Ocean Policy News

June 15, 2024

Top Headlines

A Conservation Market Could Incentivize Global Ocean Protection

June 13, 2024 — Thirty-by-thirty: protect 30% of the planet by 2030. While conservation is popular in principle, the costs of actually enacting it often stall even the most earnest efforts. Researchers have now proposed a market-based approach to achieving the ...

Researchers Use 3D Visualization to Predict, Prevent Hurricane Damage

June 10, 2024 — The researchers say 3D visualization of hurricanes and storm surges allows them to understand how flooding will impact coastal communities by allowing them to vividly see how each building and road might be impacted by a given ...

Rate of Global Warming Caused by Humans at an All-Time High, Say Scientists

June 4, 2024 — Global warming caused by humans is advancing at 0.26 C per decade -- the highest rate since records began, according to new research by over 50 leading international ...

Marine Protected Areas Don't Line Up With Core Habitats of Rare Migratory Fish, Finds New Research

May 29, 2024 — 62% of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) designated to protect rare migratory fish species are outside of their core habitats, according to a new modeling ...

Latest Headlines

updated 8:10pm EDT

Beach Erosion Will Make Southern California Coastal Living Five Times More Expensive by 2050, Study Predicts

May 22, 2024 — Southern California's iconic sandy coastlines are vanishing at an alarming rate, and it's a warning sign for coastal communities worldwide, new ...

U.S. Drought-Monitoring System Outpaced by Climate Changes

May 20, 2024 — A new study reports that the U.S. Drought Monitor's weekly maps of nationwide drought conditions -- which help direct emergency federal aid -- have captured the steady march of climate change, but ...

'Vigorous Melting' at Antarctica's Thwaites 'Doomsday' Glacier

May 20, 2024 — Glaciologists show evidence of warm ocean water intruding kilometers beneath grounded ice at Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica. The findings suggest that existing climate models are underestimating ...

90% of Floridians Believe Climate Change Is Happening

May 14, 2024 — The latest 'Florida Climate Resilience Survey' found that 90% of Floridians believe that climate change is happening. Belief in human-caused climate change has surged among Florida Independents while ...

Transformation of Ocean Management Is Underway

May 9, 2024 — Despite its benefits and recognition as a keystone practice of ocean stewardship and conservation, adoption of ecosystem-based management has been slow to take hold. To support this change in ocean ...

Ocean Biodiversity Work Needs Improvement

May 9, 2024 — An international collaboration says the world's largest marine protected areas aren't collectively delivering the biodiversity benefits they could be because of slow implementation of management ...

DDT Pollutants Found in Deep Sea Fish Off Los Angeles Coast

May 6, 2024 — As the region reckons with its toxic history of offshore dumping off the California coast, new findings raise troubling questions about whether the banned pesticide remains a threat to wildlife and ...

To Bend the Curve of Biodiversity Loss, Nature Recovery Must Be Integrated Across All Sectors

May 2, 2024 — The alarming rates of biodiversity loss worldwide have made clear that the classical way of governing biodiversity recovery based on protected areas ...

Voluntary Corporate Emissions Targets Not Enough to Create Real Climate Action

Apr. 25, 2024 — Companies' emissions reduction targets should not be the sole measure of corporate climate ambition, according to a new perspective ...

Shoreline Model Predicts Long-Term Future of Storm Protection and Sea-Level Rise

Apr. 24, 2024 — Researchers have created a coastal evolution model to analyze how coastal management activities on barrier islands, meant to adapt to sea-level rise, ...

'Sunny Day Flooding' Increases Fecal Contamination of Coastal Waters

Apr. 23, 2024 — A new study finds that 'sunny day flooding,' which occurs during high tides, increases the levels of fecal bacteria in coastal waters. While the elevated bacteria levels in the coastal ...

One Third of China's Urban Population at Risk of City Sinking, New Satellite Data Shows

Apr. 18, 2024 — Land subsidence is overlooked as a hazard in cities, according to new research. Scientists used satellite data that accurately and consistently maps land movement across ...

