OS Research

More Than a Rain Gauge: When Salt Starts Steering the Sea

Lisan Yu July 30, 2026

Simplified representation; see Figure 1.

Posted in: Ocean Sciences | Reviews & Perspectives | Ocean Science Jubilee Special Issue We usually think of ocean salinity as the ocean’s rain gauge. Rain, rivers, and melting ice freshen the surface; evaporation leaves it saltier. Seen from space, these changing patterns reveal how Earth’s water cycle is evolving, with wet regions generally becoming fresher and dry regions saltier as the cli ...[Read More]

Can the Ocean Explain Why Climate Models Struggle with the Indian Monsoon?

Sankar Prasad Lahiri July 9, 2026

Figure 1 Schematic illustration of the Indian Summer Monsoon circulation. During boreal summer, southwesterly winds (blue arrows) originating near the Mascarene High in the southern Indian Ocean travel across the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal toward the Indian subcontinent. Along their path, the winds acquire moisture from the ocean before producing widespread rainfall over South Asia. Image created with the assistance of ChatGPT-5.

Few climate phenomena affect as many people as the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM). Between June and September, it delivers most of the annual rainfall over the Indian subcontinent, supporting agriculture, water resources, and livelihoods for more than a billion people. Yet predicting how the monsoon will respond to climate change remains a major scientific challenge because it is shaped by complex in ...[Read More]

Meet Tillys Petit, EGU Ocean Sciences’ 2026 Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award Winner!

Maurie Keppens May 5, 2026

On Monday 4 May, Tillys Petit delivered the OS Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award Lecture at EGU 2026 in Vienna. We chatted with her about the hidden engines driving the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, and why that matters for the future of our climate. Spoiler: it’s not just about the Labrador Sea! 🌊 Can you share your career journey with us? Did you always dream ...[Read More]

Beyond wind speed: what really controls air-sea gas exchange?

Yuanxu Dong April 23, 2026

Fig. 1 Limited fetch and elevated surfactant concentrations suppressed the CO2 transfer velocity by ~30% in the central Baltic Sea during the CenBASE cruise. Although illustrated here for CO2, the processes are broadly applicable to other greenhouse gases. Figure created with the assistance of ChatGPT 5.

When we think about what drives air-sea gas exchange (such as CO2), wind usually gets all the credit. Strong winds stir the surface, enhance turbulence, and speed up gas transfer. But a new study in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics shows there is more to the story: CO2 exchange does not just follow the wind, it is also directly affected by surface conditions (Fig. 1). Using the eddy covariance te ...[Read More]