Oceans
- Animals
Growth of mining on land may promote invasions at sea
Ballast water taken in to keep ships stable could, when discharged elsewhere, release species that become invasive in their new homes.
- Climate
Onshore hurricanes in a slump
No major hurricanes have made landfall in the United States for over nine years. That’s a rare occurrence, new research shows.
- Animals
Tiny sea turtles are swimmers, not drifters
Young green and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles moved in different directions than instruments set adrift in the sea, which shows the animals were swimming.
- Oceans
UV light reveals hidden patterns on seashell fossils
Under UV light, fossil seashell color patterns glow, a researcher finds.
- Environment
Five years on, Deepwater Horizon oil spill’s impact lingers
Five years after the Gulf of Mexico’s largest disaster, researchers are still studying its ecological impact and struggling to learn the fate of most of the spilled oil.
By Beth Mole - Climate
Rain slows whipping hurricane winds
Taking raindrop drag into account — which may slow hurricane winds by as much as 30 percent — could help improve hurricane forecasts.
- Oceans
‘Ocean Worlds’ chronicles the story of water on Earth and across the cosmos
Jan Zalasiewicz and Mark Williams recount the history and predict the future of Earth’s oceans.
- Oceans
Glassy blue iceberg goes belly up
A photographer snaps a rare picture of a recently overturned iceberg near Antarctica.
- Oceans
On East Coast, sea levels lean southward
On North America’s East Coast, sea levels tilt slightly downward to the north, new research finds.
- Oceans
Millions of tons of plastic end up in oceans each year
A new estimate quantifies how much plastic makes its way into the world’s oceans.
By Beth Mole - Climate
Warming Arctic will let Atlantic and Pacific fish mix
The ultra-cold, ice-covered Arctic Ocean has kept fish species from the Atlantic and Pacific separate for more than a million years — but global warming is changing that.
- Climate
Galápagos waters preview future for corals
Posthumous analysis of Galápagos coral reefs reveals how climate change, carbon dioxide and pollution could kill off reefs worldwide by 2050.
By Beth Mole