Oceanography News

July 26, 2024

Top Headlines

Warming Has More Impact Than Cooling on Greenland's 'Firn'

July 25, 2024 — A new study finds disproportionate effects of temperature shifts on an icy glacier ...

Ecologists Discover Rare Fiddler Crab Species on Hong Kong Coast Highlighting the Impact of Climate Change and Coastal Development

July 22, 2024 — Researchers have made an exciting discovery on the Hong Kong coast. They have identified two fiddler crab species: Tubuca dussumieri, previously recorded in old literature but never confirmed in ...

The Ocean Is Becoming Too Loud for Oysters, Research Finds

July 24, 2024 — Baby oysters rely on natural acoustic cues to settle in specific environments, but new research reveals that noise from human activity is interfering with this critical ...

Southern Ocean Absorbing More Carbon Dioxide Than Previously Thought, Study Finds

July 24, 2024 — New research has found that the Southern Ocean absorbs more carbon dioxide (CO2) than previously thought. Using direct measurements of CO2 exchange, or fluxes, between the air and sea, the scientists ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:13pm EDT

How Saharan Dust Regulates Hurricane Rainfall

July 24, 2024 — New research underscores the close relationship between dust plumes transported from the Sahara Desert in Africa, and rainfall from tropical cyclones along the U.S. Gulf Coast and ...

Researchers Record Images and Data of a Shark Experiencing a Boat Strike

July 24, 2024 — Researchers have captured what they believe is the first ever video of a shark or any large marine animal being struck by a ...

Whale Shark Tracked for Record-Breaking Four Years

July 24, 2024 — Researchers have been tracking a 26-foot endangered whale shark -- named 'Rio Lady' -- with a satellite transmitter for more than four years -- a record for whale sharks and one of the longest ...

Deep-Ocean Floor Produces Its Own Oxygen

July 22, 2024 — An international team of researchers has discovered that metallic minerals on the deep-ocean floor produce oxygen -- 13,000 feet below the surface. Discovery challenges long-held assumptions that ...

Reef Pest Feasts on 'Sea Sawdust'

July 17, 2024 — Researchers have uncovered an under the sea phenomenon where coral-destroying crown-of-thorns starfish larvae have been feasting on blue-green algae bacteria known as 'sea ...

Diatom Surprise Could Rewrite the Global Carbon Cycle

July 17, 2024 — When it comes to diatoms that live in the ocean, new research suggests that photosynthesis is not the only strategy for accumulating carbon. Instead, these single-celled plankton are also building ...

Sea Ice's Cooling Power Is Waning Faster Than Its Area of Extent

July 17, 2024 — As sea ice disappears and grows less reflective, the Arctic has lost around a quarter of its cooling power since 1980, and the world has lost up to 15%, according to new ...

Microplastic Pollution Increases Sea Foam Height and Stability

July 16, 2024 — Researchers examine the specific impacts of microplastics on the geophysics of sea foam formation in the critical zone where water meets air in the top layer of the ocean. They devised two ...

High and Low Tide Cause Low and High Methane Fluxes

July 12, 2024 — Methane, a strong greenhouse gas that naturally escapes from the bottom of the North Sea, is affected by the pressure of high or low tide. Methane emissions from the seafloor can be just easily three ...

Scientists Call for 'Major Initiative' to Study Whether Geoengineering Should Be Used on Glaciers

July 11, 2024 — Scientists have released a landmark report on glacial geoengineering -- an emerging field studying whether technology could halt the melting of ...

The Gulf Stream Is Wind-Powered and Could Weaken from Climate Change

July 10, 2024 — New evidence of changes to the Gulf Stream during the last ice age could indicate additional sensitivity to future climatic changes, finds a new ...

Whale Remains Tracked to Highlight Sustainable Disposal Benefits

July 10, 2024 — A new study highlights the sustainable, cultural and ecosystem benefits of offshore removal or decomposition of whale remains. The study tracked the remains of a humpback whale that was intercepted ...

Groundbreaking Study Reveals Oceanic Seabirds Chase Tropical Cyclones

July 9, 2024 — A new study reveals that the rare Desertas Petrels (Pterodroma deserta), a wide-ranging seabird in the North Atlantic, exhibit unique foraging behaviors during hurricane season. Contrary to other ...

