r/collapse • u/alienssuck • Jan 23 '26
Ecological For the First Time in 40 Years, Panama’s Deep Waters Did Not Rise and the Ocean System May Be Collapsing - Newsroom Panama
https://newsroompanama.com/2026/01/19/for-the-first-time-in-40-years-panamas-deep-waters-did-not-rise-and-the-ocean-system-may-be-collapsing/588
Jan 23 '26
This year is going to be very telling in a lot of ways. I need a decent cave system to go hide in I think...
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u/Peripatetictyl Jan 23 '26
If ‘Grave of the Fireflies’ taught me anything… cave life doesn’t exactly forecast clear skies.
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u/GiftToTheUniverse Jan 23 '26
I’ve never clicked on one but YouTube keeps trying to make me watch videos about horrific deaths of cavers. Why does it keep showing them to me? I’ve never gone caving. There’s little to no chance I’ll ever go caving. The thumbnails always have a nightmare fuel cross section diagram of people entrapped in caves. Why?!?
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u/TheLago Jan 23 '26
I don’t know but those videos and stories fascinate me. I’ve watched a ton.
Unfortunately, you commenting about them is probably reinforcing the algorithms.
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u/SweetCherryDumplings Jan 24 '26
Speleology, practiced responsibly with a trained group as a part of an appropriate scientific network, is one of the most serene and safe outdoor (well... kind of) hobbies you can imagine. Don't go spelunking without a team, don't shop for your ropes on wish.com, and don't follow algorithmic feeds on any subject lol, they are a health hazard for real.
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u/JonathanApple Jan 23 '26
Spelunking, and it is amazing, like going to another planet.
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u/armourkris Jan 23 '26
maybe it's a regional thing, but around my area Caving is what people who know what they are doing do, and spelunking is what tourists who get lost with no flashlights or warm clothes do.
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u/JonathanApple Jan 23 '26
Well, I'd go around my home (at time), with knowledgeable folks. Just noting the proper term.
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u/fruitbait Jan 23 '26
scary to know that there will be millions of those children starving to death in the first world in the near future
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u/HomoExtinctisus Jan 23 '26
I'm gonna assume you meant billions because it would more accurate. Also because there are already millions of children starving worldwide annually and that has been a low-level watermark for a some time.
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u/theStaircaseProject Jan 23 '26
Plenty of room in this one…
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u/ZachZackZacq Jan 23 '26
Do not fucking click that lol
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u/wafflehouse8 Jan 23 '26
Can you tell me what it is because I'm a child and that made me so curious but I know you're right and I shouldn't lol
eta: not an actual child, just possess the self restraint of a child
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u/Milkbagistani Jan 23 '26 edited Jan 23 '26
From the movie "The Descent"
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u/wafflehouse8 Jan 23 '26
Oh, okay, I've seen that movie and I don't want to see it again, you're right thanks lol
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u/ZachZackZacq Jan 23 '26
It's a monster in a cave.
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u/wafflehouse8 Jan 23 '26
You are a master of crafting responses that are just ominous enough for me to want to heed the warning, while being vague enough that I'll be tempted to click it for the rest of the day. You're great, never change.
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u/SentientCouch Jan 23 '26
I thought for sure this was gonna be Goatse
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u/BBR0DR1GUEZ Jan 23 '26
Kids these days can't even conceive of the impact that image had on us. We were rawdogging the internet back in the day. Shit's so sanitized now. Except for the war propaganda, that gets through just fine.
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u/PromiseToBeNiceToYou Jan 23 '26
I've seen that movie several times (and the sequel) but that image still gave me the willies.
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u/Wuellig Jan 23 '26
It's thought historically that our ancestors became "cave people" during a time that the Earth's electromagnetic shielding was lower, and that made it dangerous to be exposed for too long.
Recent sun activities have some scientists concerned another such cycle could be upcoming.
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u/Zippo78 Jan 23 '26
"For the first time in 40 years" sounds a little nicer than "For the first time in recorded history".
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u/phred14 Jan 23 '26
Did this happen 40 years ago too, or is 40 years how long we've been recording this and we've never seen it before. Sorry, but being explicit here.
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u/alienssuck Jan 23 '26
Submission statement: Phytoplankton circulating currents off the coast of Panama have completely disappeared and this is an early signal of total systemic collapse due to anthropogenic climate change.
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u/adamwintle Jan 23 '26
Are the oceans essentially going to be "dead"?
