What are the Seven Seas? - NOAA's National Ocean Service
Jun 16, 2024 · The Seven Seas include the Arctic, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Indian, and Southern oceans. The exact origin of the phrase 'Seven Seas' is uncertain, although there are references in ancient literature that date back thousands of years.
How many oceans are there? - NOAA's National Ocean Service
Jun 16, 2024 · Historically, there are four named oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic. However, most countries - including the United States - now recognize the Southern (Antarctic) as the fifth ocean.
What's the difference between an ocean and a sea? - NOAA's …
Jun 16, 2024 · What's the difference between an ocean and a sea? In terms of geography, seas are smaller than oceans and are usually located where the land and ocean meet. Typically, seas are partially enclosed by land.
Why should we care about the ocean? - NOAA's National Ocean …
The world ocean provides so many benefits. Here are nine things the ocean does for humans and the planet: Climate regulation: Covering 70 percent of the Earth's surface, the ocean transports heat from the equator to the poles, regulating our climate and weather patterns.
Is sea level the same all across the ocean? - NOAA's National …
Is sea level the same all across the ocean? The sea level varies around the globe . Understanding trends in sea level, as well as the relationship between global and local sea level, provides critical information about the impacts of the Earth's climate on our ocean and atmosphere.
Is sea level rising? - NOAA's National Ocean Service
Sea level rise at specific locations may be more or less than the global average due to many local factors: subsidence, upstream flood control, erosion, regional ocean currents, variations in land height, and whether the land is still rebounding from the compressive weight of Ice Age glaciers.
Why do we have an ocean? - NOAA's National Ocean Service
Jun 16, 2024 · Over vast periods of time, our primitive ocean formed. Water remained a gas until the Earth cooled below 212 degrees Fahrenheit . At this time, about 3.8 billion years ago, the water condensed into rain which filled the basins that we now know as our world ocean.
Ocean Facts - NOAA's National Ocean Service
The National Ocean Service (NOS) translates science, tools, and services into action, to address threats to coastal areas such as climate change, population growth, port congestion, and contaminants in the environment, all working towards healthy coasts and healthy economies.
Why is the ocean salty, but rivers flowing into it are not?
Jun 16, 2024 · Throughout the world, rivers carry an estimated four billion tons of dissolved salts to the ocean annually. About the same tonnage of salt from ocean water probably is deposited as sediment on the ocean bottom and thus, yearly gains may offset yearly losses.
Where is all of the Earth's water? - NOAA's National Ocean Service
Jun 16, 2024 · The ocean holds about 97 percent of the Earth's water; the remaining three percent is found in glaciers and ice, below the ground, in rivers and lakes. Of the world's total water supply of about 332 million cubic miles of water, about 97 percent is found in the ocean.