitor Greenhouse Gases
British Scientists Launch Climate Change Monitoring Robot Gliders in Atlantic Ocean
New Gravity-Mapping, Climate Predicting Satellite Set to Launch from Russia