Presents results of research designed to assess and predict the storm-related hazards of living on the coast. Findings suggest that certain sections of coastline are more vulnerable than others to storm damage. (WB)

Understanding the vagrancies of climate, a vast, complex subject, requires a multidisciplinary approach, focusing on the ocean's effects on the atmosphere and vice versa. (Author/BB)

El Nino is a complex periodic oceanographic event that occurs off the west coast of South America, adversely affecting climate not only in the local area but in other regions of the world. There is evidence that the equatorial regions hold the key to predicting this economically destructive phenomenon. (Author/BB)

Current federal policy towards barrier islands is ambivalent, both favoring and regulating development. Alternate policies are presently being examined by Congress and the Department of Interior. Several of these options are discussed in this article. (WB)

Heat, like money, has its budgets. Income and outgo at the sea surface determines the balance. (Author/BB)

Through the study of ocean temperature anomalies, scientists are trying to determine whether the seas initiate climate change or follow the dictates of the atmosphere. (Author/BB)

Halfway through a five-year experimental program designed to test classical concepts of ocean/atmosphere climate dynamics, researchers are finding that the theories may conflict with new data on disturbances in the ocean thermal structure. (Author BB)

A great many atmospheric and oceanic events are involved in the growth of sea ice, an important but not completely understood influence on the climate system. (Author/BB)

During some ice ages, there has been an increase in the production of cold bottom water, whereas in others there has been a decrease. Researchers are investigating why this has occurred. (Author/BB)

One model of future climate predicts that, after a warm interval of a thousand years or so, the next ice age will peak in 23,000 years. (Author/BB)

The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing at a rate that could cause significant warming of the Earth's climate in the not too distant future. Oceanographers are studying the role of the ocean as a source of carbon dioxide and as a sink for the gas. (Author/BB)