An official website of the United States government.
Here's how you know we're official.
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
A small lock or https:// means you’ve safely connected to a .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
View trends from coral reef socioeconomic surveying in South Florida.
Learn about the economic impacts of marine debris on tourism-dependent communities.
How sunscreen chemicals can affect marine life and how we can help.
The largest waterfalls are beneath the surface of our ocean, hidden from our view.
Derelict crab pots in the Chesapeake Bay kill approximately 3.3 million blue crabs annually, and capturing more than 40 non-target fish species.
Did you know that U.S. coastal counties are home to 40 percent of the nation's population? This is one of many key facts you'll find in this handy print document.
Many serious coral reef ecosystem stressors originate from land-based sources, most notably toxicants, sediments, and nutrients.
After many environmental disasters, the Natural Resource Damage Assessment process begins.
An extra inch of water depth in a port = larger ships, millions of dollars worth of additional cargo.
Many coastal and island communities depend on coral reef fisheries, but overfishing can deplete key reef species and damage coral habitat.
The varied effects of climate change are changing the ocean; these changes dramatically affect coral reef ecosystems.
You may think you know the name of the highest point on Earth, but the answer is debatable! It depends on how the measurement is made.
Get to know this green infrastructure technique that uses native vegetation alone or in combination with offshore sills to stabilize the shoreline.
NOAA experts measure how pollution affects people's enjoyment of nature-based activities like fishing and swimming.
NOAA and its predecessor agencies have published annual tide tables since the 1860s! See how tide table tech has changed through the years.
Ever-evolving tools and techniques are used to clean up environmental spills. These three infographics explain complex processes.
A few times a year, the new or full moon coincides closely in time with the point when the moon is closest to the Earth.
See how improved NOAA red tide forecasting is helping coastal communities and public health managers.
Learn about NOAA's efforts to support coastal aquaculture planning and environmental sustainability.
This story map takes you on a journey through some of the most remote and pristine locations on the planet. Follow along with researchers during an 88-day mission to survey and study coral reef ecosystems.
Protecting our planet starts with you. This infographic illustrates ten simple choices that you can make for a healthier planet. Check it out!
Natural disasters such as hurricanes, tropical storms, tsunamis, and landslides have the potential to be the source of a tremendous amount of marine debris.
When corals are stressed by changes in environmental conditions they expel the symbiotic algae living in their tissues, causing them to turn completely white.
Coral reefs play a vital role in sustaining the health of our ocean and our economy. NOAA is working to increase understanding of the causes of reef decline.
Conserving special coastal and marine places is a great way to balance competing demands of coastal resource use, economic development, and conservation.
The ability to overcome, or bounce back, is a concept that applies to individuals, to communities large and small, to our infrastructure, and to the environment.
In Nov. 2004, there was an oil spill that you've probably never heard of that ultimately fostered several significant changes to address future oil spill accidents across the nation.
From the air we breathe, to climate regulation, to transportation, food, medicine, and recreation...our world ocean provides much more to us than meets the eye.
As relative sea level increases, it no longer takes a strong storm or a hurricane to cause coastal flooding. Flooding now occurs with high tides in many locations.
California residents are losing millions of dollars each year by avoiding nearby littered beaches and traveling to beaches that are farther away and cleaner.
Storm surge or storm tide. What's the difference? Storm surge is the rise in seawater level caused solely by a storm; storm tide is the observed seawater level during a storm.
The tanker Exxon Valdez spilled almost 11 million gallons of oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989. How long has it taken animals and plants to recover from this spill?
