News by Subject Earth Science

Clean-up devices that collect waste from the ocean surface won't solve the plastic pollution problem, a new study shows.

Why is the sea surface temperature of the northern tropics in the summer months often lower than expected? This question was investigated by a German-American team of scientists led by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. Their results, which have now been published in the international journal Nature Communications, show that a short-term, wind-driven wave phenomenon provides very efficient vertical mixing and cooling of the upper water layer.

The first landmark study using next-generation technology to comprehensively examine contaminants in oysters in Myanmar reveals alarming findings: the widespread presence of human bacterial pathogens and human-derived microdebris materials, including plastics, kerosene, paint, talc and milk supplement powders.

Researchers have advanced a new way to see into the ocean's depths, establishing an approach to detect algae and measure key properties using light. A paper published in Applied Optics reports using a laser-based tool, lidar, to collect these measurements far deeper than has been typically possible using satellites.

New, first-of-its-kind research from the University of Colorado Boulder shows that climate change is driving increasing amounts of freshwater in the Arctic Ocean. Within the next few decades, this will lead to increased freshwater moving into the North Atlantic Ocean, which could disrupt ocean currents and affect temperatures in northern Europe.

An international team discovered a previously unrecognized ocean current that transports water to one of the world's largest 'waterfalls' in the North Atlantic Ocean: the Faroe Bank Channel Overflow into the deep North Atlantic

A study on marine biodiversity has identified seventy-three species of sea slugs in the coasts of Barcelona, an anthropized environment due to the urban metropolis.