Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Sep 19, 2025

There Are Five Oceans on Earth Now, National Geographic Says

There Are Five Oceans on Earth Now, National Geographic Says

Six continents, four oceans… that’s what we all know from school and easy quiz questions, but some say there are five bodies of water on Earth. Will people happily accept this or will there be some backlash, like when Pluto was downgraded from a planet to a dwarf planet in 2006.

The National Geographic Society says it's time to recognise that there are five oceans on our planet.

The Southern Ocean, a body of icy water encircling Antarctica, will now officially join the Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans on the maps made by the society – although the move is not recognised by everyone.

The decision was made in the wake of World Oceans Day celebrations on 8 June to reflect on what scientists, explorers, and geographers suspected for a long time – the waters around Antarctica are unique and cannot simply be thought of as extensions of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans.


“The Southern Ocean has long been recognised by scientists, but because there was never agreement internationally, we never officially recognised it,” says National Geographic Society Geographer Alex Tait, who is tasked with keeping the Map Policy up-to-date.

Tait says that the society, which has been making maps since 1915, “always labelled it” but “slightly differently” than other oceans.

“This change was taking the last step and saying we want to recognise it because of its ecological separation,” the geographer says.

Defined by Current, Not Continents


Scientists are confident that the waters around Antarctica “form a distinct ecological region” which are defined by their unique Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). Inside the current waters are colder and less salty, they say. The dense waters also help store carbon deep in the ocean, playing a huge role in how our planet’s climate and global circulation system work.

“Anyone who has been there will struggle to explain what's so mesmerising about it, but they'll all agree that the glaciers are bluer, the air colder, the mountains more intimidating, and the landscapes more captivating than anywhere else you can go,” says Seth Sykora-Bodie, a National Geographic explorer and marine scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).


The National Geographic admits they have decided to update its list of oceans “without an official determination” from the International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO), an intergovernmental body that has been working with the UN to chart waters worldwide. The IHO simply couldn’t agree on the extent of this fifth ocean region and its name (although they did recognise the Southern Ocean in 1937 only to backtrack on this decision 16 years later).

Meanwhile, the US Board on Geographic Names has used the designation since 1999, and the NOAA recognised the Southern Ocean this February.

Peculiarly enough, the change has already been reflected in Google Maps – although it seems that this has been going on for several years now, according to many surprised social media users.




Tait, who has been long pushing for the change, as he heard researchers and the media increasingly referring for the term Southern Ocean, is delighted: “It’s sort of geographic nerdiness in some ways,” he says.

If the alteration is finally recognised by everyone (although it’s not clear who has to make the final call), those compiling textbooks, maps, school and university programmes will have a lot of work to do.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
×