Topic: Oceanography

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Golden Gate Bridge 75th anniversary: Take a knowledge challenge

The bridge that some experts once thought could never be built – San Francisco’s Golden Gate – on Sunday officially celebrates 75 years since its opening. How much do you know of the bridge’s story?
Vernal equinox heralds end of the winter that wasn't

This winter was the warmest on record so far in the 21st century. Here are some other remarkable facts about the winter that wasn't.
Election 101: Where the GOP candidates stand on energy and the environment

Energy and the environment are typically “back burner” issues in national elections, but both are huge this year for Republicans. Take a look at where each of them stands.
In Pictures: Green algae invades China
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Currents

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Golden Gate Bridge 75th anniversary: Take a knowledge challenge

The bridge that some experts once thought could never be built – San Francisco’s Golden Gate – on Sunday officially celebrates 75 years since its opening. How much do you know of the bridge’s story?
Antarctic ice sheet at risk, say scientists

A new study points out an unexpected weakness in the Antarctic ice sheet, which could melt rapidly within the next century, say scientists.
How a bizarre ocean current could create coral refuges (+video)

Warming in the Pacific could lead to new currents that create islands of refuge for corals, new research suggests.
Plastic pollution underestimated, say scientists

There's more plastic polluting the world's oceans than previously thought, according to a new study. Earlier studies failed to include the role of wind.
Antarctic ice melting from below, reveals satellite (+video)

Antarctica's ice shelves are being melted away by warm ocean currents underneath, shows data collected from a NASA satellite.
What's to blame for melting Antarctic ice? (+video)

Like a hot beverage melts ice cubes, scientists have determined that warm ocean currents are thinning Antarctic ice.
Mysterious Gulf oil sheen: Where did it come from?

Scientists can't yet determine where the 10-mile stretch of oil sheen found Wednesday in the Gulf of Mexico originated, but they have ways of finding out. Shell oil is investigating.
Indonesia earthquake: Why no tsunami this time?

Wednesday's Indonesia earthquake was similar in magnitude to the devastating 2004 quake, but there was no tsunami. The difference? Location.
Global warming began in oceans 135 years ago, suggests study

A study of temperature recordings from the 1870s suggests that the oceans began warming more than 100 years ago, much earlier than previously believed.
Amazon CEO Bezos will hoist mammoth, antique rocket engines from seafloor (+video)

Using high-tech sonar, an expedition spearheaded by Bezos has discovered what he claimed were discarded engines from the Apollo 11 mission lurking 14,000 feet deep.
Amazon founder locates Apollo 11 rockets

Jeff Bezos, the dot-com billionaire, announced that he has located the booster rockets that lifted the first moon mission into space at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean. He hopes to raise one or both to the surface.
Challenger Deep as a tourist site? Modern-day Jules Vernes say 'yes'

There's not much to see in the blackness seven miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. But enthusiasts can envision the day when citizen adventurers would descend to Challenger Deep and other deep-sea destinations.
How do we know that Challenger Deep is lowest point on Earth?

Using a custom-built submersible, filmmaker James Cameron has successfully visited the Challenger Deep, the deepest point in the world's oceans? How do we know that there isn't somewhere deeper?
James Cameron dive launches race to the bottom of the world (+video)

Before James Cameron made a solo dive to the Challenger Deep – the deepest point in the ocean – only one mission had been there before. Now, several groups are planning deep-sea dives, and engineering advances could shed new light on the region.
Why James Cameron was forced to surface early

James Cameron described the Mariana Trench as "very lunar, a very desolate place, very isolated.” His six hour trip was cut in half by hydraulic problems.
James Cameron makes final preparations for historic deep-sea dive

Weather permitting Saturday, explorer and filmmaker James Cameron could take his Deepsea Challenger to the bottom of the world, a place of perpetual cold, darkness, and abiding mystery.
Vernal equinox heralds end of the winter that wasn't

This winter was the warmest on record so far in the 21st century. Here are some other remarkable facts about the winter that wasn't.
Island nation of Kiribati contemplates move to Fiji

The leaders of the Pacific nation, archipelago of 103,000 people, are considering moving their entire population to Fiji if climate change brings rising waters.
Filmmaker James Cameron to plunge to deepest spot in ocean

James Cameron plans to visit the Challenger Deep, which at seven miles below the ocean's surface is the deepest place on Earth, aboard a state-of-the-art diving craft.
Ocean acidification worst in 300 million years, study finds (+video)

Researchers at Columbia University have found that carbon dioxide emissions have lowered the pH at a rate unparalleled in at least the last 300 million years of our planet's history.
Debris from tsunami to reach West Coast, join Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch will soon include debris from the Japanese tsunami, while one million to 2 million tons of lumber, construction material, refrigerators, TVs, fishing boats and other fragments from Japanese coastal towns make their way across the Pacific.
Election 101: Where the GOP candidates stand on energy and the environment

Energy and the environment are typically “back burner” issues in national elections, but both are huge this year for Republicans. Take a look at where each of them stands.
Blackbeard: Pirate's 300-year-old cannon resurfaces

Blackbeard's pirate ship gave up one of 40 cannons to undersea archeologists. Queen Anne's Revenge, captained by Blackbeard, sank off North Carolina in 1718.
Reader recommendation: The View From Lazy Point

Monitor readers share their favorite book picks.
Taiwan makes environmental push in disputed South China Sea

Eager not to be forgotten as a claimant in the South China Sea, as it was in July when China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed to confidence-building guidelines, Taiwan plans to set up an ocean research center and share its findings with others.