Perpetual Ocean

About this video

The seas in motion.

Oceans cover approximately seventy percent of the World's surface. Driven by winds that set surface water in motion they help to moderate the Earth's climate through constant circulation.

This beautiful and strange visualisation from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center shows currents on the surface of the world's oceans between June 2005 and December 2007.

Produced using a high-resolution computer model the film reveals the constantly shifting patterns of oceans and sea ice. The variations in shade represent differences in sea floor depth and the white whirlwinds are the ocean eddies that transport heat and carbon deep below the surface.

Studying how currents move on ocean surfaces can help us understand severe weather patterns or track mass pollution as a consequence of oil spills.

(Ht: OpenCulture)