22 Years of Sea Surface Temperatures

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This NOAA visualization on YouTube shows the seasonal variations in sea surface temperatures and ice cover from 1985 to 2007. The visualization is based on data collected by NOAA polar-orbiting satellites. El NiÃ±o and La NiÃ±a are easily identified, as are the trends in decreasing polar sea ice.

Although energy cannot be destroyed, it can be converted to less useful forms—for example, to thermal energy in the surrounding environment.

Current models predict that, although future regional climate changes will be complex and varied, average global temperatures will continue to rise. The outcomes predicted by global climate models strongly depend on the amounts of human-generated greenhouse gases added to the atmosphere each year and by the ways in which these gases are absorbed by the ocean and biosphere.

The amount of energy transfer needed to change the temperature of a matter sample by a given amount depends on the nature of the matter, the size of the sample, and the environment.

Energy is spontaneously transferred out of hotter regions or objects and into colder ones.

The ocean exerts a major influence on weather and climate by absorbing energy from the sun, releasing it over time, and globally redistributing it through ocean currents.

Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be transported from one place to another and transferred between systems.

Energy drives the cycling of matter within and between systems.

The transfer of energy can be tracked as energy flows through a designed or natural system.

Graphs, charts, and images can be used to identify patterns in data.

Patterns in rates of change and other numerical relationships can provide information about natural systems.

Patterns can be used to identify cause-and-effect relationships.

22 Years of Sea Surface Temperatures

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Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts