As a result of a United Nations General Assembly resolution passed in December 2008, World Oceans Day is now officially recognized by the UN as June 8th each year. The concept for a “World Ocean Day” was first proposed in 1992 by the Government of Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, and it had been unofficially celebrated every year since then. Since 2002, The Ocean Project and the World Ocean Network have helped to promote and coordinate World Oceans Day events worldwide. We help coordinate events and activities with aquariums, zoos, museums, conservation organizations, universities, schools, and businesses. Each year an increasing number of countries and organizations have been marking June 8th as an opportunity to celebrate our world ocean and our personal connection to the sea. Together, we also developed and widely circulated a petition to the United Nations urging them to officially recognize World Oceans Day. With help from our Partner organizations, tens of thousands...

by Chun Knee Tan on July 5, 2008 Keywords: climate systems, drought, El nino, flood, Indian Ocean Dipole, Indonesia, Kenya When a drought occurs in Indonesia, there could be flooding later in Kenya. But what are the linkages between these two disasters? The answer is a phenomenon discovered 10 years ago called Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). During normal conditions in the Indian Ocean, the sea surface temperature is warmer in the east and cooler in the west. When an Indian Ocean Dipole event occurs, the situation is reversed. Cooling of the eastern part of the Indian Ocean results in less convection and less rain. Consequently, we see a longer drought in western Indonesia during the summer and fall. Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the Indian Ocean, the abnormal warming results in enhanced cloud formation, more rain and serious flooding in eastern Africa. Current research has revealed that this IOD effect not only alters weather patterns in the surrounding region, but als...