SeaWiFS Project Covering about seventy percent of the Earth's surface, the Oceans are central to the continued existence of life on our planet. The Oceans are where life first appeared on Earth.
Oceans store energy.
When ocean currents change, they cause changes in global weather patterns and can cause droughts, floods, and storms. However our knowledge of our oceans is limited. Ships, coastlines, and islands provide places from which we can observe, sample, and study small portions of Oceans. But we can only look at a very small part of the global ocean this way. We need a better place from which to study oceans.