Unquiet soundscapes: Shipping noise impacts rivers, marine ecosystem

Noise makes it hard for the dolphins to communicate and use echolocation to navigate in shallow water, increasing the risk of getting stranded

Polymer plume: Over 170 trillion plastic particles are floating in the oceans, says study

Plastic pollution in the world’s oceans has reached unprecedented levels over the past 15 years

Penguin paradise and geological freak: Why Macquarie Island deserves a bigger marine park

The island is a subantarctic environment crucial for seabirds marine mammals

The Antarctic ice sheet is melting. And this is bad news for humanity

If left unchecked, the complete melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet would cause a global sea level increase of 3.3 metres in the …

‘OECMs are a win-win for conservation and community’

Down To Earth talks to conservationist Vinod Mathur to learn more about India’s roadmap to conserve its marine regions

Fresh negotiations on UN High Seas Treaty begin in New York. Here’s what to expect

United Nations member nations failed to reach a consensus last year

Indian blue economy is thriving but country needs to be careful about marine litter

Abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear is a serious threat worldwide

Commercial deep sea mining will increase risk to blue whales, dolphins: Study

Sounds produced from mining operations can overlap with frequencies at which marine mammals communicate; can cause auditory masking and behaviour …

Tropical seagrass meadows are sand factories that could protect coral reef islands from sea-level rise

These meadows provide a refuge for young fish, food for grazing sea turtles and manatees, and help to slow climate change by absorbing …

Marine litter menace: Short-term solutions not enough; need robust policy

Effective enforcement of rules and penalty against defaulters is required 

Global Kelp forests declining at 1.8% annually; indigenous knowledge can help, say experts

Kelps are increasingly threatened by climate change, eutrophication and shoreline development, among other human-induced stressors

‘Marine Protected Areas must be evaluated for effectiveness’

At present, focus is only on coverage; quality and effectiveness not assessed, point out experts

Marine protected areas are underfunded. Experts discuss ways to address the funding gap

A well-managed and sufficiently funded MPA can restore good health to vulnerable ecosystems, help achieve global biodiversity conservation goals

Climate-smart marine protected areas can shield biota from global warming: Experts

Most current MPAs are located in coastal areas, while only 1.2 per cent of the high seas are protected

Plastic waste woes: A primer on India’s marine litter problem

Only 60 per cent of the total collected plastic waste is recycled, while the fate of the remaining 40 per cent is not accounted

Loss, decay and bleaching: Why sponges may be the ‘canary in the coal mine’ for impacts of marine heatwaves

Marine sponges were earlier thought to be more resilient to ocean warming

Double financing for natural ecosystems by 2025 to deal with climate, biodiversity crises: UN report

Current global investments in nature-based solutions $154 billion per year, needs to be $384 billion

Sea level changes that occurred 6,000 years ago may happen again; Southeast Asia at risk

Natural causes can further aggravate the effects of rise in sea level combined with human-assisted climate change

Fishy business: Millions of people missing out on their fair share of aquatic foods

Nearly 800 million people across the world depend on marine and freshwater foods

The 5 biggest threats to West Africa’s oceans — and what to do about them

Ocean produces over half of world’s oxygen, absorbs 50 times more carbon dioxide than atmosphere

A million-year-old marine DNA can reveal how climate change will affect Antarctica

New form of analysis helps scientists study long-term responses of ocean ecosystems

Climate risk index shows threats to 90% of the world’s marine species

Urgent need to understand how climate change affects marine life to develop adaptation approaches

Sea cucumbers most frequently trafficked marine species in India between 2015 and 2021: Analysis

Tamil Nadu recorded the highest number of marine wildlife seizures between 2015 and 2021, according to an analysis by Wildlife Conservation …

Shallow-water mining not a ‘silver bullet’ to resolve growing global need for metals: Study

Shallow-water mining involves removing sediment-bearing minerals, which offer refuge to seafloor organisms; this could trigger local extinctions &…

Republic of the Congo gets its first ever marine protected areas

Three zones include nesting grounds for leatherback turtles, critical habitats for Atlantic humpback whale