You may not always think about it when you do your laundry or flush the toilet, but whatever you eat, wear or apply on your skin ends up in wastewater and eventually reaches the environment. The use of nanoparticles in consumer products like textiles, foods and personal care products is increasing. What is so special about nanoparticles is their tiny size: One nanometer is one-billionth of a meter.

The world’s oceans have long helped to stave off climate change by absorbing heat and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But that is changing, with devastating consequences for humanity in the coming decades, leading researchers warn in a high-level report commissioned by the United Nations.

The world's oceans are warming at an alarming rate, melting glaciers, depleting fish populations, supercharging tropical cyclones, and threatening the livelihoods of millions of people who live in coastal areas and the Arctic, according to a new report from the United Nations' body in charge of monitoring climate change.

Cape Town residents don't know who to blame for the disappearance of their great white sharks, which haven't been seen this year in False Bay.

Experts say this could have a devastating effect on wildlife

Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of lost, abandoned and discarded fishing gear litter the world’s oceans. In some areas, this gear accounts for 30 per cent of the catch, trapping turtles, seabirds and whales as well as commercially fished species.

Demand is soaring for the metal cobalt, an essential ingredient in batteries and abundant on the seabed.

Soon after it left the Port of Oakland, California, in February 2004, the shipping vessel Med Taipei hit a strong winter storm with violent 30-foot-high (9 meters) swells. Amid rolling waves, 15 shipping containers came loose and toppled overboard, sinking to the icy seafloor inside the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

The short answer is that no one knows. Much has been written recently about the radioactive ocean-water plume that is due to hit the west coast sometime this year, possibly as soon as next month. The problem is that although we have models that predicts its arrival, we don't know exactly what the amount of radiation will be or where along the coast the radiation will end up.

Arctic Ocean ice may hold trillions of small pieces of plastic and other synthetic trash, and they are being released into the world's oceans as global warming melts the polar cap, researchers say. Though the finding is surprising and worrying, the possible harm to marine life is so far unknown, the authors concluded.

Scientists know more about the surface of the moon and Mars than they do about our own seafloor. Which helps explain the grand vision of the French architect Jacques Rougerie, who’s designed an ocean-going laboratory that rivals the Starship Enterprise in scope.

In this exciting excerpt from the first season of Jonathan Bird's Blue World, Jonathan learns how to play "keep away" with wild Spotted dolphins! Top see the whole episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r56U-YRzNuo

The world’s oceans need saving from pollution and overfishing, and an independent panel warned on Tuesday that urgent action was needed within five years. The Global Ocean Commission said cutting down on single-use plastics products, restricting fishing on the high seas, and establishing binding regulations for offshore oil and gas exploration are key parts of the rescue plan.

Since the 1970s, at least 0.1% of this plastic has ended up in the ocean. Conservative estimates put the amount of plastic bobbing around the ocean at 1 million tons (though it’s probably a lot more). Here’s the weird thing: It’s not there. Or at least, most of it isn’t.

This has to be the weirdest business deal of the week: The Church of England just sold a chunk of forest-covered land on the Fijian island Vanau Levu for $8.8 million to the government of the Pacific island nation of Kiribati. For the moment, Kiribati plans to use its 20-square-kilometer (7.7-square-mile) plot for agriculture and fish farming. But the investment is really a fallback for its 103,000 residents—a place to live if they must leave their home island.

Dust from the Sahara Desert provides most of the iron found in the Atlantic Ocean, according to research that also sheds light on how the oceans help sequester carbon dioxide

Watching flamboyantly colored fish flit about a saltwater aquarium can be relaxing. Figuring out where they came from, and whether they were caught in a sustainable manner, can be an exercise in frustration.

A container filled with millions of Lego pieces fell into the sea off Cornwall in 1997. But instead of remaining at the bottom of the ocean, they are still washing up on Cornish beaches today - offering an insight into the mysterious world of oceans and tides.

The people of Palau, a small island nation in the northwestern Pacific, have long realized that the health and prosperity of their nation depends on the ocean. Because of this realization, Palauans have always worked to protect their ocean resources. That’s why Palau has drawn the world’s top scientists and ocean writers, and why Palau has repeatedly been rated the world’s top diving destination.

The trouble with making a documentary about the deepest, most remote place on the planet, five miles below the surface of the ocean, is that there really isn't a whole lot happening down there. There are no monsters, no sunken alien warships, just an endless, featureless expanse.