Oceans

Oceans

Magnetism from underwater power cables doesn’t deter sea life

High-voltage power cables that ferry electricity across the seafloor do not negatively impact local fish and crabs, new studies show.

Oceans

Protected coral reefs may not be the ones that need protection

A new study finds that more than half of the world’s coral reefs site within a half-hour of a human settlement. But those that are protected tend to be far away.

Oceans

3.5 billion years ago, oceans were cool, not hot

Extensive new evidence from South Africa suggests that 3.5 billion years ago, Earth was locked in a cold spell, with isolated blasts of hydrothermal heat that may have helped incubate life.

Oceans

Great Barrier Reef acidification predictions get worse

New simulations suggest that ocean acidification poses an even greater threat to the Great Barrier Reef than suspected.

Oceans

Corals need to take their vitamin C

Newly settled corals use vitamin C to help build their stony skeletons, researchers propose.

Oceans

Gulf oil spill could hasten corrosion of shipwrecks

Oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster could hasten the corrosion of historical shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico, new studies of marine microbes suggest.

Climate

20th century sea level rose at fastest rate since founding of Rome

Sea levels rose more rapidly in the 1900s than during any other century in at least 2,800 years, with global warming causing at least half that rise.

Astronomy

In all sorts of circumstances, life finds a way

Editor in Chief discusses the new marine habitats formed by human pollution and the alarming rise of the Zika virus.

Earth

Ocean’s plastics offer a floating fortress to a mess of microbes

Microbes take up residence on ocean plastics, potentially causing changes in ocean environments.

Climate

Phytoplankton rapidly disappearing from the Indian Ocean

Phytoplankton populations in the Indian Ocean fell 30 percent over the last 16 years largely due to global warming, new research suggests.

Climate

2015 smashed heat records

Spurred by global warming and a “super El Niño,” 2015 now ranks as the warmest year since record-keeping began in 1880.

Animals

Whales are full of toxic chemicals

For decades, scientists have been finding troublesome levels of PCBs, mercury and other toxic chemicals in whales and dolphins.