Oceans of Climate Change

Greenland and Antarctica are home to most of the world's glacial ice – including its only two ice sheets – making them areas of particular interest to scientists.

A look at how NASA is dealing with the threat of sea level rise to its coastal infrastructure.

Watching Our Oceans

For NASA scientist Severine Fournier, studying our planet knows no borders.

This animation illustrates the evolution of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies (relative to the respective normal state) in the Pacific Ocean associated with the 2015-2016 El Niño.

Sea Surface Height - Global Average from 1993 - 2011.

Launching aboard the joint U.S.-European Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite is NASA’s next instrument that will help improve weather forecasting.

The Jason-3 satellite, launched on January 17, 2016, is allowing scientists to continue a 23-year record of crucial ocean monitoring.

It's hard to "see" sea level rise by just looking at the ocean, but its effects are very real.

The Jason-2 satellite sees something brewing in the Pacific. Researchers say it could be a significant El Niño with implications for global weather and climate.

Fathoming the forces that determine global sea levels can be daunting. We present a guide to the basics of ocean surface topography.

Sea Surface Height 01/2006-04/2010

Karl and Seymour learn how carbon dioxide is formed in this sketch from The Lollygaggers, a global warming sketch comedy.

SSH and SST - Indian Ocean

Earth’s rising seas are some of the most visible signs of our warming planet. Over the last 23 years, NASA satellite missions have observed a steady rise in global sea levels as polar ice sheets me...

On Aug. 26, 2015 at 9:30 a.m. PT, NASA hosted a media teleconference to discuss recent insights on sea level rise and the continuing challenge of predicting how fast and how much sea level will ris...

El Niño is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific. The warmer water associated with El Niño displaces colder water in the upper layer of the ocean caus...

Our World: How High is the Ocean?

After living in coastal Virginia and seeing the effects of climate change firsthand, Ben Hamlington is now researching sea level rise at NASA JPL.

Watch the Jason-3 Mission Briefing from Friday, Jan 15, 2016 - panelists gave an overview of the Jason-3 mission.

Sea Level Isn't Level - Why it matters

Changing conditions in the Pacific have stirred up Earth’s largest ocean and redistributed its heat, piling up warm waters along U.S. Western shores and raising sea level in the process.

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Launch footage

Growing up in landlocked Zimbabwe, NASA JPL engineer Shailen Desai was far from the ocean but still experienced its effects on the climate. Now, he is contributing to an international effort to tra...

Jason-3 Animation