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Vital Signs: The Hottest Ocean in Recorded History

Vital Signs

global heat map.

Mar 31, 2025

Vital Signs

Last year brought unprecedented high temperatures and numerous severe weather events.
image: factory smokestacks release smoke into the air during sunset.

Mar 25, 2024

Vital Signs: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Hit Highest Levels

50 Leading Scientists on “Unprecedented” Human-Caused Global Warming
image: Buxton, NC, shoreline.

Jan 13, 2024

Vital Signs: Seven More Feet?

Projections show that U.S. sea levels will increase the most along the East Coast and Gulf Coast — and that a failure to curb emissions could raise waters up to seven feet by the end of the century.

Jan 22, 2025

New Sea Level Rise Projections for North Carolina

A new report predicts sea level rise in three North Carolina cities over the next century. The N.C. Coastal Resources Commission Science Panel has released a new report with projections…

Jun 26, 2024

Vital Signs: Caribbean Creep

“Fouling” species — such as sea squirts, bivalves, barnacles, and seaweeds — can create substantial communities that cover docks, piers, and boat bottoms.
image: A wave splashing on a beach.

Sep 18, 2023

Vital Signs: Sea Level Rise Rapidly Accelerates Along the Southeast and Gulf Coasts

Researchers find record-breaking rates of sea level rise since 2010 — three times higher than the global average — from Cape Hatteras to the Gulf Coast.
Perito Moreno Glacier

Mar 21, 2023

Vital Signs: The Hottest Ocean in Recorded History

Covering more than 70% of the earth, our global ocean has a very high heat capacity, and the top few meters of the ocean store as much heat as earth’s entire atmosphere. Ninety percent of global warming is occurring in the ocean...