Climate & weather
Hurricane Hunter
Soon after they married, Jon Woodruff asked his new wife Akiko Okusu if she’d like to take a trip to her native Japan. Not for a belated honeymoon, but to help…
A Tale of Two Oceans, and the Monsoons
Every summer, the continent of Asia takes a big breath. This inhalation pulls moisture-laden air…
WHOI Scientists Bring Expertise to Capitol Hill
Several WHOI scientists have traveled to the nation’s capital, supplying Congress with scientific information and…
Will Climate Change Disrupt the Arctic Ecosystem?
After long, dark winters, sunlight returns to the Bering Sea in spring, re-launching a bountiful…
Knorr Shoots the Moon (Pool) to Drill for Coral
The Knorr’s so-called “moon pool” is a section of the hull that can be removed…
New System to Take Long Seafloor Cores Is Ready to Go
Over five years, engineers had designed, built, and tested components for a new, one-of-a-kind system…
To Fertilize, or Not to Fertilize
Global warming is “unequivocal,” the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported in November 2007.…
Melting Ice Threatens Polar Bears’ Survival
The Department of Interior’s imminent decision on whether to place polar bears on the federally…
Dumping Iron and Trading Carbon
Debating the idea of fertilizing the ocean with iron can feel a little like riding…
Lessons from Nature, Models, and the Past
The first part of biogeochemist John Martin’s famous prediction—“Give me half a tanker of iron,…
Will Ocean Iron Fertilization Work?
In this age of satellites, it’s fairly easy to answer the basic question of whether…
Fertilizing the Ocean with Iron
“Give me half a tanker of iron, and I’ll give you an ice age”…
Morss Colloquia Focus on Science and Society
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution launched a new program, hosting three “Morss Colloquia” since October 2006.…
Scientists Unearth Long Record of Past Hurricanes
Reaching down into the muck below a lagoon off Puerto Rico, two geologists at Woods…
Cell-sized Thermometers
Climate shifts are a repeating feature in Earth’s history, but humans have added so much…
Letter from Kangiqsujuaq
Charlie’s Motel was a welcome break from Kangiqsujuaq’s airport in northernmost Quebec, where we had…
Dead Corals Do Tell Tales
Sometime around the beginning of the 17th century, a tiny drifting larva found the perfect…
Why the West Wind Wobbles
Winds and temperatures in Earth’s atmosphere vary from month to month and year to year…
Sunspots, Sea Changes, and Climate Shifts
Natural materials such as shells, ice, corals, and tree rings contain clues to help scientists…
Lakes and Climates Have Their Ups and Downs
Between 5,400 and 3,000 years ago, something happened to New England’s climate. The region became…
How Long Can the Ocean Slow Global Warming?
It is 4:30 a.m., far from land. A group of scientists clad in bright yellow…
Ocean Circulation and a Clam Far From Home
In my first year of graduate school, I was stumped by a big question on…
The Once and Future Circulation of the Ocean
The short history of modern oceanographic observations—less than a century’s worth, really—doesn’t give us a…