Oceanography News

September 9, 2016

Increased Ocean Acidification Is Due to Humans

Ocean Warming: Impacts On Nature and Humans

Nutrient Pollution Is Changing Sounds in the Sea

Freshening of the Southern Ocean

Latest Headlines

updated 12:56am EDT

Pushing a Parasite from Land to Sea

Sep. 6, 2016 — Higher levels of rainfall and coastal development increase the risk of disease-causing organisms flowing to the ocean, according to a study. The work advances earlier work by tracking the parasite T. ... read more

Future Fisheries Can Expect $10 Billion Revenue Loss Due to Climate Change

Sep. 7, 2016 — Global fisheries stand to lose approximately $10 billion of their annual revenue by 2050 if climate change continues unchecked, and countries that are most dependent on fisheries for food will be the ... read more

Effect of Summer Melt on Greenland Ice Sheet

Sep. 6, 2016 — Operation IceBridge, NASA's airborne survey of polar ice, is flying in Greenland for the second time this year, to observe the impact of the summer melt season on the ... read more

Subantarctic Seabed Creatures Shed New Light on Past Climate

Sep. 1, 2016 — It takes thousands of years for seabed communities to recover from major glaciation events, new research suggests. The study focused on the seas around South Georgia in the south ... read more

Can Melting of Frozen Methane Explain Rapid Climate Change 56 Million Years Ago?

Sep. 1, 2016 — The release of methane from the seafloor was much slower than previously thought during a rapid global warming event 56 ... read more

Sediments Control Methane Release to the Ocean

Aug. 31, 2016 — Methane is stored under the sea floor, concentrated in form of hydrates, crystalline ice structures that stay stable under high pressure and in low temperatures. Several ... read more

High Seas Fisheries Management Could Recoup Losses Due to Climate Change

Aug. 30, 2016 — Closing the high seas to fishing could increase fish catches in coastal waters by 10 percent, helping people, especially the most vulnerable, cope with the expected losses of fish due to climate ... read more

Technique Could Assess Historic Changes to Antarctic Sea Ice, Glaciers

Aug. 30, 2016 — Historic changes to Antarctic sea ice could be unraveled using a new technique, say scientists. The new method builds on an existing technique developed over the last 10 ... read more

The Sound of a Healthy Reef

Aug. 26, 2016 — A new study will help researchers understand the ways that marine animal larvae use sound as a cue to settle on coral reefs. The study has determined that sounds created by ... read more

X-Raying the Earth With Waves from Stormy Weather 'Bombs'

Aug. 25, 2016 — Using a detection network based in Japan, scientists have uncovered a rare type of deep-earth tremor that they attribute to a distant North Atlantic storm called a 'weather ... read more

Arctic Ice Melting in 2016 Heat: NASA

An Alaskan Community Has Voted To Move Because Of Climate Change

Ancient Ice Reveals Earth's Climate History

NASA's Training For Deep Space Means Living In The Deep Sea First

New Technology for Remotely Mapping Beaches

Sep. 5, 2016 — The depth and pattern of sediment on the floor of intertidal zones changes daily, yet understanding where this sediment resides is vital to being able to better manage coastal areas. Science and ... read more

Microplastics Discovered in the Deep, Open Ocean

Aug. 26, 2016 — A unique study will provide valuable new insights into the concentrations of microplastics in the open ocean from surface to the sea bed, say ... read more

Hiding in Plain Sight: Vast Reef Found Hiding Behind Great Barrier Reef

Aug. 26, 2016 — Scientists working with laser data have discovered a vast reef behind the familiar Great Barrier Reef. High-resolution seafloor data provided by LiDAR-equipped aircraft have revealed great fields of ... read more

Volcanic Eruption Masked Acceleration in Sea Level Rise

Aug. 26, 2016 — The cataclysmic 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines masked the full impact of greenhouse gases on accelerating sea level rise, according to a new ... read more

