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It was unprecedented when nearly one million common murres died at sea and washed ashore from California to Alaska in 2015 and 2016. Scientists from the University of Washington, the U.S. Geological Survey and others blame an unexpected squeeze on the ecosystem's food supply, brought on by a severe and long-lasting marine heat wave known as "the blob."

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission is being briefed Friday, Jan. 17, on an agency-developed Climate and Ocean Change Policy. The public will also have a chance to comment on the policy during the all-day meeting in Salem.

A new analysis shows that in 2019 the world's oceans were warmer than in any other time in recorded human history, especially between the surface and a depth of 2,000 meters (about 6,500 feet). The analysis also shows that the past five years have shown the highest global ocean temperatures and that recent ocean warming is 450 percent greater over the past 30 years than in the 30 year period beginning in 1955.

The manipulation of rivers in California is jeopardizing the resilience of native chinook salmon. It compresses their migration timing to the point that they crowd their habitats. They may miss the best window for entering the ocean and growing into adults, new research shows.

Life cycles for birds, insects and trees are shifting in this current era of a rapidly changing climate. How migration patterns, in particular, are changing and whether birds can track climate change is an open question.

A global coalition of scientists led by William J. Ripple and Christopher Wolf of Oregon State University says “untold human suffering” is unavoidable without deep and lasting shifts in human activities that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and other factors related to climate change.