Acoustic Tomography of the Ocean Climate Project.

Ocean acoustic tomography (OAT) is a tool developed by Carl Wunsch to get a synoptic view of ocean processes. Acoutic Tomography of the Ocean Climate (ATOC) Project began in 1990 when Scripps Institution of Oceanography geophysicist Walter Munk calculated that underwater sounds originating at Heard Island in the South Polar Sea could be heard half way around the world in the North Atlantic and, in the other direction, in the northwest Pacific. He planned to send sound signals over several years on these and other paths and thereby get precise measurements of changes in world ocean temperature. This hard data would offer conclusive evidence on the issue of global warming and,in the shorter term, climate change.

The project was approved. However, marine biologists questioned the effects of noise on marine mammals. ATOC responded by adding biologists to the project and studying noise in the sea. A series of public hearings were held to discuss the project at research sites including Monterey and Kauai. The media became interested in the controversy, and the project was discontinued by its funders.

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