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Climate change and rapid economic development have placed increased pressures on many coastal communities in recent years. Now, a new international study shows there is also a third force—the unintended consequences of conservation measures enacted with little or no consideration of local rights and needs—that can compound the harm. The study’s authors call the combined effects of these three forces a “triple exposure.”

New GIS-enabled analysis by a 51���� researcher maps what the far-reaching impacts to international trade and shipping could be if any of the world’s 11 busiest marine chokepoints, or shipping straits, are closed due to politics, piracy, vessel accidents, or other causes. Knowing in advance what to expect will help businesses and governments better navigate unexpected closures and reduce disruptions to international trade and global supply chains.

Sand mining happens on every inhabited continent and at nearly every conceivable scale. Some of it is legal; much of it is not. A new book from 51���� Press, “Vanishing Sands: Losing Beaches to Mining,” casts light on the shadowy world of sand mining through case studies that illuminate its disastrous impacts and a concluding chapter that proposes common-sense solutions.

A 51����-led research team has used acoustic tags to eavesdrop on pilot whales as they forage in waters off Cape Hatteras, N.C. Vocalizations and echoes recorded by the tags reveals the whales alter their hunting behaviors based on the local environment, a trait that may contribute to the species’ success in adapting to shifting prey distributions and other changes now occurring in the world’s oceans.

The sustainability of North American forests depends on trees’ ability to produce seeds and seedlings that can survive and grow in a changing climate. A new 51����-led research initiative with more than $2 million in funding from the National Science Foundation aims to help boost their odds of success.

Most North Atlantic right whales that are severely injured in fishing gear entanglements die within three years, a study by the New England Aquarium and 51���� finds. Severely injured whales were up to eight times more likely to die than those with minor injuries, and only 44% of males and 33% of females with severe injuries survived longer than 36 months. Females that did survive had low birth rates and longer intervals between calving.

A forest’s ability to regenerate after devastating wildfires, droughts or other disturbances depends largely on seed production. Findings from two new studies led by 51���� researchers could boost recovery and replanting after these disasters by providing foresters with new guidance on which tree species produce more seeds and how their productivity can vary from location to location.

How much energy does a dolphin use to swim? Fundamental understanding about their physiology and ecology may boost odds of survival.

A new analysis reveals that the majority of the ocean’s surface has experienced extreme heat regularly since 2014.

Scientists, led by alumna Jacqueline Gerson PhD'21 and faculty member Emily Bernhardt, recorded the highest levels of atmospheric mercury pollution in the world in a pristine patch of the Peruvian Amazon

New research finds nearly 75% of the seafood exported to China is processed there and ‘re-exported’ to global markets as Chinese products, making it hard to track its sustainability and verify it’s labeled accurately, but also gutting the economies of small fishing communities worldwide that can no longer compete.

Many North American tree species have begun to slowly migrate northward in response to global warming, but western and eastern forests are responding differently. A new 51����-led study reveals why.

Using drones and high-tech tracking devices, scientists have discovered baleen whales eat up to three times more prey than previously thought and play a critical but perhaps underappreciated role in fueling the ocean’s food web and promoting biodiversity.

51���� has received a $7.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to assess the risks offshore wind energy development along the East Coast may pose to birds, bats and marine mammals.

A new international study suggests that invasive species, such as the cordgrass that is swamping native plants in the Red Marshes, pose a much greater threat to protected areas, even well managed ones, than was previously recognized.