Weaker Ocean Circulation Could Enhance Carbon Dioxide Buildup in the Atmosphere, Study Finds

July 8, 2024 — Scientists may have to rethink the relationship between the ocean's circulation and its long-term capacity to store carbon, new research suggests. As the ocean gets weaker, it could release more ...

The Dawn of the Antarctic Ice Sheets

July 4, 2024 — In recent years global warming has left its mark on the Antarctic ice sheets. The 'eternal' ice in Antarctica is melting faster than previously assumed, particularly in West Antarctica more ...

Retreating Glaciers: Fungi Enhance Carbon Storage in Young Arctic Soils

July 3, 2024 — Melting Arctic glaciers are in rapid recession, and microscopic pioneers colonize the new exposed landscapes. Researchers revealed that yeasts play an important role in soil formation in the ...

Ocean Acidification Turns Fish Off Coral Reefs

July 1, 2024 — A new study of coral reefs in Papua New Guinea shows ocean acidification simplifies coral structure, making crucial habitat less appealing to certain fish ...

Researchers Identify Unique Survival Strategies Adopted by Fish in the World's Warmest Waters

July 1, 2024 — A team of researchers have identified unexpected ways coral reef fish living in the warmest waters on earth, in the Arabian Gulf, have adapted to survive extreme ...

Investigating Newly Discovered Hydrothermal Vents at Depths of 3,000 Meters Off Svalbard

June 28, 2024 — Hydrothermal vents can be found around the world at the junctions of drifting tectonic plates. But there are many hydrothermal fields still to be discovered. During a 2022 expedition of the MARIA S. ...

Climate Change to Shift Tropical Rains Northward

June 28, 2024 — Atmospheric scientists predict that unchecked carbon emissions will force tropical rains to shift northward in the coming decades, which would profoundly impact agriculture and economies near the ...

Projected Loss of Brown Macroalgae and Seagrasses With Global Environmental Change

June 27, 2024 — Researchers predict that climate change will drive a substantial redistribution of brown seaweeds and seagrasses at the global scale. The projected changes are alarming due to the fundamental role ...

Antarctic Ice Shelves Hold Twice as Much Meltwater as Previously Thought

June 27, 2024 — Slush -- water-soaked snow -- makes up more than half of all meltwater on the Antarctic ice shelves during the height of summer, yet is poorly accounted for in regional climate models. The findings ...

Researchers Address Ocean Paradox With 55 Gallons of Fluorescent Dye

June 26, 2024 — Researchers have directly measured cold, deep water upwelling via turbulent mixing along the slope of a submarine canyon in the Atlantic ...

El Niño Forecasts Extended to 18 Months With Innovative Physics-Based Model

June 26, 2024 — As more attention is drawn to possible severe weather around the world scientists are looking to improve planning for possible droughts, floods and other scenarios. A team of researchers created a ...

Underwater Mountains Have a Big Impact on Ocean Circulation

June 26, 2024 — Colossal undersea mountains, towering up to thousands of metres high, stir up deep sea currents: impacting how our ocean stores heat and carbon. An international team used numerical modelling to ...

Much of the Nord Stream Gas Remained in the Sea

June 19, 2024 — Much of the methane released into the southern Baltic Sea from the Nord Stream gas pipeline has remained in the water. This is shown by measurements taken by researchers from the University of ...

Restored Rat-Free Islands Could Support Hundreds of Thousands More Breeding Seabirds

June 18, 2024 — Archipelago case-study shows that removing invasive rats and restoring native vegetation could help bring back hundreds of thousands of breeding pairs of seabirds lost to tropical islands. ...

Satellites to Monitor Marine Debris from Space

June 17, 2024 — Detecting marine debris from space is now a reality, according to a new study. Until now, the amount of litter -- mostly plastic -- on the sea surface was rarely high enough to generate a detectable ...

Scientists Unravel Drivers of the Global Zinc Cycle in Our Oceans, With Implications for a Changing Climate

June 14, 2024 — The understanding of the global zinc cycle in our oceans has important implications in the context of warming oceans. A warmer climate increases erosion, leading to more dust in the atmosphere and ...

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 ...