Oceans

French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron welcomed global leaders to an opening dinner in Nice on June 8 for the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), held at the historic Negresco hotel. The conference, running from July 9 to 13, seeks to boost support for a treaty to protect ocean biodiversity, which currently lacks enough signatories to take effect. Macron emphasized France’s leadership in marine protection, downplaying the absence of U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration. He expressed hope that more than the current 30 nations will commit to halting deep-sea exploitation. Highlighting five interconnected ocean crises—biodiversity loss, water quality, food security, health, and climate change—Macron called for increased European funding for scientific deep-sea research. France is co-hosting the event with Costa Rica, a country recognized for environmental stewardship. Macron urged a unified global response, describing unregulated deep-sea exploitation as reckless and scientifically unjustified.

NASA's PACE mission to unravel mysteries of climate change set for rescheduled launch after weather hurdles

NASA's PACE mission will deepen our understanding of oceans, atmosphere, and climate, providing observations of microscopic marine organisms called phytoplankton and essential data on clouds and aerosols.

NASA's PACE Mission to reveal Earth's climate secrets all set for launch on Feb 6

PACE aims to unravel the mysteries surrounding microscopic life in water and airborne particles in the atmosphere, shedding light on their impact on Earth's climate and air quality

European Union’s collusion with fishing lobbies is damaging the Indian Ocean tuna, say critics

Members of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) agreed to reduce the use of drifting fish-aggregating devices (FADs) and to impose three-month closures on the devices, despite opposition from the European Union.

Plastic entering oceans could nearly triple by 2040 if left unchecked: Research

An estimated 171 trillion plastic particles were afloat in the oceans by 2019, according to peer-reviewed research led by the 5 Gyres Institute, a U.S. organisation that campaigns to reduce plastic pollution.

The ocean’s biggest garbage pile is full of floating life

The world’s oceans contain five gyres, large systems of circular currents powered by global wind patterns and forces created by Earth’s rotation. They act like enormous whirlpools, so anything floating within one will eventually be pulled into its centre. For nearly a century, floating plastic waste has been pouring into the gyres, creating an assortment of garbage patches

In the oceans, the volume is rising as never before

In the ocean, visual cues disappear after tens of yards, and chemical cues dissipate after hundreds of yards. But sound can travel thousands of miles and link animals across oceanic basins and in darkness, but humans — and their ships, seismic surveys, air guns, pile drivers, dynamite fishing, drilling platforms, speedboats and even surfing — have made the ocean an unbearably noisy place for marine life

Oceans may have more plastic than fish by 2050: WEF study

The plan, presented here in a report by the WEF and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, observed that there could be "more plastics than fish (by weight) in the ocean by 2050 if no action is taken immediately".

India, US hold talks on protecting ocean ecosystems

The two countries have held extensive talks to protect ocean ecosystems and promote sustainable development through the 'blue economy', one of the largest bilateral diplomatic engagements in the world specifically focused on oceans.

Extreme global warming seen further away than thought

The rate of global warming has slowed after strong rises in the 1980s and 1990s, even though all the 10 warmest years since reliable records began in the 1850s have been since 1998.

'Super-Earths may have life-protecting magnetic shields'

Super-Earths could have oceans of liquid metal and life-protecting magnetic shields, scientists say.

Damage to world's oceans to reach USD 2 trillion a year

The cost of damage to the world's oceans from climate change could reach USD 2 trillion a year by 2100 if measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions are not stepped up, a study by marine experts said on Wednesday.