ocean

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

'Giant Ocean Conveyor Belt' May Fall Sooner Than Thought

Scientists pen open letter warning that risk of AMOC ocean current failing is 'underestimated'

(Newser) - Last year, climate scientists sent up a red flag over the potential collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, a network of ocean currents in peril from climate change. That warning indicated it could be decades before that happens, but a new analysis suggests such a "devastating"...

Widow of Late LL Bean Chief Says Her Trees Were Poisoned

Lisa Gorman accuses Missouri couple of tainting oaks in Maine for better view at their summer home

(Newser) - Suspicious deaths in an idyllic seaside community and detective work that points to poison sound like themes from a classic murder mystery. But the victims in this Maine whodunnit were trees that stood in the way of a wealthy family's oceanfront view of Camden Harbor, allegedly felled by well-heeled...

In the World's Oceans, 'a Cause for Great Concern'

Earth's seas have busted temperature records every day over the past year, per BBC analysis

(Newser) - This past April was the hottest on record, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, making it the 11th month in a row to claim that designation. Now, using data from that same agency, the BBC finds that the Earth's oceans are fighting a similarly heated battle—...

Here's Our Trash Can for Most Plastic

2K truckloads of plastic end up in the ocean every day, but not everyone shares the burden

(Newser) - Now that we know which companies are tied to the most identifiable branded plastic in the ocean (hello, Coke and Pepsi), here's a friendly reminder of how much of it ends up clogging up our waterways every day. CNN reports that an estimated 2,000 truckloads of plastic make...

Bottom of World's Deepest Blue Hole Proves Elusive

Taam Ja' extends at least 1,380 feet below sea level, far deeper than previously known

(Newser) - The deepest known ocean sink hole is so deep, researchers using advanced equipment can't find the bottom, though they've found evidence of a whole network of underground tunnels somewhere in its depths. The Taam Ja' Blue Hole in Mexico's Chetumal Bay was formerly considered the second-deepest blue...

With No Options Left, They Keep Risking Lives by Boat

But 1 in 8 Rohingya refugees who flee Myanmar or camps in Bangladesh are lost at sea

(Newser) - Across a treacherous stretch of water, the Rohingya came by the thousands, then died by the hundreds. Last year, nearly 4,500 ethnic Rohingya Muslims—two-thirds of them women and children—fled their homeland of Myanmar and refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh by boat, the United Nations' refugee agency reported....

As They Got to the Seafloor, He 'Knew We Were Making History'

Explorer, retired Navy Capt. Don Walsh, part of first crew to reach deepest part of ocean, is dead at 92

(Newser) - Retired Navy Capt. Don Walsh, an explorer who in 1960 was part of a two-man crew that made the first voyage to the deepest part of the ocean—to the "snuff-colored ooze" at the bottom of the Pacific's Mariana Trench—has died. He was 92. Walsh died Nov....

Company Will Pay After Ship Sullies US Waters

The Star Maia dumped oily bilge water without properly processing it, lied about it

(Newser) - A foreign shipping company that sullied US waters will pay for doing so. US officials on Tuesday said the Germany- and Singapore-based Zeaborn Ship Management would pay a $2 million fine for dumping oily bilge water—which USA Today describes as "a mix of filthy water, lubricants, grease, cleaning...

Winemaker's 'Perfect' Site to Age Wine Wasn't So Perfect

Feds destroy 2K bottles of Ocean Fathoms' illegally made wine, though founders vow they'll be back

(Newser) - Ocean Fathoms claims the ocean floor about a mile off Santa Barbara is the "perfect" place to age wine. And perhaps it would be, if the winemaker had any authority to ferment its wines in the Santa Barbara Channel for a year. In 2021, the California Coastal Commission ordered...

California's Waves Are Getting Bigger
In California, 13-Foot
Waves Are a 'Harbinger'
new study
Aug 4, 2023 1:15 PM CDT

In California, 13-Foot Waves Are a 'Harbinger'

Study says giant swells have become more common, with signs pointing to climate change

(Newser) - Waves are getting bigger, and surf at least 13 feet tall is becoming more common off California's coast as the planet warms, according to innovative new research that tracked the increasing height from historical data gathered over the past 90 years. Oceanographer Peter Bromirski at the Scripps Institution of...

