Examining temperatures from the depths of the ocean, JPL scientists have found that lower layers of the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans grew much warmer during a decade when surface temperatures cooled.
Published Jul 10, 2015
Submerged in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Spain and Portugal are giant, salty whirlpools of warm water. These deep-water whirlpools are part of the ocean’s circulatory system, and they help drive the ocean currents that moderate Earth’s climate. Warm water ordinarily sits at the ocean’s surface, but the warm water flowing out of the Mediterranean Sea is so salty (and therefore dense) that when it enters the Atlantic Ocean at the Strait of Gibraltar, it sinks to depths of more than 1,000 meters (one-half mile) along the continental shelf. This underwater river then separates into clockwise-flowing eddies that may continue to spin westward for more than two years, often coalescing with other eddies to form giant, salty whirlpools that may stretch for hundreds of miles. Because the eddies originate from the Mediterranean Sea, scientists call them “Meddies.”
Published Mar 23, 2006
Based on data collected by NASA’s Aqua satellite, these maps show the concentration of chlorophyll and the surface temperatures of the northwest Atlantic Ocean from August 29 to September 5, 2010.
Published Mar 2, 2011
When scientists corrected errors in ocean temperature data, a mysterious cooling trend that appeared to occur between 2003 and 2005 disappeared.
Published Nov 6, 2008
The record-breaking belt of brown algae stretches from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico, and it is likely here to stay.
Published Jul 8, 2019
Extreme water temperatures in 2018 fit with a much longer trend in the region, which is among the fastest-warming parts of the global ocean.
Published Sep 12, 2018
One year after its launch, the Aquarius instrument is giving ocean sciences its first global view of sea surface salinity.
Published Jun 12, 2012
Fall storms often hinder ecological research in the vicinity of the North Atlantic, but in 2015, scientists made observations from ship, aircraft, and satellite.
Published Dec 10, 2015
