Oceanography News

April 23, 2024

Top Headlines

Feedback Loop That Is Melting Ice Shelves in West Antarctica Revealed

Apr. 22, 2024 — New research has uncovered a feedback loop that may be accelerating the melting of the floating portions of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, pushing up global sea levels. The study sheds new light on the mechanisms driving the melting of ice shelves ...

Marine Microbial Populations: Potential Sensors of the Global Change in the Ocean

Apr. 18, 2024 — Animal and plant populations have been extensively studied, which has helped to understand ecosystem processes and evolutionary adaptations. However, this has not been the case with microbial ...

Warming of Antarctic Deep-Sea Waters Contribute to Sea Level Rise in North Atlantic, Study Finds

Apr. 19, 2024 — Analysis of mooring observations and hydrographic data suggest the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation deep water limb in the North Atlantic has weakened. Two decades of continual ...

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 ...

Latest Headlines

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Ice Age Climate Analysis Reduces Worst-Case Warming Expected from Rising CO2

Apr. 17, 2024 — A detailed reconstruction of climate during the most recent ice age, when a large swath of North America was covered in ice, provides information on ...

Coral Reef Microbes Point to New Way to Assess Ecosystem Health

Apr. 16, 2024 — A new study shows that ocean acidification is changing the mix of microbes in coral reef systems, which can be used to assess ecosystem ...

Huge Database Gives Insight Into Salmon Patterns at Sea

Apr. 16, 2024 — A massive new analysis of high seas salmon surveys is enhancing the understanding of salmon ecology, adding details about where various species congregate in the North Pacific Ocean and their ...

New Tagging Method Provides Bioadhesive Interface for Marine Sensors on Diverse, Soft, and Fragile Species

Apr. 16, 2024 — Tagging marine animals with sensors to track their movements and ocean conditions can provide important environmental and behavioral information. ...

Plastic Pollution Can Kill Variety of Ocean Embryos

Apr. 16, 2024 — High levels of plastic pollution can kill the embryos of a wide range of ocean animals, new research ...

Hidden Threat: Global Underground Infrastructure Vulnerable to Sea-Level Rise

Apr. 15, 2024 — As sea levels rise, coastal groundwater is lifted closer to the ground surface while also becoming saltier and more corrosive. A recent study ...

Oceanographers Uncover the Vital Role of Mixing Down of Oxygen in Sustaining Deep Sea Health

Apr. 12, 2024 — Oceanographers have shown for the first time the important role of the 'mixing down' of oxygen in maintaining healthy conditions in the deep ...

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 exposure to ...

Ocean Currents Threaten to Collapse Antarctic Ice Shelves

Apr. 11, 2024 — Meandering ocean currents play an important role in the melting of Antarctic ice shelves, threatening a significant rise in sea ...

Cold-Affinity Algae Species Are Gradually Being Replaced by Warm-Affinity Ones Off the Coast of Biscay

Apr. 10, 2024 — A study has analyzed the impact of the rise in sea surface temperature on macroalgae communities over the last four decades. Points at various depths ...

Surf Clams Off the Coast of Virginia Reappear -- And Rebound

Apr. 19, 2024 — The Atlantic surfclam, an economically valuable species that is the main ingredient in clam chowder and fried clam strips, has returned to Virginia waters in a big way, reversing a die-off that ...

Tiny Plastic Particles Are Found Everywhere

Apr. 9, 2024 — Microplastic particles can be found in the most remote ocean regions on earth. In Antarctica, pollution levels are even higher than previously ...

Impact of Climate Change on Marine Life Much Bigger Than Previously Known

Apr. 9, 2024 — Fish and invertebrate animals are far more affected by warmer and more acidic seawater than was previously known. The big gain of the new method is that more details become known about effects of ...

A Natural Touch for Coastal Defense

Apr. 9, 2024 — Common 'hard' coastal defenses, like concrete sea walls, might struggle to keep up with increasing climate risks. A new study shows that combining them with nature-based solutions could, in ...

Ocean Waves Propel PFAS Back to Land

Apr. 5, 2024 — A new study reveals that PFAS re-emit into the air from crashing ocean waves at levels comparable to or greater than other sources, establishing a cyclical transport process for these 'forever ...

Ocean Floor a 'Reservoir' of Plastic Pollution

Apr. 4, 2024 — New science has taken a deep dive into plastic waste, providing the first estimate of how much ends up on the sea ...

What Four Decades of Canned Salmon Reveal About Marine Food Webs

Apr. 4, 2024 — Researchers have shown that levels of anisakid worms -- a common marine parasite -- rose in two salmon species in the Gulf of Alaska and Bristol Bay over a 42-year period. The team discovered this by ...

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 ...

Plant-Based Plastic Releases Nine Times Less Microplastics Than Conventional Plastic

Apr. 3, 2024 — A newly developed plant-based plastic material releases nine times less microplastics than conventional plastic when exposed to sunlight and seawater, a new study has ...

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. ...

How Extratropical Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions Can Contribute to the Variability of Jet Streams in the Northern Hemisphere

Mar. 29, 2024 — Ocean-atmosphere coupling, the exchange in energy between the ocean and atmosphere, influences teleconnection patterns, the climate effects across vast geographical areas. However, its impact outside ...

Evolution of the Most Powerful Ocean Current on Earth

Mar. 27, 2024 — The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica's ice ...

Artificial Reef Designed by MIT Engineers Could Protect Marine Life, Reduce Storm Damage

Mar. 27, 2024 — Engineers designed an 'architected' reef that can mimic the wave-buffering effects of natural reefs while providing pockets for marine life. The sustainable and cost-saving structure could ...

Global Study of Coastal Seas as Carbon Dioxide Reservoirs

Mar. 25, 2024 — Coastal seas form a complex transition zone between the two largest CO2 sinks in the global carbon cycle: land and ocean. Ocean researchers have now succeeded for the first time in investigating the ...

Enormous Ice Loss from Greenland Glacier

Mar. 22, 2024 — Ground-based measuring devices and aircraft radar operated in the far northeast of Greenland show how much ice the 79 N-Glacier is losing. According to recent measurements, the thickness of the ...

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 ...

From the Mediterranean Into the Atlantic: The Gibraltar Arc Is Migrating to the West

Mar. 19, 2024 — Oceans are subject to continuous change, mostly over extremely vast periods of time running into millions of years. Researchers have now used computer simulations to demonstrate that a subduction ...

There Are Large Accumulations of Plastics in the Ocean, Even Outside So-Called Garbage Patch

Mar. 19, 2024 — When plastic ends up in the ocean, it gradually weathers and disintegrates into small particles. If marine animals ingest these particles, their health can be severely affected. Large accumulations ...

Harnessing Hydrogen at Life's Origin

Mar. 18, 2024 — A new report uncovers how hydrogen gas, the energy of the future, provided energy in the past, at the origin of life 4 billion years ago. Hydrogen gas is clean fuel. It burns with oxygen in the air ...

Even Inactive Smokers Are Densely Colonized by Microbial Communities

Mar. 15, 2024 — Everything is everywhere -- under certain conditions microbial communities can grow and thrive, even in places that are seemingly uninhabitable. This is the case at inactive hydrothermal vents on the ...