UN Chief Says New Treaty Gives Oceans a 'Fighting Chance'

Members adopt first treaty to protect high seas marine life

(Newser) - Members of the United Nations adopted the first-ever treaty to protect marine life in the high seas on Monday, with the UN's chief hailing the historic agreement as giving the ocean "a fighting chance." Delegates from the 193 member nations burst into applause and then stood up...

Mussels Excreting Microplastics May Help Clean the Ocean

The way some bivalves excrete substances could make it easier to clear them out

(Newser) - In fighting one of the most elusive pollutants in our oceans, scientists have found an unexpected ally: the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis). Science reports that this hungry little filter-feeding mollusk isn't just impervious to the trillions of microplastics littering the Earth's oceans; it may hold a solution to...

5K New Deep-Sea Species Discovered in Pacific

They include the 'gummy squirrel'

(Newser) - It's a bittersweet moment for science—thousands of new species have been discovered in a largely untouched and unexplored region of the Pacific Ocean, but large-scale deep-sea mining in the area could begin soon. In the journal Current Biology , researchers who reviewed environmental surveys say 5,148 species new...

These Guys Get by on 2 Hours of Sleep a Day
These Guys Get by on
2 Hours of Sleep a Day
New Study
Apr 21, 2023 10:39 AM CDT

These Guys Get by on 2 Hours of Sleep a Day

Researchers matched northern elephant seal brain waves with diving patterns to monitor how they sleep

(Newser) - If you're still drinking coffee and blinking sleep out of your eyes, you might feel sympathy for the northern elephant seal. NPR reports that in a newly-published study, researchers found the huge mammals—known for the way the males' noses resemble elephant trunks—sleep less than just about any...

Incredulous Cop at Scene of Car Crash: 'She's Driving?'

Utah girls, 9 and 4, had tried to drive to the ocean but ended up slamming into tractor-trailer

(Newser) - We're all eager for summer to get started, but two little girls from West Jordan, Utah, simply couldn't wait a single minute more. NBC News reports that police responding to an early morning accident in West Valley City on Wednesday got quite a shock when they found out...

US Marine Animals Are Drowning in Plastic—Literally

Report mentions 1.8K cases of animals consuming or being entangled in plastic since 2009

(Newser) - Plastic pollution is taking a disastrous toll on marine animals in the US, particularly those threatened with extinction, according to a new report . It tells of 1,792 cases in which 40 different species of animals consumed or were entangled in plastic since 2009. Of those, 88% involved animals that...

The Ocean Just Got a Little Less Mysterious

Scientists have mapped nearly a fifth of the ocean floor

(Newser) - Wish you could see the ocean floor? A project to map the entire surface by 2030 is making headway and has nearly a fifth of it completed, the BBC reports. The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project began in 2017 with only 6% mapped, so it's moving at a decent...

Go to Earth's Deepest Spot —for $750K

More people have been to space than to Challenger Deep

(Newser) - If now sounds like a good time to escape to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, with $750,000 you probably can. For that price, explorer and retired naval officer Victor Vescovo will take daring travelers to the deepest point on Earth, Challenger Deep in Mariana Trench, which has been...

Ocean Heat Equals '3.6B Hiroshima Atomic Bombs'
Our Oceans Aren't Just
Bad. They're 2019 Bad
study says
Jan 14, 2020 11:40 AM CST

Our Oceans Aren't Just Bad. They're 2019 Bad

Last year was the warmest on record for oceans

(Newser) - A new ocean study is bad news for anyone living on planet Earth, the Guardian reports. Researchers found that world oceans reached their warmest level in 2019, amid 5 years that were the warmest 5 for oceans on record and 10 years that were warmest 10. "We found that...

'It’s Everywhere': Plastic Found in Deepest Oceans
'We're Piling Our Crap'
in the Ocean's Depths
NEW STUDY
Feb 27, 2019 10:30 AM CST

'We're Piling Our Crap' in the Ocean's Depths

Shrimp in the deepest ocean trenches found to be contaminated by plastic

(Newser) - With more than 300 million tons of plastics produced each year, it's perhaps no surprise that some has made its way to the bottom of the world’s oceans. New deep-sea research published in the Royal Society Open Science journal has pulled up fragments of plastics in the deepest...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
Most Read on Newser