We are on a giant ball spinning in space and sometimes it is a place of incredible beauty. Everything is in constant motion鈥攖he air, the oceans, even the ground beneath us. It forms incredible patterns. Let鈥檚 step away from the scary headlines and enjoy the wonder of our oceans.
Oceans: Our Planet’s Life Source
While the oceans have the power to create Earth’s most violent storms (hurricanes), they are also our planet’s life source, supporting humanity and every other organism. Ocean plankton provides more than half of our planet鈥檚 oxygen, not to mention that the oceans regulate Earth鈥檚 climate. When we pollute our lands and skies, we also affect the warming of the ocean; it’s all interconnected.
Our Relationship With Water
When we gaze out at the ocean, we are calmed; we feel a sense of unity and peacefulness. Why?
- Perhaps it’s because we ourselves our made of water (60%); our brains average 73% water, and our lungs and heart are close to 80% water! Did you know: Human limbs may have evolved from gill arch in fish?
- Or, perhaps it’s because life on Earth comes from water. For the first 90% of Earth’s history, all life was aquatic; today, 70% of the Earth is covered in water. Even today, most of the world’s population lives near the oceans.
From space, our small blue marble might make alient call us 鈥淥cean,鈥 not 鈥淓arth.鈥 This is an aqueous planet.
The Wonder of a Living World
A team of artists and scientists at NASA鈥檚 Goddard Space Flight Center has assembled a short video that shows the ocean currents all over the world. Using satellite readings, sea measurements, even ship notes, the team, led by Greg Shirah, have assembled a model that shows the ebb and flow of the world鈥檚 oceans over two years.
You can see the mighty Gulf Stream warming the American coastlines. Polar icecaps surge and melt. A cold La Ni帽a chills the Tropical Pacific, and then warms to a balmy El Ni帽o. A parade of swirls surrounds southern Africa like a necklace.
The video is a moment of quiet beauty. It shows the wonder of a living world.
Enjoy!
The flow of the world鈥檚 ocean currents [3 minutes] SOURCE: NASA鈥檚 Goddard Space Flight Center
