• Argo Project
• Air–Sea Interaction Lab
• Atmospheric Brown Clouds

Oceans and Air: The Climate Connection

For billions of years, our climate system has run on autopilot, making adjustments in one area in response to changing conditions elsewhere in the world. Today, the system is altered—industrial, transportation, and agricultural activities have affected the global climate in ways that are still not yet understood.

While scientists struggle to comprehend how the climate, and ultimately the environment, will change, they have come to one agreement—we simply don't have enough data on the global atmosphere and oceans to understand these alterations. That is why scientists and government agencies are placing greater emphasis on developing new instruments and data networks to monitor the air and sea.

At Scripps Institution of Oceanography, there are hundreds of projects for observing and analyzing the interactions between the oceans and atmosphere. This video presents three projects—probing the ocean beneath the surface, examining the dynamics of the air–sea interface, and investigating the effects of air pollution—that are examples of how Scripps scientists are striving to better understand our changing environment.

This research, which cuts across national boundaries, serves as a means for moving scientific findings into the real world—to help citizens and policymakers arrive at informed decisions about our future on an international basis. Clearly, environmental problems cannot be fully contained or solved within the borders of a single nation.