P H Y S I C A L O C E A N O G R A P H Y Home Most oceanographers try to think of the world's oceans as one giant system, collectively known as the global ocean. But
before space travel and the invention of satellites, it was very hard to actually observe the oceans on such a large scale.
Pictures of the global ocean from space have given oceanographers important information about ocean currents,
temperatures, and other properties. Satellites collect information around the clock and feed it back to earth and individual
laboratories and classrooms in real time. This innovation has revolutionized oceanography and given researchers important
information about weather and climate, circulation, and environmental problems, such as global warming, global circulation,
the world's fisheries decline, and harmful algal blooms. Perhaps more than any other group of oceanographers, physical oceanographers have benefited from satellite technology.
Because they study the movement of the oceans and the forces that cause motion, such as winds, waves, and tides, they | |
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