Ocean
Find out everything there is to know about the ocean and stay updated on the latest oceanic news with the comprehensive articles, interactive features and beautiful images of the ocean at LiveScience.com. Learn more about the Earth's oceans as scientists continue to make amazing discoveries about our largest bodies of water.
Latest about Rivers & Oceans
Key Atlantic current is weakening much faster than scientists had predicted
By Ben Turner published
A current key to stabilizing climates across the Atlantic and beyond could be one-third weaker by 2040, a new study has revealed.
Indian Ocean gravity hole: The dent in Earth's gravitational field created by the death of an ancient ocean
By Sascha Pare published
The Indian Ocean "gravity hole" is a region where Earth's mass is reduced, leading to weak gravitational pull, lower-than-average sea levels and a puzzle scientists have only just begun to solve.
'A harbinger of what's to come:' NASA satellites show massive drop in global freshwater levels
By Ben Turner published
NASA satellites discovered that Earth's surface has lost enough water to empty Lake Erie two and a half times since 2015. And the problem could be here to stay.
This spot will be key to the inevitable collapse of a key Atlantic current
By Sascha Pare published
New modeling research reveals that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is particularly vulnerable to shifts in the Irminger Sea from increasing Arctic meltwater.
Earth is racing toward climate conditions that collapsed key Atlantic currents before the last ice age, study finds
By Sascha Pare published
Global warming during the Last Interglacial period caused so much Arctic ice to melt that Atlantic currents collapsed — and scientists say these are the conditions we could be heading toward.
What's the difference between a tsunami and a tidal wave?
By Richard Pallardy published
Tsunamis and tidal waves are the powerful types of wave on Earth, but very different processes are involved in their formation.
Rain helps the ocean trap more carbon
By Veronika Meduna, Eos.org published
Rain has so far been ignored in calculations of the ocean's capacity to take up carbon, but a new estimate shows it enhances the ocean sink by 5% to 7%.
'We don't really consider it low probability anymore': Collapse of key Atlantic current could have catastrophic impacts, says oceanographer Stefan Rahmstorf
By Ben Turner published
A visualization from space of the Gulf Stream as it unfurls across the North Atlantic Ocean.
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