As humans, we are all uniquely connected to the vast, body of water that covers ~70% of Earth’s surface—the  Ocean. Living in Southern California, the Ocean influences everything from our climate, temperature regulation, and economic resources (e.g., beach tourism, agriculture, renewable energy resources). Ultimately, most of everything we do links back to the Ocean.

Increasingly, people are turning to the ocean as a source of food, energy, and other resources making the ocean a focus of local, national, and international political policy debates. Instead of Planet Earth, we might consider calling our home “Planet Ocean.”

What is Oceanography?