WHOI Featured Stories
January 9, 2009Ocean Conveyor's 'Pump' Switches Back On The sinking of cold waters in the North Atlantic Ocean, which helps power global ocean circulation, had largely stalled since the mid-1990s, as the world warmed. To the surprise of scientists, it revved up again last winter—displaying once again just how complex the interactions between air, ocean, and ice really are. Source: Oceanus Magazine 
January 5, 2007Sunspots, Sea Changes, and Climate Shifts Sometimes, clues to environmental conditions in Earth's past tell conflicting stories and point to competing mechanisms for change. Source: Oceanus Magazine 
September 6, 2007Interrogating the 'Great Ocean Conveyor' The Greenland-Scotland Ridge stretches across the North Atlantic Ocean seafloor like a checkpoint regulating the two-way flow of ocean currents between the Nordic Seas and the Arctic Ocean to the north and the main body of the Atlantic to the south. Source: Oceanus Magazine 
November 16, 2006The Once and Future Circulation of the Ocean Did changes in ocean circulation play a role in melting the vast ice sheets that covered North America and Europe during the last ice age? Could global warming cause ocean circulation changes that lead to dramatic climate changes in the future? Source: Oceanus Magazine 
January 23, 2006Is Global Warming Changing the Arctic? In the Arctic, the air, sea ice, and underlying ocean all interact in a delicately balanced system. Four ambitious Arctic projects are pulling back the icy veil that shrouds our understanding of the Arctic Ocean’s role in our climate system. (First of a five-part series.) Source: Oceanus Magazine 
June 1, 2004What's After the Day After Tomorrow? A science perspective on the science fiction movie. 
June 1, 2004Common Misconceptions about Abrupt Climate Change Several decades of scientific research have yielded significant advances in understanding the ocean's role in regulating Earth's climate. This summary covers some of the major points about abrupt climate change that are often misunderstood. 
February 17, 2006An Ocean Warmer Than a Hot Tub New evidence from ancient seafloor sediments suggests that current climate forecasting models may underestimate future ocean warming caused by the buildup of greenhouse gases. Source: Oceanus Magazine 
November 1, 2003A River Runs Through It In the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, along the edge of the U.S. continental shelf, some of the most important currents in the world are flowing. 
February 10, 2003Abrupt Climate Change: Should We Be Worried? A World Economic Forum white paper by WHOI President and Director Robert Gagosian presented in Davos, Switzerland, January 27, 2003 
February 10, 2003Are We on the Brink of a 'New Little Ice Age?' The authors discuss the paradox that global warming could, counterintuitively, instigate a new ‘Little Ice Age’ in the northern hemisphere. 
April 18, 2002The Heat Before the Cold A New York Times Op-Ed by WHOI Scientist Terrence Joyce 
December 1, 1996Sedimentary Record Yields Several Centuries of Data Natural climate changes like the Little Ice Age and the Medieval Warm Period are of interest for a few reasons. First, they occur on decade to century time scales, a gray zone in the spectrum of climate change. Accurate instrumental data do not extend back far enough to document the beginning of these events, and historical data are often of questionable accuracy and are not widespread geographically. Source: Oceanus Magazine WHOI News Releases
December 7, 2005Fine-tuning the Steps in the Intricate Climate Change Dance New scientific findings are strengthening the case that rapid climate change may be related to how vigorously ocean currents move heat between low and high latitude. Source: Media Relations 
June 16, 2005How Much Excess Fresh Water Was Added to the North Atlantic in Recent Decades? Continued Freshening of the North Atlantic Could Slow the Conveyor in the 21st Century Source: Media Relations 
April 21, 2004Rate of Ocean Circulation Directly Linked to Abrupt Climate Change in North Atlantic Region Source: Media Relations 
May 28, 2004Tropical Plants Help Identify Lags Between Abrupt Climate and Vegetation Shifts in Different Parts of the World Clues to the timing and cause of abrupt climate changes in the past may lie in ocean floor sediments, according to a study by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Source: Media Relations 
December 17, 2003New Study Reports Large-scale Salinity Changes in the Oceans Source: Media Relations Testimonies & Briefings
September 20, 2004Bigger Hurricanes: A Consequence of Climate Change? In the wake of three destructive hurricanes that pummeled Florida and Caribbean islands this fall, WHOI Research Specialist Ruth Curry (PO) flew to Washington DC on September 20 to brief members of Congress on extreme weather events and climate instability. 
May 6, 2004Testimony to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Former OCCI Director, William Curry, describes changes in the ocean that have been detected in only the last two years and discusses possible ocean and climate changes that may occur in the future if the planet continues to warm. 
