Tag

Oceans

All articles tagged with #oceans

science17 days ago•4 min saved

Earth on the edge: seven planetary boundaries breached, scientists warn

A Planetary Health Check from the Potsdam Institute finds seven of nine planetary boundaries already breached, including climate change, biosphere integrity, land-use change, freshwater change, biogeochemical flows, ocean acidification and novel entities, with only ozone depletion and aerosol loading still relatively within safe bounds; the report stresses that despite the breaches we have knowledge and solutions to reverse course, notably by strengthening natural carbon sinks and pursuing rapid, scalable actions (Earthshots) to return to a safe operating space.

via Euronews.com|

#biodiversity #climate-change #deforestation

environment18 days ago•4 min saved

Seven planetary boundaries breached as life-support systems falter

A landmark analysis by about 60 scientists finds seven of the nine planetary boundaries are breached at record highs, including climate change, biosphere integrity, land-use change, freshwater, biogeochemical flows, novel entities, and ocean acidification—the first time ocean acidification is flagged—while ozone depletion and aerosol loading offer only limited improvement. The report warns that risks of large-scale, potentially irreversible changes are rising and urgent action is needed to restore a safe operating space amid accelerating climate impacts and extreme events.

via theguardian.com|

#biodiversity #climate-change #environment

space1 month ago•9 min saved

Mars’s surface area nearly matches Earth’s dry land because of oceans

Mars, with a mean radius about 3,390 km (roughly half Earth’s), would cover about 28% of Earth’s surface (~145 million km^2); Earth’s total surface is ~510 million km^2, while its land area is ~149 million km^2. The near-equality arises because 71% of Earth is ocean, so Mars’s land area on a map looks close to Earth’s exposed land, even though Mars has no permanent oceans. The comparison is a scale exercise, not a claim that Mars is as large as Earth; Mars lacks oceans but bears evidence of past water in its terrain and contains surface/subsurface water ice.

via Space Daily|

#earth #land #mars

science1 month ago•10 min saved

Ancient oceans suffocated by heat; today’s warming echoes a deadly drop in ocean oxygen

A 2026 PNAS study used lab measurements of oxygen use across major marine groups and a trait-based model to show that warming during the end-Permian increased animals’ oxygen demand while lowering dissolved oxygen, producing habitat loss and select extinctions. The results explain why certain groups vanished and others persisted, supporting the idea that temperature-dependent hypoxia helped drive the crisis. The piece also notes that today’s oceans are warming and deoxygenating, but this is not a direct forecast of another end-Permian-scale extinction; magnitudes, timescales, and co-stresses like acidification differ, and more cross-species, regional data are needed to gauge current risks.

via Space Daily|

#climate #extinction #hypoxia

science1 month ago•4 min saved

Sea Stories in Focus: Ocean Photographer of the Year Finalists

The article spotlights Gizmodo’s picks from the Ocean Photographer of the Year Awards finalists, showcasing dramatic marine scenes—from orca hunts and octopus courtship to seal pups, sea turtles, and tiny reef life—while also noting how human activity impacts ocean ecosystems.

via Gizmodo|

#conservation #marine-life #nature-photography

technology1 month ago•5 min saved

The Bloop Turns Minecraft's Ocean Depths into a Nightmare

A review of Mythicus's Minecraft Marketplace addon The Bloop, which makes the game's oceans far more dangerous with new sea monsters and a giant boss. Players visit sea villages to buy a diving suit and supplies, then dive into treacherous waters where they encounter terrifying mobs, get yanked into a boss encounter inside the Bloop, and are stalked by the creature across water, land, and even sky. The writer dies, respawns, and continues to be chased, delivering a chaotic, horror‑tinged Let’s Play that challenges players to survive the deep-sea nightmare.

via Minecraft|

#addon #bossfight #marketplace

space1 month ago•14 min saved

Europa Could Have More Ocean Than Earth, Enceladus Sprays Its Ocean into Space

Earth isn’t the Solar System’s sole water world: Europa’s subsurface ocean may hold about 3 billion cubic kilometres of liquid water—roughly twice the volume of Earth’s oceans—while Enceladus vents ocean material into space via its south-pole plumes, offering direct sampling opportunities. The concept of a single “ultimate water world” is too simplistic; water exists in diverse forms—volume, location, chemistry and accessibility—across the Solar System, and neither moon has found life evidence yet.

via Space Daily|

#enceladus #europa #oceans

environment2 months ago•8 min saved

Planet Heats Up, Oceans Strain, Ice Dim: 2025 Climate Report Signals Escalating Extremes

