This animation shows the heating and cooling of the world's oceans over the course of three years. Warm colors (orange, red) indicate warm temperatures; cool colors (blue, purple) indicate cold temperatures. It shows clearly the extremely intense La Nina of 2003-2006, which can be identified by an undulating band of green color around the equatorial region off South America and the extremely warm ... Full description.

This poster (48" x 24") shows sea surface temperatures averaged from June 21-23, 2005. In the oceans, red and orange colors indicate warm water temperatures, while the blue and purple colors indicate cold water temperatures. On land, the green colors indicate vegetation and the browns indicate lack of vegetation. The intense La Nina can be identified by the band of green color near the equatorial ... Full description.

This animation shows the wave propagation from the June 10, 1996 tsunami that formed off of Andreanov Island in the Aleutian Archipelago off Alaska. Hawaii is located near the bottom of the image, Alaska and the Aleutian Islands are near the top of the image, and the west coast of British Columbia and the United States is visible along the right edge of the image. As the animation progresses the waves ... Full description.

Chlorophyll is the chemical compound that plants use to absorb the sun's energy and use it to produce their own food. Phytoplankton are microscopic organisms in the oceans that contain chlorophyll, and through the process of photosynthesis, produce most of the oxygen for the planet. However, some types of phytoplankton are also dangerous to human health because they release toxins. When these types ... Full description.

The El Niņo Southern Oscillation is a climatic cycle that is characterized by reduced easterly winds around the Pacific equator. Without these winds, warm water accumulates off the coast of South America and slowly spreads across the Pacific. Higher than normal temperatures, shown as orange and red in the animation, alter global precipitation, ocean and atmospheric circulation. Full description.

The La Niņa is the climatic antithesis of El Niņo. Whereas El Niņo created equatorial Pacific warming due to weak surface winds, La Niņa arises from very strong easterly winds that promote the upwelling of deep, cold waters to the surface of the ocean. These colder than average waters are visible in the animation as blue and purple colors. Like El Niņo, the La Niņa also alters global precipitations, ... Full description.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's polar-orbiting satellites (POES) have been collecting sea surface temperature data since 1985. This animation is a compilation of all of the data collected from POES from 1985-2006. Red colors indicate warm water, blue equals cold. Look for recurrent features such as the Gulf Stream, El Nino and La Nina, and seasonal changes in heat content. Full description.

This animation shows the global annual temperature anomalies from 1880 to the present. As also shown in the animated graph, the average temperature of the Earth has increased since 1880. Notice the rapid appearance of orange and red over the U.S. in the last 25 years, these are areas where the temperature is much warmer than usual. Full description.