Microplastics (MPs) and freshwater acidification jointly threaten aquatic ecosystems. This 21-day study on Eriocheir sinensis revealed synergistic toxicity: combined low pH (6.5) and MPs exacerbated oxidative stress and immune suppression, disrupted the TCA cycle and arginine biosynthesis, and altered gut microbiota function. While MPs alone affected pyrimidine metabolism, acidification amplified MPs' toxicity via immune-metabolic crosstalk. The findings underscore the need to evaluate multiple stressors under climate change, providing critical insights for aquatic risk assessment.

A new study by UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography reveals a startling finding: More than 90% of popular freshwater game fish in Southern California contained an introduced parasite capable of infecting humans. The NIH-funded study suggests that these parasites pose a previously unrecognized public health risk in the United States.

Flooding in coastal communities is happening far more often than previously thought, according to a new study from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The study also found major flaws with the widely used approach of using marine water level data to capture instances of flooding.

New research led by the University of Sydney adds to our understanding of how rapidly rising sea levels due to climate change foreshadow the end of the Great Barrier Reef as we know it. The findings suggest the reef can withstand rising sea levels in isolation but is vulnerable to associated environmental stressors arising from global climate change. 

In the 1970s, when public interest in the oceans and what lives in them was picking up speed, Dr Mary Elizabeth Livingston graduated with degrees in Zoology and Oceanography before taking up a PhD position in New Zealand to study flatfish. Opportunities for careers in marine science expanded, but for women, gaining access remained difficult. Livingston, however, persisted and now looks back on a career spanning more than four decades. She is the author of a new Frontiers in Ocean Sustainability article in which she chronicles the highs and lows of her career, changes in the field, and what has remained the same.

While scientists have long studied currents of large eddies, the smaller ones — called submesoscale eddies — are notoriously difficult to detect. These currents, which range from several kilometers to 100 kilometers wide, have been the “missing pieces” of the ocean’s puzzle — until now. Using data from the new Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, a Texas A&M researcher and his collaborators at JPL, CNES and Caltech finally got a clear view of these hard-to-see currents, and they are a lot stronger than anyone thought.