The 2025 State of the Climate report from the American Meteorological Society and NOAA warns that global warming is intensifying: oceans reached record-high temperatures for a third straight year, marine heatwaves covered about 87% of the world’s oceans, the Greenland Ice Sheet shed roughly 129 gigatons, surface albedo declined as land surfaces darkened and cloudiness fell, oceans absorbed about 90% of the excess heat and continued to acidify and lose oxygen. Fossil-fuel emissions remain the primary driver of warming and extreme weather, underscoring the need for resilience and stronger climate policies.

via Inside Climate News|

#climate-change #environment #fossil-fuels

environment2 months ago•5 min saved

Oceans set July heat record as El Niño looms

Global oceans reached their hottest July on record, with an average sea-surface temperature of 20.96C outside the polar regions—beating 2023’s high and about 1.47C above pre-industrial levels—partly driven by developing El Niño conditions. Western Europe also had its hottest June–July, fueling heatwaves and drought that stressed water supplies and spurred wildfires, while the UK faces lower river levels and ongoing heat and drought risks. Warming seas contribute to sea-level rise through thermal expansion and amplify marine heatwaves, underscoring climate-change impacts and the risk of more extreme conditions ahead.

via BBC|

#climate-change #drought #el-nino

environment2 months ago•19 min saved

Deep Atlantic finds reveal 200,000 leaking radioactive waste barrels on the seafloor

An international, French-led expedition descended about 15,400 feet into the Northeast Atlantic to directly observe more than 200,000 barrels of largely corroded, low‑level radioactive waste dumped in the latter half of the 20th century, with material spilling onto the seafloor. On-site measurements detected radionuclides such as cobalt-60, niobium-94, cesium-137 and americium-241 above background levels, though scientists caution this is not yet a final ecological verdict. A 2025 mission mapped thousands of barrels with the Ulyx robot to guide 2026 close‑range dives, which also noted deep‑sea life colonizing the waste sites. Researchers say more laboratory work is needed to determine exact concentrations, how radionuclides move through sediment and water, and whether deep‑sea organisms are absorbing them, while international efforts (OSPAR) continue to study historic dumping practices and their ecological implications.

via Earth.com|

#deep-sea #environment #oceans

space2 months ago•6 min saved

Venus May Have Hosted Global Oceans Across Most of Its Surface

A new study suggests Venus’s surface features resemble giant marine signatures, indicating oceans may have covered up to about 90% of the planet and held around 40% as much water as Earth’s oceans. The researchers point to polygonal fault patterns, vast submarine-like channels, and salt-deposit evidence as clues; while not conclusive, the findings imply Venus once had a global sea before a runaway greenhouse effect ended it within the last billion years, a hypothesis future missions EnVision and VERITAS could test.

via ScienceAlert|

#geology #oceans #planetary-science

space2 months ago•14 min saved

Ganymede: a moon the size of a planet with its own magnetic field

Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon, is about the same diameter as Mercury but far less massive, thanks to its rock-and-ice composition; it likely harbors more water than Earth’s surface, has a layered interior with an iron-rich core and a conductive ocean, and uniquely generates its own magnetic field, creating a small magnetosphere within Jupiter’s. The moon’s complex geology, thin atmosphere, and tidal interactions mean it is a world in its own right, not just a simple satellite, and the upcoming JUICE mission aims to orbit Ganymede in 2034 to study its ice shell, ocean, and dynamo.

via Space Daily|

#ganymede #jupiter #magnetosphere

environment2 months ago•13 min saved

Oceanic oxygen loss could destabilize ecosystems, scientists warn

Scientists warn that dissolved oxygen in global oceans is falling rapidly due to warming, nutrient pollution, and algal blooms, threatening marine life across the food chain and possibly affecting climate regulation. Researchers from UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography say this aquatic deoxygenation should be added to the Planetary Boundaries framework to reflect its global importance, and note that recovery could take centuries without coordinated emissions cuts and nutrient controls.

via Oceanographic Magazine|

#algal-blooms #deoxygenation #environment

world2 months ago•12 min saved

Massive male great white ‘Contender’ traced near East Coast vacation hotspot

An OCEARCH-tagged male great white shark known as ‘Contender’—about 1,700 pounds and 14 feet—was detected near North Carolina’s Outer Banks as it migrates up the East Coast, illustrating ongoing tracking of the species’ movements along the western North Atlantic.

via The Independent|

#contender #great-white-shark #oceans

science3 months ago•17 min saved

The North Atlantic 'cold blob' could reshape Europe’s weather, scientists warn

Ongoing heatwaves are shadowed by a large cool patch in the North Atlantic known as the “cold blob,” which scientists think may signal changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Fresh Greenland meltwater and altered heat exchange could slow the sinking of warm water, weakening AMOC and nudging the jet stream, potentially bringing more European heatwaves in the near term while raising the possibility of colder European conditions if the current weakens further. The science is still debated on exact causes and timing, but climate models generally project some AMOC weakening this century, underscoring the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate risk.

via The Independent|

#amoc #climate-change #heatwave