Earth's Climate: The Ocean-Atmosphere Interaction, 2004, Wang, Xie, and Carton, ed.s. Satellite-based and in situ monitoring systems and numerical models have greatly increased our understanding of climate variations in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian sectors as well as interactions cross-basin and between the tropics and extratropics. This new volume is the first attempt to provide a global treatment of this important subject. Shown: Book cover.

Recent measurements of global sea level have indicated a rise of in excess of 3.1mm/yr. This rapid rise has raised the question of whether the melting of continental ice has been accelerating. In this study by Carton, Grodsky, and Giese (2005) the authors show that most of the recent rise in sea level is the result of thermal expansion due to decadal variations in the rate of warming of the oceans. Shown: Observed sea level trend (upper panel) and component of sea level trend due to steric (mainly ocean heating) effects.

The subtropical oceans are biological deserts due to the presence of deep thermoclines, low mixing, and thus low food supply. A recent study by Babin, Carton, Dickey, and Wiggert (2004) shows that hurricanes play an important role in the biology of this region by mixing up deep nutrient-rich waters, resulting in a green wake of plant growth. This study recieved a publication award from the JHU Applied Physics Laboratory. Shown: Hurricane Bonnie.

The oceans are known to play a crucial role in our climate. However, their longterm changes haven't been evaluated because of the limited number of observations available until recently. Carton and Giese (2005) address this problem with a new ocean reanalysis called SODA. Shown: # temperature observations with depth (vertical) and time (horizontal) since 1950. The increase in the late-1960s follows the introduction of the XBT.

The tropical Atlantic is subject to strong climate variability due ultimately to the seasonal change in solar declination. However this external forcing induces interactions between the winds and the upper layers of the ocean that dramatically the seasonal climate. Grodsky and Carton (2003) examine one aspect of this interaction which gives rise to intense rainfall in the ocean off Brazil in July. Shown: Winds (vectors), sea surface temperature (colors), and rainfall (grey shading) for July based on three different remote sensing instruments.