Ocean
hideAn ocean (from Greek Ωκεανός, Okeanos (Oceanus)) is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface (an area of some 361 million square kilometers) is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas. More than half of this area is over 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) deep. Average oceanic salinity is around 35 parts per thousand (ppt) (3.5%), and nearly all seawater has a salinity in the range of 30 to 38 ppt.
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News tagged with ocean
Controversial new climate change results
Nov 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- New data show that the balance between the airborne and the absorbed fraction of CO2 has stayed approximately constant since 1850, despite emissions of CO2 having risen from about 2 billion ...
Study: Earth more sensitive to carbon dioxide than previously thought
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 06, 2009 |
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In the long term, the Earth's temperature may be 30-50% more sensitive to atmospheric carbon dioxide than has previously been estimated, reports a new study published in Nature Geoscience this week.
Oceans' uptake of manmade carbon may be slowing
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 18, 2009 |
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The oceans play a key role in regulating climate, absorbing more than a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans put into the air. Now, the first year-by-year accounting of this mechanism during the industrial ...
Fossil fuel CO2 emissions up by 29 percent since 2000
Nov 17, 2009 |
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The strongest evidence yet that the rise in atmospheric CO2 emissions continues to outstrip the ability of the world's natural 'sinks' to absorb carbon is published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience. ...
Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss (w/ Video)
Nov 22, 2009 |
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Census of Marine Life scientists have inventoried an astonishing abundance, diversity and distribution of deep sea species that have never known sunlight - creatures that somehow manage a living in a frigid ...
Big freeze plunged Europe into ice age in months
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 30, 2009 |
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In the film, 'The Day After Tomorrow' the world enters the icy grip of a new glacial period within the space of just a few weeks. Now new research shows that this scenario may not be so far from the truth after all.
One word: bioplastics
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Every year, more than 250 billion pounds of plastic are produced worldwide. Much of it ends up in the world's oceans, a fact that troubles MIT biology professor Anthony Sinskey.
From Greenhouse to Icehouse
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 24, 2009 |
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A new study that reconstructed ocean temperatures from millions of years ago could provide new insight into how the Earth responds to climate change.
Earth's early ocean cooled more than a billion years earlier than thought (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 11, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The scalding-hot sea that supposedly covered the early Earth may in fact never have existed, according to a new study by Stanford University researchers who analyzed isotope ratios in 3.4 ...
Acid test: Study reveals both losers and winners of CO2-induced ocean acidification
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 01, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- As the world’s seawater becomes more acidic due to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide, some shelled marine creatures may actually become bigger and stronger, according to a new study.
Climate experts debate strategies for reducing atmospheric carbon and future warming
Nov 25, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Reducing carbon dioxide to safe levels may require extracting carbon from the air, says Cornell climate researcher.
El Nino Picking Up Steam
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The latest image from the U.S./French Jason-2 satellite finds a strong wave of warm water heading toward the Americas, fueling El Nino.
Scientific debate sparked over carbon sink data
Nov 18, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- According to research published this week in Nature Geoscience, emissions of carbon dioxide continue to outstrip the ability of the world’s natural ‘sinks’ to absorb carbon. ...
Aquatic creatures mix ocean water
Nov 22, 2009 |
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Understanding mixing in the ocean is of fundamental importance to modeling climate change or predicting the effects of an El Niño on our weather. Modern ocean models primarily incorporate the effects of winds and tides. However, ...
Global study of salmon shows: 'Sustainable' food isn't so sustainable
Nov 24, 2009 |
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Popular thinking about how to improve food systems for the better often misses the point, according to the results of a three-year global study of salmon production systems. Rather than pushing for organic or land-based ...
