Oceans

Ecosystems

How kelp forests off California are responding to an urchin takeover

A pair of studies reports 95 percent loss of kelp forests along the northern coast while sea otters are helping maintain surviving kelp farther south.

Animals

Some bacteria are suffocating sea stars, turning the animals to goo

For years, researchers thought an infectious pathogen was behind sea star wasting disease. Instead, bacteria deplete the starfishes’ oxygen.

Earth

Earth’s oceans are storing record-breaking amounts of heat

2020 was just the latest in a series of record-breaking years for ocean heat.

Climate

Ocean acidification may make some species glow brighter

Ocean organisms use bioluminescence for hunting, defense and more. A new analysis shows that declines in water pH might change who glows and how much.

Humans

Ancient humans may have deliberately voyaged to Japan’s Ryukyu Islands

Satellite-tracked buoys suggest that long ago, a remote Japanese archipelago was reached by explorers on purpose, not accidentally.

Earth

With Theta, 2020 sets the record for most named Atlantic storms

Climate change is expected to fuel fewer — yet more intense — Atlantic storms. With a whopping 29 storms but few strong ones, 2020 may be an outlier.

Oceans

Even the deepest, coldest parts of the ocean are getting warmer

Deep-sea temperatures seem to be rising, but it’s too soon to say whether that’s a result of climate change caused by humans, researchers say.

Oceans

Large-scale changes in Earth’s climate may originate in the Pacific

A new study suggests that the melting of Alaska’s glaciers into the North Pacific could have far-ranging effects on ocean circulation and the climate.

Oceans

Underwater earthquakes’ sound waves reveal changes in ocean warming

A new technique uses the echoes of earthquakes in seawater to track the impact of climate change on the oceans.

Climate

Bering Sea winter ice shrank to its lowest level in 5,500 years in 2018

Peat cores that record five millennia of climate shifts in the Arctic region suggest recent ice loss is linked to rising carbon dioxide levels.

Oceans

Species may swim thousands of kilometers to escape ocean heat waves

A new analysis of ocean heat waves shows latitude matters when it comes to how far fish and other sea species must go to find cooler waters.

Earth

Predictions for the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season just got worse

Wind patterns and abnormally warm seawater are conspiring to create especially hurricane-friendly conditions in the Atlantic.