Arctic Gives Clues on Worst Mass Extinction of Life

Aug. 24, 2016 — Extreme global warming 252 million years ago caused a severe mass extinction of life on Earth. It took life up to 9 million years to recover. New study finds clues in the Arctic as to why this ... read more

Sugar Hitches a Ride on Organic Sea Spray

Aug. 23, 2016 — Hitching a ride on fatty molecules, a "sticky" strategy shields sugary molecules from their soluble nature, and may explain the discrepancies between models and actual measurements of sea ... read more

New Insights Into the Relationship Between Erosion and Tectonics in the Himalayas

Aug. 23, 2016 — Earth's climate interacts with so called surface processes -- such as landslides or river erosion -- and tectonics to shape the landscape that we see. In some regions, the sheer force of these ... read more

Reef Castaways: Can Coral Make It Across Darwin's 'Impassable' Barrier?

Aug. 23, 2016 — An international team of researchers have shown that vulnerable coral populations in the eastern tropical Pacific have been completely isolated from the rest of the Pacific Ocean for at least the ... read more

Antarctica's Past Shows Region's Vulnerability to Climate Change

Aug. 22, 2016 — Fresh understanding of West Antarctica has revealed how the region's ice sheet could become unstable in a warming ... read more

NASA Monitors the 'New Normal' of Sea Ice

Aug. 19, 2016 — This year's melt season in the Arctic Ocean and surrounding seas started with a bang, with a record low maximum extent in March and relatively rapid ice loss through May. One NASA sea ice ... read more

Pacific Sea Level Predicts Global Temperature Changes

Aug. 18, 2016 — Sea level changes in the Pacific Ocean can be used to estimate future global surface temperatures, according to a new paper. Scientists knew both the rate at which global surface temperature is ... read more

Recent Connection Between North and South America Reaffirmed

Aug. 17, 2016 — Long ago, one great ocean flowed between North and South America. When the Isthmus of Panama joined the continents, it also separated the Atlantic from the Pacific Ocean. If this took place much ... read more

Climate Change Alters the Rules of Sperm Competition in the Sea

Aug. 17, 2016 — Increasing ocean acidification, brought about by humanmade carbon emissions, reduces sperm performance in a species of sea urchin, say scientists. The impact of climate change on global seawater ... read more

Sea Ice Strongly Linked to Climate Change in Past 90,000 Years

Aug. 16, 2016 — Expansion and retreat of sea ice varied consistently in pace with rapid climate changes through past 90,000 years, a new study ... read more

New Antarctic Ice Discovery Aids Future Climate Predictions

Aug. 16, 2016 — A team of scientists has discovered a 65 percent reduction in sea ice during the last interglacial period around 128,000 years ... read more

Researcher Uncovers 340 Million Year-Old Oceanic Crust in the Mediterranean Sea Using Magnetic Data

Aug. 15, 2016 — Results of a new study shed new light on the tectonic architecture and evolution of the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and have important implications on various geodynamic processes, say ... read more

Tropical Sea Urchins Caught Between a Rock and a Hot Place

Aug. 15, 2016 — The balmy waters of the Caribbean could turn into a deadly heat trap for countless tiny creatures. Authors of a new study have discovered that microscopic sea urchin eggs and larvae may suffer ... read more

Caught in the Act: Coral's Bleaching Behavior

Aug. 12, 2016 — Coral researchers have for the first time captured the specific behavior of a coral as it's bleaching. While scientists have known for some time that coral bleaching occurs when the relationship ... read more

Global Warming's Next Surprise: Saltier Beaches

Aug. 11, 2016 — Batches of sand from a beach on the Delaware Bay are yielding insights into the powerful impact of temperature rise and evaporation along the shore that are in turn challenging long-held assumptions ... read more

Seawalls, Coastal Forests in Japan Help Reduce Tsunami Damage, Study Finds

Aug. 10, 2016 — Researchers who analyzed a history of tsunamis along the Pacific coast of Japan's Tohoku region have learned that seawalls higher than 5 meters reduce damage and death, while coastal forests ... read more

Monday, September 5, 2016