By Dr. Jon Blower

We face an uncertain future. The effects of climate change are becoming increasingly apparent, and the complex and interconnected nature of the climate system makes prediction very difficult.

The importance of the ocean in regulating and influencing the climate is becoming clear. We are now halfway through the UN Ocean Decade, a mission to stimulate and coordinate global efforts in ocean science to support sustainable development and improve ocean health.

While time doesn’t always feel like it’s on our side, we have many reasons to be positive. We are collecting more data about the oceans than ever before, and past investments in long-term ocean observing systems are delivering vital information. This is critical to see how our ocean is behaving and responding to climate change and to create predictive models and understand potential tipping points.

This year, for example, is 50 years since the first Ellett Line was run using a ship to take repeated observations to monitor changes in the properties and circulation of the North Atlantic. Stretching between the Scottish Continental Shelf to Rockall, then to the Iceland Shelf, it was developed into the Ellett Array and is one of the longest deep ocean observing systems in the world.

It’s also 50 years since the start of the Porcupine Abyssal Plain Sustained Observatory, one of the longest running open-ocean observatories in Europe. In addition, last year saw the 20th anniversary of the RAPID array of instruments monitoring the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26° N.

These sustained observations are supplemented by advances in technology, including sensing and autonomy, helping to deepen our insights into critical ocean processes, such as the biological carbon pump. In 2024, for example, one of the U.K. National Oceanography Centre’s (NOC) Autosub Long Range vehicles, carrying a suite of sensors, many developed at NOC, conducted the first country-to-country mission investigating the role of marine life in ocean carbon storage as part of a joint Future Marine Research Infrastructure program and BIO-Carbon mission.

We’re also seeing advances in the use of other platforms, such as satellites, to gather data. Satellite measurements provide global-level data, from sea surface temperature, salinity, and wave height to color (to spot algal blooms) and more.

The data produced by all of these observing systems are crucial to create the climate models we rely on to improve predictions of ocean behavior and climate impacts. With better models, we can better predict and safeguard the sustainability of the ocean.

To do this at scale, it’s critical that science and policy actors make all these data easier to access globally. At NOC, we host the British Oceanographic Data Centre, which plays a leading role in this effort. We are also developing novel approaches for combining and interrogating large and diverse data, including using artificial intelligence.

All of these digital advances will help the global science community extract more value from ocean data. We want to make sure that the best decisions are being made about our ocean and climate, informed by the best data.

To achieve this, NOC is part of a global collaboration that is developing “digital twins” of the ocean, promoted by the UN Ocean Decade, to enable scientists, businesses, and policymakers to test ideas, design solutions, and monitor impacts. This initiative and others will enable society to understand and share knowledge about the changing ocean to improve the future.

Dr. Jon Blower is associate director at the U.K. National Oceanography Centre.