The data collected will be ocean temperature and salinity, crucial factors in both ocean circulation and climate.

BBC: Cyber-sailors to survey oceans

It is not a consequence of higher air temperatures, but from changes in ocean circulation caused by atmospheric forcing.

BBC: Antarctic ice volume measured

This Ocean forecasting system could generate crucial forecast information, such as ocean circulation, sea surface temperature, wave height, to serve the needs of a variety of human activities related to marine hazards mitigation, oil and gas exploration, fisheries, navigation, marine parks management and coastal recreational activities.

UNESCO: All Events | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

The data enable climate models to include accurate representations of ocean currents and circulation.

UNESCO: Building the Wealth of Nations

Melting glaciers point to another fear: disruption to the ocean's overturning circulation.

ECONOMIST: The science

This has allowed scientists to retrieve information about the Arctic Ocean region's gravity field, its surface circulation, and the thickness of its sea-ice cover.

BBC: Cryosat spots Arctic sea-ice loss in autumn

In the ocean, most of the movement of heat and salt, the real Thermohaline Circulation, is driven directly and indirectly by the wind field.

ECONOMIST: On climate change, Bretton Woods, the Pope's speech | The