Depth of sunlight in oceans changing, research finds

MORE than one fifth of the Earth's ocean has become darker over the past two decades, new research has found.

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The process, called 'ocean darkening,' occurs when changes to the ocean’s uppermost layers reduce the depth at which sunlight hits.

The study found that an area spanning more than 75 million square kilometres - home to 90% of all marine life - had become darker between 2003 and 2022.

Researchers from the University of Plymouth and Plymouth Marine Laboratory looked at NASA satellite data and numerical modelling to work out annual changes in the depth that light reaches in Earth's oceans.