A new and still controversial theory suggests that phytoplankton, by excreting the chemical dimethylsulfide into the air, is a major source of these crucial particles. If the oceans should warm slightly, some researchers suggest, evaporation would increase, phytoplankton would grow faster and more particles would be produced. This, in turn, would lead to more clouds. With a heavier cloud cover, more of the sun's energy would be reflected back into space, and global temperatures would start back down. As researchers discover the increasing importance of the oceans in long-term climate change, they are also finding new evidence that oceans drive natural cycles of climate that come and go every few years.
Enormous storms generated by the warm surface water accompany the eastbound water.
Torrential rains hit South America, and the warm water shuts off the normal upwelling of nutrients for phytoplankton along the coast, devastating fisheries. Then, the warm waters retreat westward again. Complex interactions between sea surface temperatures, the depth of the layer of warm surface water and changing winds drive the cycle. The first 18 are already in place, measuring air temperature, wind speed and sea temperatures to a depth of 1,600 feet and beaming the results to a satellite passing overhead. The data are available to researchers within 4 hours.