How much do we really know about our oceans and the climate? After years of research, scientists have finally provided clear evidence that the earth surface temperature has indeed risen by 0.5 Celsius over the last 100 years. Even though they have proven the rise in the temperature, scientists are still not certain as to what is really causing this increase in the temperature; as well as to what are the short and long term effects on the regional and global scales. Given the increase level of greenhouses gases, there will be an increase in the surface temperature. Because greenhouses are not the only influence on temperature, there are other causes, such as clouds, aerosols, and the ocean that also has a big effect in temperature.
The Earth’s ocean and the atmosphere are locked in an intricate embrace. At the line between air and sea, there is a constant flow of information; as massive amounts of energy and chemicals in the form of gases and aerosols are continually being exchanged. If the energy and the chemicals are the languages that program the behavior of atmosphere and ocean, then the regional and global scale climate variations are the productions from this complex system. Maybe with better technology and support, scientists will be able address the relation between ocean and atmosphere. Since the 1960s, scientists have developed sophisticated computer models to help them understand the ocean's role in moderating climate, but there are still many questions remain unanswered. The ocean has partially balanced the anticipated global warming due to rising greenhouse gas levels by exerting a cooling effect on climate. However, scientists do not know whether the ocean's cooling influence will continue. Some theorize that if the ocean's circulation system changes, then the ocean could contribute to, or even intensify global warming.
The reliable sea surface temperature measurements from space-based sensors have been a goal of oceanographers since the late 1960s. For the first time ever, NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) missions will provide oceanographers with the radiometric determination and accuracy, the scientific calibration, the surface viewing geometry, and the ability to remove atmospheric effects (such as clouds and aerosols) that will enable measurements of sea surface temperature accurate to within 0.5 Kelvin. These data will allow a better understanding of physical ocean-atmosphere coupling--particularly during El Niño events.
Moreover, by surely the ocean color, scientists can accurately estimate the attentions of phytoplankton on a global scale, some phytoplankton are bacteria, some are protists, and most are single-celled plants. The ocean couples with the atmosphere in two main ways. The first way is physically, through the exchange of heat, water, and momentum, and the ocean and atmosphere move because they are fluid. The speed and direction of air and sea currents are determined primarily by air temperature gradients. The color measurements with atmospheric aerosol and trace gas measurements will also produce new understandings into the chemical links between ocean and atmosphere. Studies after studies have somewhat cleared that there is an almost mechanistic system by which the ocean drives climate change.
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