Cycles
Uncovering the Ocean’s Biological Pump
Dan Ohnemus clearly remembers the highlight of his fourth-grade class in Bourne, Mass. He and his classmates made a satellite call to scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) who […]
A River Runs Through It
The geochemical journey of carbon from the atmosphere to the river.
Of The River and Time
The Fraser River in western Canada is flowing with tiny time capsules. Inside them is…
The Retreat of the Gualas Glacier
Like many mountain glaciers, the Gualas Glacier in the Patagonian region of Chile has retreated…
River Quest
Max Holmes and Bernhard Peucker-Ehrenbrink spend a lot of time upriver—one day bundled in a…
Storms, Floods, and Droughts
The source of the rain that filled your town reservoir, or flooded your nearby river,…
Elemental Journeys
Humans have changed the face of the Earth by significantly altering the natural movements of…
Calculating Evaporation from the Ocean
Illustration by Amy Caracappa-Qubeck, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Imagine you turn on the tap in…
Deep-sea Detectives
Links to related materials Mid-Ocean Ridges—Articles, illustrations, and video showing how new seafloor crust forms…
Follow the Carbon
“Carbon is the currency of life,” said David Griffith, a marine chemist at Woods Hole…
Bacterial ‘Conversations’ Have Impact on Climate
It’s wondrous how the vast and the infinitesimal combine to make our planet work. Scientists…
For Graduate Student, Research Is a Gas
When you spend 40 days on a ship in the South Atlantic, enduring equipment failures,…
Protecting Public Health by Preventing Pollution
Growing up in Maine, Desirée Plata watched her grandmother suffer from illnesses that she suspected…
Proposals Emerge to Transfer Excess Carbon into the Ocean
It’s sort of the planetary equivalent of moving clutter accumulating in the attic to other…
Dumping Iron and Trading Carbon
Debating the idea of fertilizing the ocean with iron can feel a little like riding…
Fertilizing the Ocean with Iron
“Give me half a tanker of iron, and I’ll give you an ice age”…
Microbes That ‘Eat’ Natural Gas
In the quest to explore the remarkable diversity of microbial life on Earth, an international…
Follow the Carbon Trail
Carbon makes the world go around. It is the building block of life on Earth,…
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…
Transparent Animal May Play Overlooked Role in the Ocean
Salps don’t get much respect. They’ve been around for millions of years, but hardly anyone…
The Hunt for 18° Water
In 1959, oceanographer Valentine Worthington gave a name and an identity to a long-observed but…