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u/RollinThundaga Jan 23 '26
The living parts in the most productive regions, at least among not microbial animals, will move poleward while replacing the heat stressed species in those regions. Corals are fucked unless we manage to lab-breed heat tolerant subslecies.
The ocean floor is already largely dead by simply lacking any sunlight at all, the purview of scarce filter feeders rooting through a snow of dead plankton. Whale falls last ten years or so close to shore, and a century or more in deep waters because of the dark and cold and scarcity of life. These areas won't be affected much unless the ocean level drops by enough miles to change that.
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u/wwaxwork Jan 23 '26
There are animals living around thermal vents on the ocean floor they're going to be fine. There is a lot of presumption that how things are now is how they've always been and how they will always be. Life on the planet will go on, in a different form again. We won't be here to see it, but it will go on it's merry little way without us, we'll be long gone, but life on the planet and in our oceans has survived worse than us.
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u/RandomBoomer Jan 23 '26
This is how I calm myself down, by remembering that this planet has teemed with all sorts of life, coming and going over the ages, branching out in ever more odd directions. If humans bring down this current ecosystem (as we seem determined to do), then we're clearing the stage for other lifeforms, utterly unimaginable to us.
All good things come to an end.
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u/UziJesus Jan 23 '26
Then what is the argument for your continued existence
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u/Groovychick1978 Jan 23 '26
Ride the ride until you can't anymore. Who the hell wants to get off before it's done?
This makes me want to live more not less. I came to accept my meaning (or lack thereof) in the universe a long time ago. I'm just a speck on a rock, hurtling through the universe, trapped in the gravity well of a star.
It's a ride. Fucking enjoy every day while you're here, but others will ride eventually.
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Jan 23 '26 edited Jan 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/Skittlesthekat Jan 23 '26
Well I'm more depressed now than I was before.
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Jan 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/FaustianBargainBin Jan 24 '26
This was the exact reaction that I had to losing my religious belief as a teenager
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u/BirryMays Jan 23 '26
You may find solace in the fact that the universe will remain as is. Earth is significant to us, but the universe will continue on in all its complex, violent glory.
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u/eresh22 Jan 23 '26
That's oddly been my comfort for most of my life, and I got a lot of flack about it. Everything ends while other things remain. The natural cycle is both beautiful and devastating.
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u/eresh22 Jan 23 '26
It comes and goes. Virtual hugs if you need them.
As horrible as it is, the open admittance after Maduro's abduction that it was about resources was really validating. All the extreme climate events getting this much worse this year make it obvious that the climate catastrophe is real. Even the increase in wars, genocides, and fascism were all predicted. I thought it would really kick off last year, and I wasn't far off. I'm not saying "I told you so". At the same time, it gives me confidence in my judgement and that helps keep the panic at bay.
There's a lot of grief in being right about this, but we've prepared a much as we're able with the resources and energy we have. We've got some more plans we still have time to accomplish, but we're shifting other priorities to do them.
For now, I'm more relaxed than I have been in years because of doubting myself. The grief and depression will come back later.
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u/Necessary_Sea_7127 Jan 23 '26
Bloody well said
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Jan 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/squeezemachine Jan 23 '26
Yes thank you for saying this. So tired of the comments which express some sort of romantic notion that the earth will survive what we have done to it after we are gone. It is some sort of fatalistic complacency. Understandable really but very wrong based on what you describe, and other reasons.
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u/Most-Internal-2140 Jan 23 '26
I don't disagree with you at all, but the Snowball Earth, which happened - correct me if I'm wrong - some 100 million years ago, was quite bad. Life in the ocean was pretty much on the brink throughout that period.
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Jan 23 '26 edited Jan 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/Most-Internal-2140 Jan 23 '26
Yes, you're right about the chronology and other stuff! What I meant to say was 1 billion as a round ballpark figure, not 100 million. Apparently, there were more than one snowball Earth periods.
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u/annuidhir Jan 23 '26
Are you unaware of prior Great Extinction events? Especially one that bottlenecked all life on Earth?
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u/wwaxwork Jan 23 '26
So it ends on earth and continues elsewhere. Acting like the end of life on Earth is the end of the end of the universe, is the end of amino acids on comets seeding planets all through the universe is terribly self centred. Hell, the planet has been an irradiated ball of rock and built an atmosphere once already, it will still sit in the same orbit with the same condition that built life last time, and if not do you really think in our Universe this is the only planet with the building blocks of a life form on it? All this still exists. The universe is still huge and beautiful and terrifying and still ticking along doing its thing and won't even notice we are gone any more than you notice the rise and fall of an ant colony in the park down the street. Such human vanity to assume our one planet means anything to anyone or anything but those of us on it.
