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Rising temperatures will change the colour of the world’s oceans, making them more blue in the coming decades say scientists. They found that increased heat will change the mixture of phytoplankton or tiny marine organisms in the seas, which absorb and reflect light. Scientists say there will be less of them in the waters in the decades to come.

This will drive a colour change in more than 50% of the world’s seas by 2100

Phytoplankton play a hugely important role in the oceans. 

As well as turning sunlight into chemical energy, and consuming carbon dioxide, they are the bottom rung on the marine food chain.

They also play an important role in how we see the oceans with our eyes. 

The more phytoplankton in the water, the less blue the seas will appear, and the more likely t...

A team of researchers from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology and the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum conducted a study of coral resiliency that showed some corals are better able to tolerate heat than similar corals tested in the 1970s. But scientists say it will not be fast enough to fight off rising sea temperatures.

The scientists replicated the identical experimental system, methodology, coral species, collection site, and even brought in one of the original researchers, Steve Coles, adjunct faculty at the UH Mānoa Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB)...

The year 2018 saw the world’s oceans at a crossroads. Some of the world’s most important marine areas came under new and stronger protections. At the same time, the precarious health of the oceans was never clearer, with rapidly rising sea levels, coral bleaching and overfishing.

What does the new year hold for ocean conservation? Human Nature sat down with Aulani Wilhelm, senior vice president of Conservation International’s Center for Oceans, for a look ahead.

Question: What do you see as being the biggest focus in ocean conservation in 2019?

Answer: I think in the next year, the role of oceans and the need to stabilize our oceans in order to cope with climate change is going to become increasingly inescapable...

Celebrities and environmentalists are demanding Japan reverse its decision to resume whaling, condemning the “cruel and archaic practice which has no place in the 21st century”.

An open letter to the Japanese prime minister, Shinzō Abe, criticises Tokyo’s decision to leave the International Whaling Commission (IWC), as campaigners plan a peaceful protest march on the Japanese embassy in London on Saturday.T

The actors Ricky Gervais and Joanna Lumley, the broadcasters Stephen Fry and Ben Fogle, and the naturalist Chris Packham are among signatories. Packham said: “To the utter disgust of the rest of the world, Japan intends to resume killing whales. We don’t need statements of disgust, we need sanctions that will hurt...

The oceans are facing a perfect storm of threats that will destroy marine life unless the government takes urgent action, a new report has warned. Plastic pollution, climate change, and overfishing are combining to put sea creatures under intolerable stress, according to MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee.

The report, Sustainable Seas, says the UK government treats the oceans as “out of sight, out of mind” and must lead an international effort to stop the catastrophic impact of human activity.

Committee chair Mary Creagh MP told Sky News: “We only have one ocean and our children deserve to experience it in all its wonders, and to be able to see the coral reefs going into the future.

“But the ocean is under threat as never before from climate change, which is warming it, aci...

Around the world, oceans are providers: of food, of livelihoods, of entire economies.

But, where do people depend on them the most? Knowing this could help to better protect marine ecosystems.

A new study, published in Conservation Letters, found that many Pacific and Indian island nations are the most dependent on marine ecosystems for their nutrition, jobs, revenues and coastal protection. Globally, 775 million people — 10 percent of the world’s population — live in areas with relatively high dependence on marine ecosystems.

Human Nature spoke with two authors of the study — Liz Selig, deputy director of the Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions, and David Hole, vice president for global solutions for Conservation International — about their results and why they matter for ...

Growing numbers of bluefin tuna are being seen in the waters around the UK because of the warming impact of a long term ocean current say researchers. 

These large, speedy fish are a globally endangered species and almost disappeared from the UK around 40 years ago.

Scientists say that their recent rise is connected to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). 

Now in a warm phase, the current makes UK waters more hospitable for the fish.

• Calls to fish endangered bluefin tuna
• Could big-game fishing return to the UK?
• Giant tuna causes ‘frenzy’ at salmon farm

Bluefin tuna are one of the largest and fastest fish on the planet – they can weigh up to 900kg and can travel at speeds of up to 70 kilometres per hour (43mph). 

In the 1930s, the species was a common sight in the s...

Japan says it is to restart commercial whaling in July in a move that is likely to draw international criticism.

It said it would withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the body tasked with whale conservation.

Commercial whaling was banned by the IWC in 1986 after some species were driven almost to extinction.

Officials in Japan, an IWC member since 1951, say eating whales is part of the country’s culture.

For many years Japan has hunted whales for what it calls “scientific research” and to sell the meat, a programme widely criticised by conservationists.

Wednesday’s announcement had been expected, but conservation groups warn the move will have serious consequences.

It means Japan will be able to freely hunt species currently protected by the IWC, lik...

We usually imagine coral reefs as underwater tropical wonderlands, bursting with life and living on a fragile balance. 

While climate change and other human impacts are indeed threatening coral reefs on a global scale, not all corals are the same. 

In fact, here in Brazil our reefs have very low diversity of coral species, but some of these species are only found here and they are pretty special. 

Is Brazilian coral more resistant to climate change?

While many reefs have suffered from especially warm ocean temperatures in recent years, coral species in Brazil have been particularly sturdy. In fact, we haven’t seen any mass mortality events related to bleaching so far.

So, could Brazilian corals hold the key to more resilient reefs?

The natural conditions found in coral...

We’re almost at the end of 2018 and, all through the year, one message has been heard loud and clear – single-use plastic is bad, bad, bad.

Ever since Blue Planet II aired over a year ago, we’ve been increasingly conscious of the vast islands of plastic floating in the ocean. Heartbreaking images of dying polar bears and whales with plastic spilling out of their stomachs have circulated on the internet, sparking a national debate. And no one wants to see animals harmed – especially at Christmas.

It wasn’t too long ago that many of us didn’t even think twice about this stuff...