Oceans

Climate

Cargo ships must cut their emissions in half by 2050

A new international agreement places a cap on greenhouse gas emissions from international cargo ships.

Oceans

Ocean heat waves are becoming more common and lasting longer

Over the last 100 years, the world’s oceans have sweltered through a rising number of heat waves.

Environment

Microplastics may enter freshwater and soil via compost

Compost is pinpointed as a source of plastic pollution, but environmental fate and effects unknown.

Climate

Seafloor map shows why Greenland’s glaciers melt at different rates

A new high-res look at the seafloor shows how ledges and dips affects whether relatively warm ocean water reaches the ice.

Animals

Humpback whale bumps have marine biologists stumped

Christine Gabriele is taking tissue samples from humpback whales in Hawaii to determine why more and more have nodular dermatitis.

Environment

The great Pacific garbage patch may be 16 times as massive as we thought

The giant garbage patch between Hawaii and California weighs at least 79,000 tons, a new estimate suggests.

Ecosystems

Pollution regulations help Chesapeake Bay seagrass rebound

Regulations that have reduced nitrogen runoff into the Chesapeake Bay are driving the recovery of underwater vegetation.

Earth

By 2100, damaged corals may let waves twice as tall as today’s reach coasts

Structurally complex coral reefs can defend coasts against waves, even as sea levels rise.

Environment

Plastic pollution increases risk of devastating disease in corals

Researchers estimate about 11 billion pieces of plastic are polluting Asia-Pacific corals, raising the risk of disease at scores of reefs.

Earth

Robots map largest underwater volcanic eruption in 100 years

High-resolution mapping of a 2012 underwater volcanic eruption just goes to show there’s a lot we don’t know about deep-sea volcanism.

Climate

Warming ocean water is turning 99 percent of these sea turtles female

Green sea turtle populations in part of the Great Barrier Reef are becoming increasingly female due to higher ocean temperatures.

Oceans

Corals are severely bleaching five times as often as in 1980

Corals are now bleaching more frequently and severely than they were in the early 1980s.