The warm waters of the Gulf Stream flow up along the east coast of North America, moderating the climate of vast areas of northern and western Europe. Once the Gulf Stream gets far enough north, the ...

One of the most important functions of the ocean is to move heat around the planet via currents. Think of the ocean as Earth's central heating system, constantly redistributing thermal energy from the ...

Ocean currents driven by wind, water density, tides, ocean floor features, or the Coriolis effect, have an important role on climate regulation and marine ecology. In turn, increasing water surface ...

The ocean is essentially our planet's climate control system, a massive engine that never stops working. For thousands of years, this intricate network of currents has maintained Earth's weather ...

Wind howls and waves roar as storms rage over the open ocean. But even as gusts reach hurricane strength and swells rise as high as six-story buildings, the violent effects of these storms only reach ...

From space, the oceans look calm and simple — just endless blue. But when scientists zoom in with modern tools, that calm ...

During the last ice age, the Atlantic Ocean's powerful current system remained active and continued to transport warm, salty water from the tropics to the North Atlantic despite extensive ice cover ...

Bethany Kolody prepares water samples aboard the NOAAS Ronald H. Brown, during the P18 GO-SHIP voyage from Easter Island to Antarctica in the South Pacific in 2017. Image courtesy Bethany Kolody. The ...

You are taught early in science that oxygen on Earth comes from sunlight. Plants, algae, and cyanobacteria use light to split water and release oxygen, shaping the atmosphere and making complex life ...

Scientists descend nearly 11,000 meters into the Pacific to investigate reports of oxygen production without sunlight on the seafloor.