Oceans

Science News for Students articles on oceans

  1. Earth

    Quake provides test for tsunami prediction

    The 8.3-magnitude Chilean earthquake offered an unexpected chance to test a new way of predicting tsunami damage.

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  2. Oceans

    Explainer: What is a tsunami?

    Earthquakes and landslides can create huge waves that travel across oceans.

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  3. Climate

    Pacific hurricanes to strengthen as Earth warms

    Global warming is heating up the oceans. That is causing waters to warm. As a result, Pacific storms — called typhoons — will become more destructive.

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  4. Animals

    A whale of a journey

    The 5,200-kilometer (3,200 mile) journey of Isabela provides a window into the migration patterns of blue whales.

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  5. Planets

    Asteroids boiled young Earth’s oceans

    At least two asteroids hit Earth 3.3 billion years ago. This superheated the atmosphere, boiled the oceans and shaped how early life evolved.

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  6. Animals

    This is no cold fish!

    The opah is the fish closest to the whole-body warm-bloodedness typical of mammals and birds. This trait may give the species an edge in the ocean’s cold depths.

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  7. Oceans

    Carbon dioxide levels rise fast and high

    The buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is rising faster than at any time since dinosaurs roamed the Earth. The burning of fossil fuels is largely to blame.

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  8. Environment

    Deep-sea fish show signs of exposure to pollution

    A new study suggests deep-water fish may have health problems linked to human pollution. Eating these fish may expose diners to the same pollution.

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  9. Earth

    What sent Hawaii’s mountain chain east?

    A single shaft of spewing hot rock created an enormously long chain of mostly undersea mountains in the western Pacific. That chain takes an unexpected eastern curve. The reason, scientists now think, may be a gobbled-up tectonic plate.

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  10. Microbes

    Life’s ultra-slow lane is deep beneath the sea

    Biologists had suspected the deep seafloor would be little more than barren sediment. But they found a surprising amount of oxygen — and life.

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  11. Earth

    Ancient ocean linked to supercontinent’s breakup

    The supercontinent Pangaea started breaking apart 200 million years ago. This may have been triggered by the shrinking of the Tethys Ocean, a new study finds.

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  12. Climate

    Fast sea level rise is a very recent change

    Sea levels have been rising for more than a century. But that rise is now speeding up. That suggests that what is driving the rise — climate change — also has increased dramatically in recent years.

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