AOML observes World Ocean Day

The ocean is the defining feature of our planet, covering approximately 70 percent of Earth’s surface. The ocean produces at least half of the world’s oxygen, is home to most of Earth’s biodiversity, and is the main source of protein for more than a billion people around the world. It is what makes life on Earth possible not only for humans, but for all organisms on our planet.

The research performed at AOML focuses on the Atlantic Ocean, which is one of the five ocean basins that makes up the global ocean. Our research supports NOAA’s mission to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, ocean, and coasts, to share that knowledge and information with others, and to conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and resources.

One of AOML’s research themes is understanding the ocean’s role in the global carbon cycle, which is nature’s way of recycling carbon atoms. Carbon is continually exchanged between the ocean’s surface and the atmosphere, or is stored for long periods of time in the ocean depths.