Oceans

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.

Oceans

Ocean heating doubles

Earth’s oceans now absorb twice as much heat as they did 18 years ago, with more than a third of that warmth going into the ocean depths.

Animals

The moon drives the migration of Arctic zooplankton

In the darkness of the Arctic winter, the moon replaces the sun as the driver of zooplankton migration, a new study finds.

Oceans

Phytoplankton flunk photosynthesis efficiency test

Nutrient-poor ocean waters make phytoplankton photosynthesis inefficient

Animals

Fog ferries mercury from the ocean to land animals

Scientists have traced mercury in the waters of the Pacific Ocean to animals, including mountain lions, in California.