To mark World Ocean Day and in connection with the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC), the Office for Climate Education (OCE) presents a series of four articles to explore the theme “Ocean and Climate” in the classroom. After exploring thermal regulation, the ocean’s role as a heat sink, and carbon sequestration, this fourth and final article focuses on marine biodiversity and the multiple interactions between the ocean and human societies in the context of climate change.

To mark World Ocean Day and in connection with the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC), the Office for Climate Education (OCE) presents a series of four articles to explore the theme “Ocean and Climate” in the classroom. After analyzing the regulatory role of the ocean and its ability to store heat, this third article focuses on another essential function of the ocean in the climate system: its role as a carbon sink. This valuable mechanism helps mitigate climate change but also leads to harmful effects on marine ecosystems.

To mark World Ocean Day and in connection with the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC), the Office for Climate Education (OCE) presents a series of four articles to explore the theme “Ocean and Climate” in the classroom. After discovering in the first article the regulatory role of the ocean through ocean circulation, stratification, and the El Niño phenomenon, this second article focuses on the ocean as a heat sink—a fundamental mechanism to understand the planet’s thermal balance and anticipate the effects of climate change.

To mark World Ocean Day and in connection with the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC), the Office for Climate Education (OCE) presents a series of four articles to explore the theme “Ocean and Climate” in the classroom. This first article explores the ocean’s regulatory role through three key mechanisms: ocean circulation, stratification, and the El Niño phenomenon. These are essential concepts to introduce to students in order to understand the major climate balances.

When discussing climate change, two terms often come up: climate scenarios and climate projections. But what exactly sets them apart? Are scientists predicting the future, or are they modeling possible outcomes?