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Where I Work |
Tracking ocean history through plankton ‘roadkill’
Marine biogeochemist Clare Ostle tracks the stories that plankton tell from all corners of the globe.
- Kendall Powell
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News & Views |
Rapid warming linked to leap in tropical ocean seasonality
Seasonal variation in tropical sea surface temperatures doubled during an abrupt warming event 11,700 years ago. This shows that seasonal changes must be considered when inferring past climatic events, and predicting those to come.
- Alyssa R. Atwood
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News Round-Up |
Eight billion people, SARS-CoV-2 ancestor and illegal fishing
The latest science news, in brief.
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News & Views |
Seas reveal a surge in the strength of tropical storms
A 30-year record of ocean-current velocities has been used to infer wind speeds during tropical cyclones. The data show that these storms have intensified over time, supporting claims that their strength will increase as the planet warms.
- Robert L. Korty
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Article |
Ocean currents show global intensification of weak tropical cyclones
Both drifter current observations and satellite-based tropical cyclone (TC)-induced sea surface cooling demonstrate that weak TCs have intensified in recent decades.
- Guihua Wang
- , Lingwei Wu
- & Shang-Ping Xie
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News |
Suspected illegal fishing revealed by ships’ tracking data
Fishing boats from Spain, the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and the United States obscured their location the most, often in the high seas.
- Jude Coleman
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Research Briefing |
Orbit-induced changes in the seasonality of the Pacific cold-tongue region explained
Simulations reveal that the annual temperature cycle in the Pacific cold-tongue region is influenced by the shape of Earth’s orbit, as well as by the planet’s axial tilt. Together, these influences drive remarkable changes in the cold tongue’s seasonality across a cycle of about 22,000 years.
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News & Views |
Glaciers sparked volcanism that harmed ocean health
Sediment records from Alaska, spanning the past 20,000 years, suggest that melting glaciers triggered volcanic episodes that removed oxygen in the northeastern Pacific Ocean, explaining ‘dead zones’ that lasted millennia.
- Weiqi Yao
- & Ulrich G. Wortmann
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Article |
Volcanic trigger of ocean deoxygenation during Cordilleran ice sheet retreat
Deoxygenation in the North Pacific immediately after the Cordilleran ice sheet retreat was shown to be linked with volcanism, suggesting that coupling between atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and solid-Earth systems can drive biogeochemical change.
- Jianghui Du
- , Alan C. Mix
- & Sharon
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Research Highlight |
A ship sunk during the Second World War still stirs up the seabed
The wreck of a German patrol boat continues to influence ocean chemistry and microbiology at its final resting spot.
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News |
Tuna catch rates soared after creation of no-fishing zone in Hawaii
Enormous size of protected area and its shape could be helping populations to rebound.
- Giorgia Guglielmi
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Research Highlight |
Why a tsunami went on … and on … and on …
An earthquake off the west coast of Mexico sent tsunami wave bouncing around Acapulco Bay for hours on end, thanks in part to local geology.
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News & Views |
Seasonal peak in Arctic Ocean acidity could shift to the summer
The acidity of the Arctic Ocean currently peaks in winter. A modelling study suggests that this peak could shift to the summer in the future — this is bad news for ecosystem functions, food webs and Indigenous communities.
- Victoria Qutuuq Buschman
- & Claudine Hauri
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Research Highlight |
Dinosaur-killing asteroid set off colossal global tsunami
For the first time, scientists simulate the worldwide spread of the staggering wave triggered by the Chicxulub impact.
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Career News |
Mental anguish and mistreatment are rampant in marine science
Survey finds that students and postdocs report verbal and sexual abuse, unpaid labour and dangerous work conditions.
- Virginia Gewin
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Research Briefing |
Marine predators aggregate in anticyclonic ocean eddies
A diverse range of marine predators — including tunas, billfishes and sharks — in the North Pacific Ocean cluster together in clockwise-rotating eddies, seemingly to hunt deep-ocean prey, which are unusually abundant there. This suggests that there is a relationship between the foraging opportunities of predators and the energetics of this marine biome.
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News |
Ocean ‘garbage patch’ is filled with fishing gear from just a few places
The bulk of large plastic bits in the North Pacific garbage patch have been lost or discarded by fishing vessels.
- Freda Kreier
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Research Highlight |
Tsunami from huge eruption was as tall as the Statue of Liberty
Tide gauges and tsunami buoys help scientists to estimate the amount of water displaced by the eruption of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai volcano.
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News |
Impact report: how biodiversity coverage shapes lives and policies
Three cases reveal how Nature’s science journalism and opinion content help to bring about change.
- Julian Nowogrodzki
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News |
Defence research, charm quark — the week in infographics
Nature highlights three key graphics from the week in science and research.
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Book Review |
This naval oceanographer couldn’t go to sea but was key to planning wartime landings
Mary Sears led a mostly female research team that was crucial to US operations in the Pacific theatre in the 1940s.
- Alexandra Witze
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News & Views |
Plate tectonics controls ocean oxygen levels
Variations in ocean oxygen levels during Earth’s history have been linked to evolution and mass extinctions. Simulations now suggest that the configuration of the continents has a substantial impact on ocean oxygenation.
- Katrin J. Meissner
- & Andreas Oschlies
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Article |
Antarctic calving loss rivals ice-shelf thinning
Data from multiple satellite sensors show that Antarctica lost almost 37,000 km2 of ice-shelf area from 1997 to 2021, and that calving losses are as important as ice-shelf thinning.
