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World Oceans Day 2012

June 8, 2012

On June 8, we join the international community in celebrating World Oceans Day. The ocean is vast (more than two-thirds of Earth’s surface is covered by ocean), deep (it averages more than 2,000 meters in depth), and incredibly difficult to study. Storms, frigid water, perpetual darkness, and crushing pressures are the norm. But learn about it we must. The ocean makes life on Earth possible; it governs the climate, drives the global water cycle, and distributes heat, carbon and nutrients around the world. So even though today is the official day of celebration, in reality every day is Ocean Day.(Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)