Oceanography

Shipping pollution changed clouds. What can scientists learn? What happens when cleaner shipping fuel suddenly changes the atmosphere above the ocean? In this episode of Oceanography, meteorologist Dr. Michael Diamond explains how shipping pollution, cloud formation, and climate are connected, and how a major fuel regulation and disrupted global shipping routes created a rare natural experiment for scientists. The conversation explores aerosols, sulfur pollution, cloud brightening, and what these real-world changes can teach us about marine climate intervention, including marine cloud brightening and solar geoengineering. If you want to understand how human activity is already shaping clouds, warming, and climate policy, this episode offers a grounded, fascinating look at one of the most complex questions in climate science.

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Episode Guests: Dr. Michael Diamond
Find Dr. Diamond’s published article on the impacts of the IOM regulation and preprint on the impacts of a changed shipping route.
Review Dr. Diamond’s publications on Google Scholar

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Hosted, produced, and edited by Clark Marchese
Cover art by Jomiro Eming
Theme music by Nela Ruiz

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Could reflecting sunlight help cool the Earth? Stratospheric aerosol injection, or SAI, is a proposed climate intervention that aims to reduce global temperatures by reflecting a small portion of incoming sunlight. Inspired by volcanic eruptions, this approach is being studied through climate and ecosystem models to better understand its potential effects. This episode explores how SAI could influence sea surface temperature, net primary production, ocean chemistry, and marine food webs. It also looks at how scientists use models to evaluate different deployment scenarios, including long-term use and phase-out strategies. Along the way, the conversation considers uncertainty, regional variability, and the role SAI might play within a broader portfolio of climate responses.

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Episode Guests: Dr. Kelsey Roberts
Find Dr Robert’s publication on the Potential Impacts of Climate Intervention on Marine Ecosystems
Review Dr. Robert’s publications on Google Scholar
Find more resources on geoengineering at GeoMIP
Learn more about Justice and Governance about SRM Technologies at DSG
Listen to COP30: Green Power for more on global climate policy
Episode Transcript and more information on the Pine Forest Media website
Follow Pine Forest Media on Instagram @pineforestmedia
Hosted, produced, and edited by Clark Marchese
Cover art by Jomiro Eming
Theme music by Nela Ruiz
Find some more Pine Forest Media podcasts below

Listen to Plastic Podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
Listen to South Pole on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
Listen to Something in the Water on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can brighter clouds cool Earth? Marine cloud brightening (MCB) is a proposed solar radiation modification strategy that could reflect sunlight, cool ocean regions, and potentially reduce dangerous heat. But can it actually work at scale, and what risks might come with it? In this episode, climate scientist Dr. Jessica Wan explains how MCB works, why researchers are studying sea salt aerosols and marine stratocumulus clouds, and what climate models reveal about unintended effects on weather, heatwaves, rainfall, and global circulation. The conversation explores geoengineering, climate intervention, El Niño, regional cooling, governance, and the major uncertainties surrounding marine cloud brightening as a response to climate change.

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Episode Guests: Dr. Jessica Wan
Visit Dr. Wan’s Website
Review Dr. Wan’s publications on Google Scholar
Connect with Dr. Wan on LinkedIn
Find Dr. Wan’s articles on MCB in a warmer world and MCB and El Niño
Learn more about Justice and Governance about SRM Technologies at DSG

Episode Transcript and more information on the Pine Forest Media website
Follow Pine Forest Media on Instagram @pineforestmedia
Hosted, produced, and edited by Clark Marchese
Cover art by Jomiro Eming
Theme music by Nela Ruiz
Find some more Pine Forest Media podcasts below

Listen to Plastic Podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
Listen to South Pole on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
Listen to Something in the Water on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We may need to remove carbon from the atmosphere—can the ocean help? Biomass-based marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) explores whether natural ocean processes can help store carbon for the long term. Oceanographer and biogeochemist Dr. Morgan Raven explains how organic carbon moves through marine systems, why low-oxygen environments like deep-sea brines and fjords may enable long-term carbon sequestration, and what scientists still need to understand before these approaches can scale. This episode explores marine carbon dioxide removal, carbon sequestration, blue carbon, and ocean biogeochemistry, while addressing uncertainty, environmental risk, and the role these strategies might play alongside emissions reduction. A clear, grounded look at one of the most complex and debated frontiers in climate science.

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Episode Guests: Dr. Morgan Raven
Review Dr. Raven’s publications on Google Scholar
Check out the work of the NOISE Lab
Listen to COP30: Oceans on the Rise? for more on mCDR
10 New Insights in Climate Science for 2025 by Future Earth

Episode Transcript and more information on the Pine Forest Media website
Follow Pine Forest Media on Instagram @pineforestmedia
Hosted, produced, and edited by Clark Marchese
Cover art by Jomiro Eming
Theme music by Nela Ruiz
Find some more Pine Forest Media podcasts below

Listen to Plastic Podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
Listen to South Pole on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is biocultural coastal conservation — and why does it matter for the future of our oceans? In this episode, conservation scientist Juan Carlos Cruz of the Amazon Conservation Team explains how Indigenous knowledge and Western marine science are being woven together through the Ancestral Tides initiative.

Across Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, Colombia, and Suriname, coastal Indigenous and local communities are protecting sea turtles, coral reefs, mangroves, and critical nesting beaches using community-based conservation strategies. This work combines biological monitoring, sea turtle tagging, hatchery protection, GPS tracking, fisher partnerships, and livelihood-based conservation — all grounded in ancestral knowledge systems.

We explore:
• What biocultural conservation actually means
• Why sea turtles are biocultural keystone species
• How Indigenous-led conservation strengthens marine ecosystems
• The connection between coral reefs, fisheries, and food security
• How land and sea conservation must work together

Sea turtles migrate thousands of kilometers across oceans — linking forests, beaches, reefs, and coastal communities. Protecting them requires protecting the full ecological and cultural system they move through.

This conversation highlights a growing global shift: conservation that centers community leadership, respects traditional knowledge, and recognizes that protecting biodiversity also means protecting culture.

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Special thanks to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for sponsoring this episode.

Episode Guests: Juan Carlos Cruz
Visit the Amazon Conservation Team website
Visit the Ancestral Tidesw webpage
Review the Ancestral Tides Annual Report

Episode Transcript and more information on the Pine Forest Media website
Follow Pine Forest Media on Instagram @pineforestmedia

Hosted, produced, and edited by Clark Marchese
Cover art by Jomiro Eming
Theme music by Nela Ruiz
Find some more Pine Forest Media podcasts below

Listen to Plastic Podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
Listen to South Pole on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
Listen to Something in the Water on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.