Ocean currents are large-scale, persistent movements of seawater driven primarily by wind stress, density gradients (thermohaline circulation), Earth’s rotation, and basin geometry. They form interconnected surface and deep circulatory systems that redistribute heat, salt, nutrients, and dissolved gases across ocean basins. Major surface currents, organized into gyres, are largely wind-driven and Coriolis-deflected, while deep currents follow density-controlled pathways linked to water mass formation at high latitudes. Ocean currents modulate regional and global climate, influence marine biogeochemical cycles, and are central to coupled ocean–atmosphere dynamics represented in numerical circulation and climate models.
Changes in the Gulf Stream, a strong ocean current in the Atlantic, could serve as an early warning of the imminent collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The AMOC is a massive system of ocean ...
The European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) was once widespread in the North Sea. However, overfishing, habitat destruction and infectious diseases pushed the species to the brink of extinction in some regions nearly one hundred ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 5, 2026
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Sea level can temporarily change for a variety of reasons—atmospheric pressure shifts and water accumulation from wind and storms, for example—which can cause flooding in coastal communities and affect maritime industry ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 26, 2026
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Yesterday, an international team of researchers from various disciplines set off aboard the German research vessel METEOR for an expedition along the west coast of Africa, led by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 17, 2026
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SeaCast is an innovative high-resolution forecasting system for the Mediterranean that harnesses AI to deliver faster and more energy-efficient predictions than traditional models. Unlike existing global AI models, which ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 17, 2026
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By 2050, offshore wind power capacity in the North Sea is set to increase more than tenfold. Researchers at the Helmholtz Center Hereon have analyzed the long-term overall impact of this large number of wind farms on the ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 16, 2026
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It is well documented that the Gulf Stream plays a pivotal role in the climate system through its transfer of heat, which ultimately supplies warmth to northern latitudes in the North Atlantic. What remains less well understood ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 12, 2026
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Since the beginning of January, an unusually long period of easterly winds has caused the average water level in the Baltic Sea to fall to a historic low. Measurements at the Swedish Landsort-Norra gauge show values that ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 9, 2026
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The climate fiction movie The Day After Tomorrow, released in 2004, popularized the devastating effects of sudden climate change on Earth. The plot dramatizes the consequences of a shut-down in an ocean current, and features ...
Environment
Feb 9, 2026
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Large blooms of seaweed are increasingly being reported along coastlines globally, from Europe and Asia to the tropics and beyond.
Ecology
Feb 9, 2026
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