A prototype of Panthalassa’s floating data centre Panthalassa The data centres powering the AI boom already use more electricity than some small countries, and the International Energy Agency projects that their demand could reach 945 terawatt-hours a year – more than Japan’s entire electricity consumption – by 2030. AI is so power-hungry that companies are exploring…
The Bering Strait separates Alaska and Russia Ocean Color/OB.DAAC/OBPG/NASA It would be an engineering project on a truly epic scale, but we may one day need to consider building a dam between Alaska and eastern Russia. The audacious proposal would be designed to stave off the worst consequences of the collapse of a vital ocean…
A strange “golden orb” pulled from more than 2 miles beneath the Gulf of Alaska, once rumored to be everything from an alien egg to an unknown species, has finally been identified after a yearslong scientific investigation. Researchers with NOAA and the Smithsonian announced the unusual object, first discovered in 2023 during a deep-sea expedition,…
Something strange has been swirling in the waters around Antarctica. From the 1970s until a decade ago, the floating sea ice that radiates from the continent had been expanding, even with climate change already in full swing. Then, in 2016, it suddenly and dramatically contracted — and has yet to recover — as rising global…
Every year, the World Meteorological Organization, or WMO, tracks a set of key climate indicators — including the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the Earth’s temperature — to assess how global warming is progressing. In their latest report, released last Sunday, the authors decided to include a new measure: the Earth’s energy imbalance. …
Spawning season has sprung for Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) in the waters off British Columbia, Canada. From mid-February through early May each year, thousands of the small, silvery fish congregate in shallow coastal areas around Vancouver Island and create a spectacle sometimes visible to satellites. Sheltered waters in Barkley Sound, on the southwestern side of…
