OVERVIEW - Why Study the Ocean?
Oceans control the Earth's weather as they heat and cool, humidify and dry the air and
control wind speed and direction. And the weather determines not just what you'll
wear to work in the week ahead--but also whether the wheat crop in Nebraska will get
enough rain to mature, whether the snow pack in the Sierras will be thick enough to
water southern California, whether the hurricane season in the Atlantic will be mellow
or brutal, whether El Niño will kill the eastern Pacific anchovy fishery, and so forth.
Long-term weather patterns influence water supply, food supply, trade shipments,
and property values. They can even foster the growth of civilizations, or kill
them off. You can't escape the weather, or even change it--but being able to predict
its caprice makes its impact manageable. And only by understanding the dynamics of
the oceans can we begin to do this.
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