THE HEARD ISLAND FEASIBILITY TEST

The release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is associated with temperature changes in both the atmosphere and the oceans. The oceans play a vital role in global temperature changes, storing both heat and greenhouse gases. Without the oceans the atmosphere would warm at two to three times greater a rate, other factors remaining equal. To understand and predict global warming, then, it is important to measure, rather than just speculate on, changes in the heat content of the ocean. An expedition in the southern Indian Ocean demonstrated that coded underwater acoustic signals can be received worldwideand serve as a method for measuring global ocean warming. © 1992, American Institute of Physics. All rights reserved.