Oceans
Twice as Much Land in Developing Nations Will be Swamped by Rising Seas than Previously Projected, New Research Shows
Rising seas will swamp farmlands, pollute water supplies and displace millions of people much sooner than expected, scientists said last week, as they released new research that accurately calculates the vulnerability of coastal areas, especially in developing countries that have not had access to expensive coastal mapping technologies. Sea level rise keeps speeding up, and […]
Read MoreThe Red Sea Could be a Climate Refuge for Coral Reefs
When Lina Challita dives along Egypt’s coast, she doesn’t just see a colorful array of corals and fish. She sees hope. Against the grim backdrop of climate models that project most coral reefs dying by the end of this century in overheating oceans, the northern end of the Red Sea may end up being one […]
Read MoreRelentless Rise of Ocean Heat Content Drives Deadly Extremes
Ocean heat content reached a new record high for the fourth year in a row, scientists said Wednesday as they released their annual measurements of ocean heat accumulating down to a depth of more than a mile. The findings published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Science show that just in the past year, the […]
Read MoreMexico dismantles illegal fishing cartels killing off rare vaquita porpoise
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO — Some of the country’s most ambitious and successful wildlife traffickers are now in jail, officials announced. Mexico’s navy confirmed in a press conference that members of cartels dedicated to the trafficking of totoaba have been arrested and put in prison, effectively dismantling some of the main organized crime groups contributing to […]
A Town in Washington Takes a Step Toward Recognizing the Rights of Southern Resident Orcas
The city of Port Townsend, Washington, on Monday proclaimed that Southern Resident Orcas have legal rights, marking the first time a U.S. city council has made such a recognition. “The rights of the Southern Resident Orcas include, but are not limited to, the right to life, autonomy, culture, free and safe passage, adequate food supply […]
Read MoreTo Save Whales, Should We Stop Eating Lobster?
This story was originally published by Mother Jones and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The North Atlantic right whale isn’t doing well. There are fewer than 350 of these stocky baleen whales believed to be left in the wild—and the numbers are shrinking. In the last six years, vessel strikes, […]
Read MoreLooking to the oceans for answers to the climate crisis
Three new reports examine the potential of blue carbon pathways to act as natural climate solutions. By Kristin Kleisner, Monica Moritsch and Jamie Collins To address the climate crisis we need to explore every avenue possible, investigate innovative solutions, and even look to the oceans for answers. The oceans already serve the planet as a […]
Read MoreOcean Protection Around Hawaiian Islands Boosts Far-Flung ‘Ahi Populations
Native Hawaiians cherish the thin strand of atolls stretching 1,000 miles northwest from the archipelago’s largest islands—Hawai’i, Oahu and Maui—toward Midway Atoll as central to their creation beliefs and representative of the Hawaiian concept of kinship between humans and the natural world. Research published Thursday in the journal Science shows that protections of the area […]
Read MoreHeat-sensing drone cameras spy threats to sea turtle nests
Sea turtles lumber from ocean to shore to lay their eggs in the sand. In some places, this effort is protected by humans who patrol beaches on foot, warding off poachers, predators and naïve tourists. But might there be a more effective way? Researchers used thermal infrared sensors mounted on drones to monitor sea turtle […]
The mystery of narwhal behavior, solved by chaos theory
Narwhals are chaotic. At least, that’s what researchers thought until they developed a new math-based method to detect patterns in their seemingly irregular movements. Narwhals (Monodon monoceros) are known as the unicorns of the sea due to their distinctive single tusk, which is actually a feeling, enlarged tooth with up to 10 million nerve endings. […]