NOAA Fisheries scientists are tracking West Coast conditions as part of our Integrated Ecosystem Assessment. Here are some of the changes in ocean conditions and marine life that typically signal the arrival of El Niño’s influence along the West Coast.

A series of studies sheds new light on the early stages of the evolution of the planet closest to the Sun. Using experimental petrology, the researchers are reconstructing in the laboratory the formation of Mercury’s core, the crystallisation of its magma ocean and the formation of its mantle.

Climate change continues to threaten the world’s coral reefs, which support at least a quarter of all marine life. Though probiotics have been shown to rehabilitate corals in aquarium experiments, demonstrating the efficacy of such microbial therapy in the ocean is difficult. In a study publishing in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports on September 3, researchers establish that both live probiotic and inactivated postbiotic treatments improve coral health—while the animals are under thermal stress during a natural marine heatwave.

Michigan State University researchers are uncovering the secrets of how some plants adapt to toxic salt, with help from coastal wildflowers that thrive in salt-laden ocean spray that kills other plants. The research could lead to ways to make crops more resilient to salt exposure from other sources, such as winter road salt or worsening storm surges.

Global study of more than 23,000 marine mollusk species projects major shifts in body size by 2100 — including surprising growth in some animals and ocean regions

The Southern Ocean is one of Earth's most important climate regulators, yet the clouds covering this remote region remain among the least understood features in atmospheric science. Their influence on the planet's energy balance makes accurate cloud representation essential for reliable weather forecasts and climate projections. A new study combines observations from an Antarctic expedition with advanced atmospheric datasets and climate models to investigate the processes behind this long-standing challenge in climate science.

University of Washington researchers gathered eight kids on campus to explore how they played with AI toys. The kids initially were curious, asking introductory questions, such as “What is your name?” But after communication breakdowns, the kids turned to antagonizing the toys, calling them “ugly” and “evil” and joking about throwing them in the ocean.

A new, international, community-led scientific review warns that major gaps in knowledge along Antarctica’s coast are now one of the biggest obstacles to reliably predicting future global sea level rise.