July 18, 2000The Ocean's Role in Climate Testimony to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation from WHOI scientist Raymond W. Schmitt Research Projects
Assessing Rapid Climate Change during the last Intergracial with a new approach to Sea Level ReconstructionBill Curry and William Thompson Ocean and Climate Change Institute funded research. » Visit Website 
Measuring the Freshwater Flux through Hudson StraitFiammetta Straneo » Visit Website WHOI Researchers, Labs, and Groups
Ruth CurryPhysical Oceanography » Visit Website 
William CurryGeology and Geophysics » Visit Website 
Terrence JoycePhysical Oceanography » Visit Website 
Lloyd KeigwinGeology & Geophysics » Visit Website 
Jerry McManusGeology & Geophysics » Visit Website 
Delia OppoGeology & Geophysics » Visit Website 
Raymond SchmittPhysical Oceanography » Visit Website 
Fiammetta StraneoPhysical Oceanography » Contact » Visit Website Technology
January 31, 2007Reaching Up Into Perilous, Icy Waters A new technology gives scientists the ability to investigate ice-infested Arctic Ocean surface waters that help prevent sea ice from melting. Source: Oceanus Magazine 
January 26, 2007A Mooring Built to Survive the Irminger Sea The experiment was to build a moored buoy that could withstand fierce winter winds and waves in a climatically strategic, but decidedly hostile, part of the ocean. Source: Oceanus Magazine 
April 15, 2005New Coral Dating Technique Helps Resolve Changes in Sea Level Rise in the Past Corals from Papua New Guinea and Barbados indicate that changes in sea level, one of the key indexes for global climate change, may have been more frequent in the past than previously thought. Source: Media Relations 
January 1, 2003On Watch in the North Atlantic WHOI oceanographers are taking a major step toward understanding North Atlantic climate by installing a permanent moored data collection system in 3,200 meters (10,500 feet) of water along the western boundary of the Gulf Stream at "Station W". 
ALACE, PALACE and SOLO FloatsDrifting with currents and profiling the upper ocean. Source: Ocean Instruments 
Spray GliderMeasuring temperature, salinity, and turbidity. Source: Ocean Instruments In the News
Polar WarmingPBS Online News Hour featuring WHOI Scientist Carin Ashjian » Visit Website 
Ice Age to Warming - and Back?The Christian Science Monitor news story featuring WHOI Scientist Lloyd Keigwin » Visit Website 
Global ChillingA New York Times Op-Ed featuring WHOI Scientist Ruth Curry » Visit Website 
Saltier Atlantic May Help Decipher Global WarmingA Boston Globe article featuring WHOI scientist Ruth Curry » Visit Website 
How will stocks handle the Big Chill?A CNBC article featuring WHOI scientist Ray Schmitt. » Visit Website 
Researchers Track Rise of Fresh Water in Arctic OceanNational Public Radio (NPR), Morning Edition, Dec. 17, 2002 A study in the journal Science finds the volume of fresh water flowing into the Arctic Ocean from rivers in Asia and Europe appears to be rising. The phenomenon could have a transforming impact on currents and global climate by century's end. » Visit Website Science PublicationsLeGrande, A. N.; G. A. Schmidt; et.al. January 24, 2006. Consistent Simulations of Multiple Proxy Responses to an Abrupt Climate change Event. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103(4):837-842.Denton, G.H., R.B. Alley, G.C. Comer, W.S. Broecker. May-June 2005. The role of seasonality in abrupt climate change. Quaternary Science Reviews(24)10-11: 1159-1182. Overpeck, J.T., M. Sturm, J.A. Francis, et.al. August 23, 2005. Arctic System on Trajectory to New, Seasonally Ice-Free State. EOS Transactions, American Geophysical Union. (86)34:309. Meier, W., J. Stroeve, F. Fetterer, K. Knowles. September 6, 2005. Reductions in Arctic Sea Ice Cover No Longer Limited to Summer. EOS Transactions, American Geophysical Union. (86)36:326. Hansen, B., S. Osterhus, D. Quadfasel, W. Turrel. August 2004. Already the Day After Tomorrow? Science 302(5686):953-954. Alley, R. Abrupt Climate Changes: Oceans, Ice and Us. Oceanography (17)4:194-296 Alley, R.B., J. Marotzke, W.D. Nordhaus, J.T. Overpeck, et.al. March 28, 2003. Abrupt Climate Change, Science (299)5615: 2005 - 2010 Committee on Abrupt Climate Change, et.al. 2002 Abrupt Climate Change: Inevitable Changes. National Academies Press, Washington DC. Dickson, B., I. Yashayaev, J. Meincke, B. Turrell, S. Dye, J. Holfort. April 25, 2002. Rapid Freshening of the Deep North Atlantic Ocean over the Past Four Decades Nature 416: 832-837 Weiss, H. and R.S. Bradley January 26, 2001. What Drives Societal Collapse. Science,26:609-610. The article describes how early civilizations were casualties of rapid climate change. Broecker, W.S. November 28, 1997 Thermohaline Circulation, the Achilles Heel of Our Climate System: Will Man-Made CO 2 Upset the Current Balance? Science 278(5343): 1582-1588 Fagan, B. 2000. The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History 1300-1850. Santa Barbara, Basic Books. Other Sites We RecommendThe Discovery of Rapid Climate ChangeExplanations of how climate works
Dec. 13. 2001, AGU Meeting, SF, Dec. 2001
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