Scientists Develop Framework to Measure Plastic Emissions and Bolster U.N. Efforts to Reduce Pollution

Apr. 16, 2024 — Scientists have developed a framework for measuring plastic emissions akin to the global standard for measuring greenhouse gas emissions. The approach boosts identification of the biggest ...

Florida Wildlife Corridor Eases Worst Impacts of Climate Change

Apr. 16, 2024 — Florida is projected to lose 3.5 million acres of land to development by 2070. A new study highlights how Florida can buffer itself against both climate change and population pressures by conserving ...

Where Have All the Right Whales Gone?

Apr. 12, 2024 — Marine researchers have mapped the density of one of the most endangered large whale species worldwide, the North Atlantic right whale, using new data to help avoid right whales' harmful ...

How Climate Change Will Impact Food Production and Financial Institutions

Apr. 8, 2024 — Researchers have developed a new method to predict the financial impacts climate change will have on agriculture, which can help support food security and financial stability for countries ...

Adult Fish Struggle to Bounce Back in Marine Protected Areas

Apr. 4, 2024 — Many marine protected areas are falling short of their most basic purpose: to rebuild struggling fish populations. In a new study, scientists looked at the age breakdown of reef fish in marine ...

Experiencing Extreme Weather Predicts Support for Policies to Mitigate Effects of Climate Change

Apr. 3, 2024 — Most Americans report having personally experienced the effects of extreme weather, according to new survey data. An analysis finds that a reported exposure to extreme weather is associated with ...

Scientists' Urgent Call: End Destruction and Forge a Just, Sustainable Future

Apr. 2, 2024 — An international team of scientists published a study emphasizing the urgent need to align political will, economic resources, and societal values to ensure a more sustainable and equitable world. ...

Climate Change Policies Lose Popularity When Combined With Pausing Regulations or Social Justice

Mar. 27, 2024 — Legislators love bundling things together. It lets them accomplish more with less hassle and attempt to make legislation more appealing to a broader group. But a new study suggests that this can ...

Scientists Warn: The Grey Seal Hunt Is Too Large

Mar. 27, 2024 — Researchers warn that today's hunting quotas of about 3,000 animals pose a risk to the long-term survival of the grey seal in the Baltic Sea. The conclusions of this new study are based on ...

All Countries' Agri-Environmental Policies at a Glance

Mar. 22, 2024 — There can be no analysis without data. In this spirit, researchers have published a database containing over 6,000 agri-environmental policies, thus enabling their peers as well as policymakers and ...

Sea Surface Temperature Research Provides Clear Evidence of Human-Caused Climate Change

Mar. 20, 2024 — Claims that climate change is natural are inconsistent with new oceanic temperature ...

Virtual Reality Better Than Video for Evoking Fear, Spurring Climate Action

Mar. 18, 2024 — Depicting worst-case climate scenarios like expanding deserts and dying coral reefs may better motivate people to support environmental policies when delivered via virtual reality, according to a ...

The Atlas of Unburnable Oil in the World

Mar. 15, 2024 — In order to limit the increase in global average temperature to 1.5 C, it is essential to drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere. This would mean not exploiting most of the ...

Loss of Nature Costs More Than Previously Estimated

Mar. 7, 2024 — Researchers propose that governments apply a new method for calculating the benefits that arise from conserving biodiversity and nature for future ...

The Health Impacts of Migrating by Sea

Mar. 7, 2024 — A new study of migrant drowning deaths in the Pacific Ocean lays the groundwork for future ...

Emergency Atmospheric Geoengineering Wouldn't Save the Oceans

Feb. 29, 2024 — Climate change is heating the oceans, altering currents and circulation patterns responsible for regulating climate on a global scale. If temperatures dropped, some of that damage could theoretically ...

Does Russia Stand to Benefit from Climate Change?

Feb. 21, 2024 — There exists a narrative about climate change that says there are winners and losers -- with Russia being one of the countries that stand to benefit from its effects. In a new study, researchers ...

Citizen Science to Mitigate the Environmental Crisis in the Marine Environment

Feb. 21, 2024 — Citizen science can help to improve conservation and management strategies for Mediterranean marine ecosystems, and to mitigate the impact of the environmental ...