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Ports and neighbouring cities function as connectors between land and water and have long accommodated a substantial flow of goods and services. Port cities in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region and the Global South (GS) are rapidly and inevitably expanding as the demand for global trade increases. However, this expansion has numerous impacts on the surrounding marine ecosystem and the socio-economic livelihoods of local communities. We propose a framework to evaluate the sustainability of port cities in the WIO region and more broadly for cities in the GS. Through an exploratory approach, a systematic literature review (SLR) was undertaken to identify existing themes on port city and marine ecosystem sustainability indicator frameworks. The results revealed a strong bias towards sustainability publications designed for port cities in Global North. The approach developed from this study focuses on the socio-economic and environmental attributes relevant to ports in the WIO region and for GS countries. This draws from the Drivers, Pressures, States, Impacts and Responses (DPSIR) framework and includes 78 indicators. The indicators are designed to identify and report on the complex land and sea interdependencies of port cities. To test the validity of these indicators their interdependencies were examined through a Causal Network (CN) structure which identified 12 priority DPSIR CN. These were also mapped to the UNSDGs enabling the wider applicability and transferability of the framework. The resulting framework enables port cities in emerging economies to establish robust sustainable reporting systems and provides a framework that offers a unique lens for evaluating interactions embedded in the land and sea continuum.

'AMAN-17' int'l naval exercise to be held in Pakistan.

China Deep-sea Submersible Probes Northwestern Indian Ocean.

China's deep-sea sub collects perfect "chimney vent" in SW Indian Ocean.

China's new manned submersible finished the first ocean expedition of its operation stage, according to Science and Technology Daily.

East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) is one of the most dominant climate systems in East Asia. The anomalous EASM can cause the extreme high temperature, flood or drought. And El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the dominating mode in the tropical Pacific, is the most important factor affecting EASM. Understanding the processes for interannual to interdecadal variability of EASM-ENSO relationship is crucial.

Researchers led by Prof. WAN Shiming from the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS) and their collaborators reported a continuous weathering record spanning the past 37 million years, which was based on planktonic foraminiferal neodymium isotopes (εNd) of marine sediment core in the Bay of Bengal (BoB).

A research team led by Prof. CHANG Fengming from the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS), for the first time, reported the tectonic and climatic controls on sediment transport to the Southeast Indian Ocean during the Eocene.

The Indo-Pacific warm pool is the warmest ocean in the world and is known as "the global heat engine," which plays an important role in the climate system.