Do you know who studies the ocean and climate?

The ocean is teeming with life. It is a unique and dynamic environment where you can find deep-sea volcanoes churning out glowing magma as well as colorful coral and sponge gardens inhabited by marvelous fishes and invertebrates. It’s also where changes in climate can have a great impact both above and below the water’s surface. To understand climate, we have to first know how the atmosphere and the ocean influence each other over a long period of time.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is the lead federal agency entrusted with that job. NOAA’s mission is to study our ocean and atmosphere to better understand and predict changes in the environment, and to conserve and manage coastal and marine resources. With the information NOAA scientists gather, we can become more informed about not only our ocean and atmosphere, but climate as well.

Why is it important and How do you become informed?

Cutting-edge research provides tools to understand the ocean and climate, and how these two aspects of our environment interact. NOAA has partnered with organizations and educators to develop basic ocean and climate literacy principles that establish a framework of information everyone should know. The goal of these basic principles is to help everyone understand our influence on the ocean and climate and their influence on us.