Oceans cover about 71 per cent of the Earth. These are not just big pools of salty water, but living systems that control many aspects of our planet, like our climate, and provide us with many resources, like fish. Oceanography is the science of studying the oceans and all their physical features and

inhabitants.

Just as meteorologists measure the air temperature, the relative humidity (amount of water vapour in the air) and the wind (air movement); oceanographers (people that study the sea) measure the sea temperature, the salinity (amount of salt in the sea water), the sea waves and the sea currents. They also study many other features of the sea including the seabed and the creatures that inhabit it.

Oceanography helps us understand many things. For example, it helps us understand the impacts of marine pollution, the effects of overfishing, and the influence of changes in our climate on the oceans and the coasts. It also helps scientists predict sea conditions, so that seafarers know whether it is safe to set sail or not and what hazards expect them along their journey. In this way, many tragedies are avoided!

Oceanographers use many different sophisticated instruments and machines to carry out their studies. The information gathered helps oceanographers monitor changes in the sea because of climate, detect pollution, help search-and-rescue operations at sea and find out so many other interesting and useful things.