- Chad A. Greene
- , Alex S. Gardner
- & Alexander D. Fraser
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News & Views |
Atmospheric waves reinforced tsunami after Tongan eruption
The global tsunami and atmospheric waves that followed the eruption of the Tongan volcano Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai were observed around the world. Analysing the data could reshape our understanding of such events.
- Emily M. Lane
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News Q&A |
Historic dive aims to map Earth’s deepest point like never before
Ocean-mapping specialist Dawn Wright is the first Black person to visit Challenger Deep.
- Freda Kreier
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Matters Arising |
Reply to: A path forward for analysing the impacts of marine protected areas
- Enric Sala
- , Juan Mayorga
- & Boris Worm
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Correspondence |
Removing carbon dioxide: first, do no harm
- Ken Buesseler
- , Margaret Leinen
- & Kilaparti Ramakrishna
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Editorial |
Protecting the ocean requires better progress metrics
Sixteen world leaders have now promised to protect the ocean. Researchers need to work with them to create and improve measurable indicators.
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Where I Work |
Shark researcher attacks lack of diversity in marine science
Jasmin Graham has a passion for predators and promoting inclusive science.
- Virginia Gewin
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Research Briefing |
A wealth of new biosynthetic pathways from the global ocean microbiome
DNA from more than 1,000 marine microbial communities around the world was used to reconstruct around 26,000 genomes. The analyses identified a highly biosynthetically diverse family of bacteria in the open ocean, as well as new enzymes and biochemical compounds.
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal Tonga tsunami explained by a fast-moving atmospheric source
By analysing sea-level, atmospheric and satellite data captured after eruption of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai volcano, as well as numerical and analytical models, it is shown that global tsunamis can be triggered by acoustic-gravity waves.
- R. Omira
- , R. S. Ramalho
- & M. A. Baptista
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News & Views |
Sinking diatoms trap silicon in deep seawater of acidified oceans
The seas are acidifying as a result of carbon dioxide emissions. It now emerges that this will alter the solubility of the shells of marine organisms called diatoms — and thereby change the distribution of nutrients and plankton in the ocean.
- David A. Hutchins
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Article
| Open AccessEnhanced silica export in a future ocean triggers global diatom decline
Mesocosm experiments in different biomes show that future ocean acidification will slow down the dissolution of biogenic silica, decreasing silicic acid availability in the surface ocean and triggering a global decline of diatoms as revealed by Earth system model simulations.
- Jan Taucher
- , Lennart T. Bach
- & Ulf Riebesell
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Correspondence |
Sustainable seas: overdue SDG target could be met this year
- Sarat Babu Gidda
- , R. V. V. Padmavati
- & Jo Mulongoy
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Career Q&A |
A sea change in craft brewing
Petar Puškarić made a beer from marine yeasts during his master’s degree in ecology.
- Maria Bolevich
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Research Highlight |
The ocean is losing its memory
As global temperatures rise, the uppermost layer of the ocean is less likely to have hot and cold spots that return yearly.
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Article |
Expanding ocean food production under climate change
Sustainable mariculture could increase seafood production under almost all climate-change scenarios analysed, but this would require substantial fisheries reforms, continued advances in feed technology and the establishment of effective mariculture governance and best practices.
- Christopher M. Free
- , Reniel B. Cabral
- & Steven D. Gaines
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Article |
Chemotaxis shapes the microscale organization of the ocean’s microbiome
In situ experiments have demonstrated chemotaxis of marine bacteria and archaea towards specific phytoplankton-derived dissolved organic matter, which leads to microscale partitioning of biogeochemical transformation in the ocean.
- Jean-Baptiste Raina
- , Bennett S. Lambert
- & Justin R. Seymour
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal seasonal forecasts of marine heatwaves
Climate forecast systems are used to develop and evaluate global predictions of marine heatwaves (MHWs), highlighting the feasibility of predicting MHWs and providing a foundation for operational MHW forecasts to support climate adaptation and resilience.
- Michael G. Jacox
- , Michael A. Alexander
- & Desiree Tommasi
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Article |
Trends in Europe storm surge extremes match the rate of sea-level rise
Analysis of tide gauge observations shows that, in contrast to the current assumption of stationary storm surge extremes in Europe, the surge contribution to changes in extreme sea levels since 1960 is similar to that of sea-level rise, influencing future coastal planning.
- Francisco M. Calafat
- , Thomas Wahl
- & Sarah N. Sparrow
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Perspective |
The land-to-ocean loops of the global carbon cycle
An assessment of the land-to-ocean cycling of carbon through inland waters, estuaries, tidal wetlands and continental shelf waters provides a perspective on the global carbon cycle and identifies key knowledge gaps.
- Pierre Regnier
- , Laure Resplandy
- & Philippe Ciais
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Nature Index |
Japan strives to improve its global standing in science
A nation’s ambitious scientific goals are bringing in the best from around the world.
- David McNeill
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Article |
Observed poleward freshwater transport since 1970
A study uses a temperature-percentile water mass framework to analyse warm-to-cold poleward transport of freshwater in the Earth system, and establishes a constraint to help address biases in climate models.
- Taimoor Sohail
- , Jan D. Zika
- & John A. Church
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News |
Unprecedented oil spill catches researchers in Peru off guard
Scientists are appalled at the environmental damage — and calling for the country to end its reliance on oil.
- Emiliano Rodríguez Mega
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Research Highlight |
The plastic littering a beach can be tracked to its source
Efforts to clean up beaches could be aided by a model that traces the movement of floating plastic debris.
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Research Highlight |
Rivers buffer a vast sea against climate-change impacts
As global temperatures rise, parts of the Gulf of Mexico are undergoing less acidification than expected — for now.