National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

New legislation aims to phase out mile-long fishing nets off the California coast that have entangled and killed sea life, including endangered species, by the thousands over the past few decades. The gear, known as drift gill nets, are mainly used to catch swordfish but often net far more than what fisherman are actually targeting, according to an analysis by...

Flying into the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Midway Atoll appears out of the vast blue Pacific as a tiny oasis of coral-fringed land with pristine white sand beaches that are teeming with life. But on the ground, there’s a different scene: plastic, pollution and death. With virtually no predators, Midway is a haven for many species of seabirds and is...

A top weather forecasting official, who oversaw the government’s prediction centers that track ocean, hurricane and even space conditions, has died in rough seas on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. William Lapenta, 58, died Monday after lifeguards pulled him from the surf off the coastal town of Duck, local officials said. The National Weather Service had issued a warning earlier Monday...

Scientists will look into what killed a humpback whale found floating off the southeastern eastern tip of Long Island.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has declared fishing disasters for seven states on three coasts.

At the edge of an ancient lava flow where jagged black rocks meet the Pacific, small off-the-grid homes overlook the calm blue waters of Papa Bay on Hawaii’s Big Island — no tourists or hotels in sight. Here, one of the islands’ most abundant and vibrant coral reefs thrives just below the surface. Yet even this remote shoreline far from...

Scientists have their eyes on a heat wave in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that bears a striking resemblance to “The Blob” of 2014, 2015 and 2016. A large area of water that’s much warmer than normal is already beginning to affect marine life. If it persists, it could cause problems up and down the California coast.

Federal ocean officials say a whale found dead south of Long Island is a member of a declining, endangered species.

Struggling to keep his emotions in check, the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration both defended President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday and thanked forecasters who contradicted the president’s claims about Hurricane Dorian threatening Alabama. Speaking to a meteorology group, acting administrator Neil Jacobs said a NOAA statement issued Friday that criticized the Birmingham-area National Weather Service office...

The acting chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said his agency likely violated its scientific integrity rules last week when it publicly chastised a weather office that contradicted President Donald Trump’s claim that Hurricane Dorian threatened Alabama. Two top NOAA civil servants not so quietly revolted against an unsigned agency press release issued late Friday rebuking the...

President Donald Trump appeared to show a Hurricane Dorian map which was doctored to show the hurricane possibly passing into Alabama. Trump had tweeted that Alabama was in the storm’s path.

After days of claiming without evidence that Alabama was projected to be hit by Hurricane Dorian, President Donald Trump displayed an apparently doctored map in the Oval Office on Wednesday that showed Alabama to be within the storm’s path, NBC News reported. The map Trump displayed was the same as a model produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration...

The names of hurricanes may change, but one thing seems to stay the same: Misinformation spreads quickly during these dangerous storms.

Five whales died, including four that were euthanized, after a mass stranding Thursday on a beach on the Hawaii island of Maui. Ten melon-headed whales were found stranded alive early in the morning on Sugar Beach in the coastal resort community of Kihei. Hours later, a whale calf believed to belong to the same social group was found dead on...

Florida is on the verge of losing one of its most precious commodities.

Alaska has been America’s canary in the coal mine for climate warming, and the yellow bird is swooning. July was Alaska’s warmest month ever, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Sea ice melted. Bering Sea fish swam in above-normal temperatures. So did children in the coastal town of Nome. Wildfire season started early and stayed late. Thousands of...

Forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say there’s an increased chance for an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season this year.

Scientists will look into what killed a humpback whale found floating off the southeastern eastern tip of Long Island.

Throughout June and July, hundreds of wildfires have flared across the Arctic Circle in Alaska, Siberia and Greenland, sending clouds of harmful carbon dioxide emissions into the air. Fires are common in the Northern regions of Alaska between May and October, but not above these areas where there are fewer trees, according to Nancy French of the school of Forest...

It’s not as dangerous as you might think.