Category: Ocean Science

Is Deforestation Supercharging Cyclones?

11/22/2024 - By Erica Gies. The airborne water cycle, destabilized by industrial logging and other land use, may be a hidden force behind growing superstorms. Hurricane Helene devastated the southeastern United States at the end of September 2024, dumping unprecedented levels of rain. Then, just two weeks later, Hurricane Milton rapidly revved… SEE MORE

Sardine collected on the 2023 Coastal Pelagic Species Survey. Pacific and Japanese sardine look so similar that they can only be distinguished by genetics. Genomic analysis later revealed that the catch contained both species. Photo Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Kelsey James

Surprise! Japanese Sardines Astonish Scientists by Crossing the Pacific to the West Coast

11/18/2024 - By fisheries.noaa.gov. Next generation genomic sequencing of Pacific sardine reveals not one, but two species of sardine in the California Current in 2022 and 2023. When research scientist Gary Longo first saw the results of his genomic analysis of sardines, he thought he must have mixed up his samples. Besides… SEE MORE

Pressure Grows for Countries to Deliver on Promised Biodiversity Targets at UN Conference

11/2/2024 - By Michael Casey. Two years after reaching a historic biodiversity agreement, countries will gather next week to determine whether they are making progress on efforts to save Earth’s plant and animal life. The agreement signed by 196 countries at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference calls for protecting 30% of land and… SEE MORE

Climate Change Destroyed an Alaska Village. Its Residents are Starting Over in a New Town

10/25/2024 - By Rick Bowmer and Thiessen. Growing up along the banks of the Ninglick River in western Alaska, Ashley Tom would look out of her window after strong storms from the Bering Sea hit her village and notice something unsettling: the riverbank was creeping ever closer. It was in that home,… SEE MORE

Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal is About to Go Big

10/24/2024 - By Ramin Skibba. Following its Singaporean pilot project, carbon sequestration start-up Equatic aims to build a massive plant in Quebec. Cutting carbon emissions is not enough to keep global warming to less than 1.5 °C—the goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. Not anymore, at least. Unless the transition… SEE MORE

In the Gateway to the Arctic, Fat, Ice and Polar Bears are Crucial. All Three are in Trouble

10/21/2024 - By Seth Borenstein. Searching for polar bears where the Churchill River dumps into Canada’s massive Hudson Bay, biologist Geoff York scans a region that’s on a low fat, low ice diet because of climate change. And it’s getting lower on polar bears. There are now about 600 polar bears in the… SEE MORE

Hurricane Milton ‘explosively intensifies’ to category 5

10/18/2024 - By nationalfisherman.com. Hurricane Milton is headed toward landfall on the west coast of Florida in the early morning hours of Thursday, after suddenly growing into one of the most intense cyclones ever seen in the Gulf of Mexico. Widespread evacuation orders were issued in Florida coastal counties, ahead of the… SEE MORE

Offering a Dose of Healing, Curious Beluga Whales Frolic in a Warming Hudson Bay

10/17/2024 - By Seth Borenstein. Playful large white beluga whales bring joy and healing to Hudson Bay. Their happy chirps leap out in an environment and economy threatened by the warming water melting sea ice, starving polar bears and changing the entire food chain. Loud and curious belugas swarm boats here, clicking, nudging and frolicking.… SEE MORE

For at Least a Decade Quinault Nation has Tried to Escape the Rising Pacific. Time is Running Out

10/16/2024 - By Hallie Golden. Standing water lies beneath the home Sonny Curley shares with his parents and three children on the Quinault reservation a few steps from the Pacific Ocean in Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. The back deck is rotting, and black mold speckles the walls inside, leaving the 46-year-old fisherman feeling… SEE MORE

The Galapagos Islands and Many of Their Unique Creatures are at Risk from Warming Waters

10/15/2024 - By Alie Skowronski. GALÁPAGOS ISLANDS, Ecuador — Warm morning light reflects from the remains of a natural rock arch near Darwin Island, one of the most remote islands in the Galapagos. In clear, deep blue water, thousands of creatures — fish, hammerhead sharks, marine iguanas — move in search of… SEE MORE