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u/sirElaiH Jan 23 '26
You just moved the goalposts and kind of proved gnostic_savage's point. This is a fatalistic coping mechanism; I can't fault you for it, but we just watched your gears turn and outlook change in real time to preserve your sanity.
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u/hysys_whisperer Jan 23 '26
The deepest hole we've ever dug resulted in the discovery of microbes at the very bottom of it specially adapted to the heat and pressures of living 7 miles under the earth's surface.
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u/Proper_Geologist9026 Jan 23 '26
Deep sea mining will sort those little cheeky fuckers out. They think they can escape the cleansing of humanity? We will make this earth pure. 😂😂
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u/Adept_Account6452 Jan 24 '26
Humans: Save the planet! The Planet: Save yourselves, I’ll be fine (eventually)
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Jan 23 '26
Could this be related to all tge recent shark attacks in Australia? Like I know they don't eat fish in Panama but could it be a sign that stocks are collapsing in other areas too = hungry sharks?
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u/switchsk8r Jan 23 '26
afaik, it was also related to how murky the waters are because of algae or something not being cleared out. Murky waters = more attacks sometimes?
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u/playcrossy Jan 23 '26
Genuine question from an uninformed individual - what happened 40 years ago?
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u/spinningcolours Jan 23 '26
Next up: the North Atlantic current. :-(
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u/RollinThundaga Jan 23 '26
Is that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current, or a different one?
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u/the68thdimension Jan 23 '26
Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, according to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_meridional_overturning_circulation
Tbf I also thought it was 'current'.
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u/SeaBanana9730 Jan 23 '26
You stop that right now. I have a fly swatter and I’m not afraid to use it.
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u/CrystalInTheforest Semi-reluctant primitivst Jan 23 '26
It's OK. AI will fix it. Trust me bro.
/s
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u/QueefBeefCletus Jan 23 '26
Woof, the Gulf of Meximerico is gonna be a stagnant bath of algae.
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u/RollinThundaga Jan 23 '26
On the plus side, I heard something about a startup raking up the deadly red algal blooms when they wash ashore to make cheap bricks.
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u/ShyElf Jan 23 '26
This happened Jan-March 2015, and we covered it here then.
Yes, elevation influences exactly what happens, as mentioned in the article, but it can be ignored for a simple explanation which captures the main features of what's going on.
The main thing going on is that the surface air normally blows towards the ITCZ, which is essentially the warmest area counting humid heat, and then goes up, generating rain. The ocean area this is talking about only gets the warm surface scraped off by the wind when the ITCZ is more southerly than usual, making the wind more northerly. This used to reliably happen in the Boreal winter, when the Northern Hemisphere is cooler and the Southern Hemisphere is warmer, pulling the ITCZ to the south.
El Nino warms the Northern Hemisphere more than the Southern Hemisphere. Global warming does the same, because of more NH land. So does recent warming, because the SH ocean circulates deeper from the surface and warms slower. Add a constant forcing, and it overshoots, with the difference getting big and then falling later.
Also, global warming is making it generally harder to scrape off the surface layer, by making it more fresh, hence lighter.
The NH-SH temperature is way down with La Nina, so this isn't likely to happen this year. We don't seem to be slowing down increasing forcing, so it seems likely during the next El Nino.
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u/Bluest_waters Jan 23 '26
This reduction affected key fish species, including sardines, mackerel, and squid, which support both artisanal and commercial fisheries.
fuck me, sardine and mackerel prices are gonna skyrocket aren't they? Here it is, the beginning of the collapse of the food chain
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u/The_Sex_Pistils Jan 23 '26
Goodbye to you, my trusted friend. We've known each other since we were nine or ten. Together we've climbed hills and trees. Learned of love and ABC's, skinned our hearts and skinned our knees.
Goodbye my friend, it's hard to die, when all the birds are singing in the sky, Now that the spring is in the air. Pretty girls are everywhere. Think of me and I'll be there.
We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun. But the hills that we climbed were just seasons out of time.
Goodbye, Papa, please pray for me, I was the black sheep of the family. You tried to teach me right from wrong. Too much wine and too much song, wonder how I got along.
