In 2017, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the time frame of 2021-2030 as the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, also known as the “Ocean Decade,” to address the degradation of the ocean and encourage innovative science initiatives to better understand and ultimately reverse its declining health.
In absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2), the oceans play a crucial role in regulating the climate, a role yet to be fully understood. However, the oceans’ ability to contribute to climate regulation may decline and even be reversed in the future. The oceans that are now the blue lungs of our planet, could end up contributing to global warming.
NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown continues to make its way around the world deploying many devices to observe the ocean. These platforms measure temperature, salinity, and ocean currents. This creates a network of ocean data that can be used to understand its physical dynamics and help us understand and anticipate change in weather, climate, and even ecosystems.
Below the surface of our ocean there is another, smaller world that moves fast and breathes in and out with the ocean. Zooplankton communities likely create the fastest source of sinking carbon to the deeper ocean, and studying this process can help us understand more about the carbon cycle and how it affects us. Victoria Coles, Scientist aboard the NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown, can tell you more in her post “Biome Beneath the Surface.”
The NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown is taking scientists across the Indian Ocean on a research cruise to study the ocean’s chemistry, water temperature, and other physical dynamics. Holly Westbrook, a RSMAS scientist aboard the Ronald H. Brown talks about life on a research cruise. Close quarters, beautiful sunrises, and making friends- sub the lab coats for sunglasses!
NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown is taking scientists across the Indian Ocean on a research cruise to understand more about our ocean’s chemistry, temperature, and physical processes. The newest Live Science update follows Amanda Fay as she uses a Lowered Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (LADCP) to measure the speed of the water through the water column. When the instrument is lowered to depth, sound is sent out and reflected back from particles in the water, giving a complete profile of water column movement. To find out more about how this works in action, visit the GO-SHIP I07N Cruise blog post.
Scientists aboard the Ronald H. Brown for the GO-SHIP cruise arrive at port for some welcomed R&R in the Seychelles Islands, a chain of rocky islands northeast of Madagascar. Read more about the experience.
Scientists aboard the Ronald H. Brown for the GO-SHIP engage in international collaboration to monitor carbon dioxide dynamics to understand how the oceans help the Earth regulate its temperature. JAMSTEC and NOAA have a long history of international collaboration, find out more about it on the GO-SHIP Blog.
How does the ocean move, and how can you tell? Katey Williams aboard the GO-SHIP I07 Cruise is tracking Chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) through gas chromatography to study how water masses migrate through the ocean. Find out more on the GO-SHIP I07N Blog.
NOAA Scientists, along with partnering institutions have embarked on a two-month research cruise in the Western Indian Ocean to monitor the ocean basins from coast to coast and top to bottom to find out how the ocean has evolved over the past 23 years. The Global Ocean Ship-Based Hydrographic Investigations Program (GO-SHIP) 107N cruise is sending live updates from the Indian Ocean. Check out the post to find out what it’s like aboard a NOAA research vessel. Here are some photos of CTD operation and deployment by one of our partnering scientists, Yashwant Meghare.
