Tsunamis can be generated by underwater volcanic explosions thousands of miles away. The Jan. 15 explosion in Tonga resulted in tsunami advisories for British Columbia and all along the U.S. west coast.
On Jan. 15, 2022, coastal areas across California were placed under a tsunami warning.
Gado via Getty Images
Tsunamis aren’t just bigger-than-average waves. Triggered by undersea earthquakes or volcanic eruptions like the one in Tonga, they are fast, massive and potentially destructive. Here’s why.
Oiled sand in Huntington Beach, Calif., after a 126,000-gallon spill from an offshore oil pipeline.
Nick Ut/Getty Images
Offshore oil drilling has a long history in California, but is highly unpopular today. The latest major spill is likely to fuel efforts to wind down oil and gas production statewide.
Giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) is a potential energy crop.
Linking Tourism & Conservation/Flickr
Diane Kim, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences; Ignacio Navarrete, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and Jessica Dutton, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Making biofuels from crops grown on land poses trade-offs between food and fuel. A new study looks offshore.
Female elephant seals take seven-month feeding trips during which they balance danger, starvation and exhaustion.
Dan Costa
By measuring how and when elephant seals sleep, researchers were able to figure out how elephant seals change their risk-taking behavior as they gain weight.
The possibility of accurate predictions will aid planning adaptation for severe weather conditions
Tim Graham/Getty Images
Climate change is a true existential threat for small island nations, but the US has done little to help the Marshall Islands, which it administered for decades.
The Pacific Ocean produces oxygen, helps regulates the weather, provides food and livelihoods. It’s a place of fun, solace and spiritual connection. But its delicate ecology is under threat.
A female killer whale leaps from the water in Puget Sound near Seattle.
(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Scientists had been uncertain about why killer whales are dying in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. A new study takes an in-depth look and provides the tools to help prevent additional deaths in the future.
Simon Lamb, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Timothy Stern, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
New research confirms that massive plumes of buoyant hot rock once rose from near the Earth’s core to the surface and triggered vast volcanic eruptions - and that New Zealand sits on top of one.
The absence of climate drivers – specifically, the Indian Ocean Dipole and La Niña – explains why Australia has gone so long without heavy rains.
The interior of a replica 1930 Bathysphere, as used by scientist William Beebe and engineer Otis Barton to explore the oceans depths.
Dominic Lipinski/PA Images
New South Wales boasts many wonderful ocean pools, thanks to a combination of climate, geology, culture and prosperity. Despite concerns about costs, economic and health benefits far outweigh these.
Fish are attracted to floating objects, especially with dangling ropes or nets.
WorldFish/Flickr
Fishers who hunt wild tuna use fish’s natural attraction to floating objects to lure them to known positions near GPS-equipped rafts. However, these rafts are attracting increasing concern.
A customer waits for the world’s longest flight from Singapore to Newark.
AP Photo/Wong Maye-E
The day and a half it takes to get from New York to Singapore and back offers plenty of time to ponder the economics of ultra-long-haul flights – and wonder why we’d want to make it any longer.
Where do the ocean waters that wash the Gold Coast come from?
Flickr/LJ Mears