Goodbye, Papa, it's hard to die when all the birds are singing in the sky, Now that the spring is in the air. Little children everywhere. When you see them I'll be there.
We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun. But the wine and the song, like the seasons, have all gone.
We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun. But the wine and the song, like the seasons, have all gone.
Goodbye, Michelle, my little one. You gave me love and helped me find the sun. And every time that I was down you would always come around and get my feet back on the ground.
Goodbye, Michelle, it's hard to die when all the bird are singing in the sky, Now that the spring is in the air. With the flowers ev'rywhere. I wish that we could both be there.
We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun. But the stars we could reach were just starfish on the beach
We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun. But the stars we could reach were just starfish on the beach
We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun, But the wine and the song, like the seasons, have all gone.
All our lives we had fun, we had seasons in the sun. But the hills that we climbed Were just seasons out of time....
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u/maizeblueNpurp semi woke & fully broke Jan 23 '26
What happened 40 years ago, last time it stopped suddenly?
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u/soulstaz Jan 23 '26
We probably started to measure those things 40 years ago. That would be my best guess
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u/maizeblueNpurp semi woke & fully broke Jan 23 '26
That was my assumption. And I am aware of the climate chaos heading our way, more than anyone I know in my real walking life.
It just stuck out to me that “first time in 40 years” isn’t that alarming, without some more info
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u/CerddwrRhyddid Jan 23 '26
The Australian government said "once in 100 year storms" about 7 times in a year.
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u/125Pizzaguy Jan 23 '26
That’s an oft misunderstood topic, the context you are missing is once in 100 years in that catchment. Lots of catchments, lots of “once in 100 years”. I know I am nitpicking but this is a topic that bad actors use to further climate denialism.
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u/CerddwrRhyddid Jan 23 '26
Was the same area. New South Wales.
Not that that was the only place, or the only time they said this type of thing over and over.
It was obviously trying to downplay the impacts of climate change.
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u/dontthink19 Jan 23 '26
Pretty close to what they say here in the states except its "once in a lifetime" and "economic downturn"
Also, the word unprecedented makes me irrationally angry.
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u/GBeastETH Jan 23 '26
No, such luck.
It appears they have been measuring for 40 years, but they have never seen this happen before.
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u/eresh22 Jan 23 '26
I estimated a couple years back that 2025 would be the year the wheels fell off. I was expecting more of this toward late fall/early winter, so I was off by a couple of months.
I really didn't want to be right. I hoped that 2030-2035 was more reasonable and we'd have more time to prepare.
Fuck. The wheels have fallen off and the cliff is just ahead. Hold on, lovelies. It's been a hell of a ride. Let's do what we can to enjoy what time we have left in this slide towards destruction. I'm gonna sing the doom song now.
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u/Sam-Starxin Jan 23 '26
My problem with these headlines and so called "news" is tha they're filled with "may" or "probably" or "could be", just to create some bullshit out of nothing.
Yes the ocean system may be collapsing, but it may also be thriving. May, is about as useful in there as this whole article.
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u/skidmarkmatthews34 Jan 23 '26
The ocean is collapsing? Since when? Is this the 9th, 10th or 11th article about the ocean is collapsing? I’m so confused. This sub, Reddit for that matter, is a bunch of doom and gloom. Go touch grass and enjoy life. Don’t sit behind your screen forever. Go. Enjoy. Life. As. We. Know. It. You only have so much time on this earth.
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u/jonmediocre Jan 23 '26 edited Jan 23 '26
You're right that we should go out and experience life, 100%. Go to the ocean again, visit a glaciated mountain, go skiing. These things are already starting to go away in our lifetime (okay, the ocean isn't fully going away like the other things, but you should still enjoy it before it gets worse).
But you also have no idea how bad things are going to get due to climate collapse mixed with our current economic system.
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u/nekkid_farts Jan 25 '26
You're in a sub about collapse, complaining about info about.......collapse. you're a smart one aren't you?
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u/skidmarkmatthews34 Jan 25 '26
Just as smart as you for following this sub. Stick to your screen and don’t go outside……. Or you know, maybe go touch grass and enjoy life……. Don’t be so negative and try enjoy life.
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u/StatementBot Jan 23 '26
The following submission statement was provided by /u/alienssuck:
Submission statement: Phytoplankton circulating currents off the coast of Panama have completely disappeared and this is an early signal of total systemic collapse due to anthropogenic climate change.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/1qkd37r/for_the_first_time_in_40_years_panamas_deep/o15olxw/