How the ocean works
Extreme Climate
Extreme climatic events such as unusually severe storms and droughts can have profound consequences for life both on land and in the ocean. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution climate scientist Caroline Ummenhofer studies the ocean’s role in the global water cycle and its effects on extreme weather and climate.
Fresh Water Below the Seafloor?
Using a new method to distinguish fresh water from oil or salt water, scientists are…
To Forecast Rain, Look to the Ocean
Ever since humans have existed on Earth, they have looked to the heavens to forecast…
More Floods & Higher Sea Levels
A research team predicts potentially big changes within the next century that would have significant…
Communicating Under Sea Ice
Researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution developed a new communication and navigation system that works…
What Happened to Deepwater Horizon Oil?
Officials pumped a huge amount of chemicals into the deep ocean during the 2010 Deepwater…
New Device Reveals What Ocean Microbes Do
Whether you’re a plant, animal, or even a microbe, you generally can’t conduct the business…
Warming Ocean Drove Catastrophic Australian Floods
New research by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution physical oceanographer Caroline Ummenhofer and Australian scientists suggests…
Let There Be Laser Light
WHOI scientists are developing new sensors using lasers to detect methane, carbon dioxide, and other…
A Slithery Ocean Mystery
It's an enduring mystery: How do tiny eel larvae make their way from the Sargasso…
Attracted to Magnetics
Maurice Tivey has probably endured more than a few bad puns, like the one in…
The Quest for the Moho
For more than a century, scientists have made several attempts to drill a hole through…
Signs of Big Change in the Arctic
The climate in the Arctic region once predictably shifted back and forth between two regimes.…
Beneath the Sea, the Galápagos Reveal More Marvels
The Galápagos Islands have offered biologists a natural laboratory ever since Charles Darwin’s day, but…
Can Animals Live Without Oxygen?
In 2010, a research team garnered headlines when it published evidence of finding the first…
The Bottom of the Ocean On Top of Your Coffee Table
Here’s a way to journey to the seafloor without leaving your living room or classroom.…
A Faster Way to Better Reactions
Finding new chemical reactions to synthesize commercial products more efficiently is big business and a…
Two Chemical Roads Diverge in an Open Ocean
An infographicon biomineralization
Minerals Made by Microbes
Some minerals actually don't form without a little help from microscopic organisms, using chemical processes…
Through the Looking-Glass of the Sea Surface
Scientists are using new technology to make previously impossible measurements at the turbulent ocean surface—a…
A Mighty Mysterious Molecule
What gives sea air its distinctive scent? A chemical compound called dimethylsulfide. In a new…
How Did Earth Get Its Ocean?
Adam Sarafian overcame a learning disability and surmounted heights as a an All-American pole-vaulter—all before…
Specks in the Spectrometer
Mass spectrometer facilities can be a rite of passage for scientists—as well as for the…
Carbon Cycle
Carbon is a building block for all life and plays a key role in regulating…