Series: Oceans in Depth

Traces a commonplace average—sea level—from its origins in charting land to its emergence as a symbol of global warming. News reports warn of rising sea levels spurred by climate change. Waters inch ever higher, disrupting delicate ecosystems and threatening island and coastal communities. The baseline for these measurements—sea level—may seem unremarkable, a long-familiar zero point for altitude. But as Wilko...

A delightful A-to-Z menagerie of the sea—whimsically illustrated, authoritative, and thought-provoking. For millennia, we have taken to the waves. And yet, for humans, the ocean remains our planet’s most inaccessible region, the place about which we know the least. From A to Z, abalone to zooplankton, and through both text and original illustrations, Ocean Bestiary is a celebration of our...

A welcome dive into the world of aquarium craft that offers much-needed knowledge about undersea environments. Atlantic coral is rapidly disappearing in the wild. To save the species, they must be reproduced quickly in captivity. For the last decade, conservationists have been working to preserve their lingering numbers and figure out how to rebuild once-thriving coral reefs from a few...

How France integrated the seafloor into its national territory through an interplay of science, technology, and geopolitical ambition during the Cold War. Beneath the surface of the seas and oceans lies a territory as important for human societies as the exposed land and the airspace above them: the seafloor. Our daily life is inextricably linked to the seafloor and its...