Conservation takes cash, and philanthropic funding is notoriously fickle. To secure the future of its environmental efforts, this Dominican nonprofit is trying something new: making booze. When Hurricane Maria swept through the Caribbean in 2017, tiny Dominica was hit particularly hard—howling winds and torrential rain damaged or destroyed 95 percent of the country’s housing stock. […]
ocean science
Marine Protected Areas, Explained
There’s nuance in how we protect our oceans; here are the details. It’s World Ocean Day, a day when the ocean takes the podium and the world professes concern, but also love, for the planet’s life force. It’s a day of celebrations, and also cautionary tales. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are one of the tools […]
Sailing around the world for ocean plastic
Canadian scientist Sheri Bastien discusses her involvement in eXXpedition, an all-female expedition to study ocean plastic. Sheri Bastien is a Canadian public health researcher at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences in Ås. Soon she’ll be setting sail as part of eXXpedition, an all-female around-the-world sailing expedition that aims to study and raise awareness of […]
Is This the Year Governments Protect Antarctica’s Seas?
The odds world governments will finally agree to establish marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean are looking better than ever. The Southern Ocean around Antarctica is one of the most diverse, fragile, and poorly studied ocean ecosystems on Earth. But as far as marine protection goes, it’s the Wild West. That could soon change, […]
Making Monster Waves in the Lab
Rogue waves are rare in nature, but new research is making them perfectly common. They seem to come from nowhere, walls of water towering above the sea, and then disappear without a trace. Rogue waves can swamp huge ships, lighthouses, or offshore structures without warning, and are among the most terrifying threats facing people at sea. Rogue waves—waves […]
Keeping Track of Deep-Sea Mining
A new website uses ship location data to track deep-sea mining exploration. Mining companies have claimed more than a million square kilometers of ocean around the world and soon—maybe sooner than you think—will begin sending huge robotic diggers to grind up the seafloor and extract gold, copper, manganese, and other metals to feed our growing hunger […]
Are we ready for the gold rush on the sea floor?
One firm reckons its planned sea-floor mines are more sustainable than those on land. But the diggers could destroy rare life and more. THE submersible Alvin encountered its first “black smoker” 2000 metres deep off the coast of the Galapagos Islands. It was 1977, and the realisation that life could survive in pitch darkness next […]
No, Britain Isn’t Naming a Ship RRS Boaty McBoatface
The British people have spoken, and they really want to name their new, US $290 million polar research ship the RRS Boaty McBoatface. In what probably seemed like a nice piece of public outreach, the United Kingdom’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) invited the public to suggest names for its new vessel, which is scheduled […]