There is a growing debate over the fate of the world's largest ice sheet, whose sudden melting is sending shockwaves throughout the geophysics community. Researchers contend that by studying other periods of global warming--namely, the Mid-Pliocene Warm Period (MPWP), which occurred approximately 3 million years ago, scientists can better understand the potential impact of today's warming trendings....

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The Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO), a five state partnership of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Virginia, has released an ambitious and wide-ranging set of information on the vast natural resources and economically-important uses of the Mid-Atlantic Ocean, which contribute to the health and vibrancy of the region's coastal communities. The analytical data included in this release are a significant step forward in improving the scientific basis for regional ocean decision-making....

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Hydrothermal activity along the mid-ocean ridge system suggests that the release of molten rock, or magma, in response to changes in sea level plays a significant role in the earth's climate....

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Ocean acidification may be impacting upon the population dynamics of marine species and hindering their ability to genetically adapt to future climate change. These are the findings of a team of scientists, following an investigation into how the gastropod Hexaplex trunculus has responded to ocean acidification over multiple generations....

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Scientists plumbing the depths of the central equatorial Pacific Ocean have found ancient sediments suggesting that one proposed way to mitigate climate warming -- fertilizing the oceans with iron to produce more carbon-eating algae -- may not necessarily work as envisioned....

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Planet Earth's oceans and lands will be buried by increasing layers of plastic waste by the mid-century due to human activity, according to new research....

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Commercial fishing vessels target shark hotspots, areas where sharks tend to congregate, in the North Atlantic. The researchers suggest that sharks are at risk of being overfished in these oceanic hotspots....

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To date, research on the effects of climate change has underestimated the contribution of seawater expansion to sea level rise due to warming of the oceans. A team of researchers has now investigated, using satellite data, that this effect was almost twice as large over the past twelve years than previously assumed. That may result in, for example, significantly increased risks of storm surges....

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In the water above natural oil seeps in the Gulf of Mexico, where oil and gas bubbles rise almost a mile to break at the surface, scientists have discovered something unusual: phytoplankton, tiny microbes at the base of the marine food chain, are thriving....

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Scientists have determined that the influx of fresh water from the Greenland ice sheet is 'freshening' the North Atlantic Ocean and could disrupt the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, an important component of global ocean circulation that could have a global effect. Researchers say the it could impact the future climate in places such as portions of Europe and North America....

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