algae: Single-celled organisms, once considered plants (they aren’t). As aquatic organisms, they grow in water. Like green plants, they depend on sunlight to make their food.
Atlantic: One of the world’s five oceans, it is second in size only to the Pacific. It separates Europe and Africa to the east from North and South America to the west.
atmosphere: The envelope of gases surrounding Earth, another planet or a moon.
average: (in science) A term for the arithmetic mean, which is the sum of a group of numbers that is then divided by the size of the group.
biologist: A scientist involved in the study of living things.
bleach: A dilute form of the liquid, sodium hypochlorite, that is used around the home to lighten and brighten fabrics, to remove stains or to kill germs. It also can mean to lighten something permanently, such as: Being in constant sunlight bleached most of the rich coloring out of the window drapes.
buoy: A floating device anchored to the bottom of a body of water. A buoy may mark channels, warn of dangers or carry instruments to measure the environment.
Caribbean: The name of a sea that runs from the Atlantic Ocean in the East to Mexico and Central American nations in the West, and from the southern coasts of Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico down to the northern coasts of Venezuela and Brazil. The term is also used to refer to the culture of nations that border on or are islands in the sea.
climate: The weather conditions that typically exist in one area, in general, or over a long period.
climate change: Long-term, significant change in the climate of Earth. It can happen naturally or in response to human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forests.
cold-blooded: Adjective for an animal whose body temperature varies with that of its environment.
conservation: The act of preserving or protecting something. The focus of this work can range from art objects to endangered species and other aspects of the natural environment.
coral: Marine animals that often produce a hard and stony exoskeleton and tend to live on reefs (the exoskeletons of dead ancestor corals).
core: Something — usually round-shaped — in the center of an object.
debris: Scattered fragments, typically of trash or of something that has been destroyed. Space debris, for instance, includes the wreckage of defunct satellites and spacecraft.
El Niño: Extended periods when the surface water around the equator in the eastern and central Pacific warms. Scientists declare the arrival of an El Niño when that water warms by at least 0.4 degree Celsius (0.72 degree Fahrenheit) above average for five or more months in a row. El Niños can bring heavy rainfall and flooding to the West Coast of South America. Meanwhile, Australia and Southeast Asia may face a drought and high risk of wildfires. In North America, scientists have linked the arrival of El Niños to unusual weather events — including ice storms, droughts and mudslides.
ENSO: (short for El Niño-Southern Oscillation) A natural cycle of changing temperatures in the ocean and atmosphere, near the equator in the Pacific Ocean. During ENSO events, atmospheric pressure also changes in affected areas. (see also El Niño)
factor: Something that plays a role in a particular condition or event; a contributor.
federal: Of or related to a country’s national government (not to any state or local government within that nation). For instance, the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health are both agencies of the U.S. federal government.
fertilize: (in biology) The merging of a male and a female reproductive cell (egg and sperm) to set in create a new, independent organism. (in agriculture and horticulture) To provide basic chemical nutrients for growth.
heat index: How hot a region feels to the human body after taking into account the humidity at the time. If the humidity is so high that it limits sweating, the body will feel excessively hot and in some circumstances may face a risk of death.
host: (in biology and medicine) The organism (or environment) in which some other thing resides. Humans may be a temporary host for food-poisoning germs or other infective agents. (v.) The act of providing a home or environment for something. A website, for instance, could host photos, news or other types of information.
humidity: A measure of the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. (Air with a lot of water vapor in it is known as humid.)
key: (geography) A relatively tiny, low-lying island. Remains of ancient coral reefs, keys initially formed through the accumulation of coral. Many keys sit near or rise above healthy reef ecosystems.
literally: An adjective indicating that the phrase it modifies is precisely true. For instance, to say: “It’s so cold that I’m literally dying,” means that this person actually expects to soon be dead, the result of getting too cold.
manatee: A plant-eating marine mammal that lives, in the western hemisphere, primarily in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea
marine: Having to do with the ocean world or environment.
mean: One of several measures of the “average size” of a data set. Most commonly used is the arithmetic mean, obtained by adding the data and dividing by the number of data points.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: (or NOAA) A science agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Initially established in 1807 under another name (The Survey of the Coast), this agency focuses on understanding and preserving ocean resources, including fisheries, protecting marine mammals (from seals to whales), studying the seafloor and probing the upper atmosphere.
oceanographer: Someone who works in the branch of science that deals with the physical and biological properties and phenomena of the oceans.
organism: Any living thing, from elephants and plants to bacteria and other types of single-celled life.
oxygen: A gas that makes up about 21 percent of Earth’s atmosphere. All animals and many microorganisms need oxygen to fuel their growth (and metabolism).
Pacific: The largest of the world’s five oceans. It separates Asia and Australia to the west from North and South America to the east.
physical: (adj.) A term for things that exist in the real world, as opposed to in memories or the imagination. It can also refer to properties of materials that are due to their size and non-chemical interactions (such as when one block slams with force into another).
range: The full extent or distribution of something. For instance, a plant or animal’s range is the area over which it naturally exists.
reef: A ridge of rock, coral or sand. It rises up from the seafloor and may come to just above or just under the water’s surface.
sea: An ocean (or region that is part of an ocean). Unlike lakes and streams, seawater — or ocean water — is salty.
sediment: Material (such as stones and sand) deposited by water, wind or glaciers.
spawn: (in biology) To release or fertilize eggs in an aquatic environment.
species: A group of similar organisms capable of producing offspring that can survive and reproduce.
sperm: A reproductive cell that contains half of the genetic information necessary to form a complete organism. In humans and in many other animals, testes produce sperm. When a sperm fuses with an egg, the two combine to produce a new cell, called a zygote. This is the first step in the development of a new organism.”
sponge: (in biology) A primitive aquatic animal with a soft, porous body.
symbiont: (n. symbiosis) One of two species that live in close contact, so that this species can take advantage of the substantial help it will now get from the other species.
system: A network of parts that together work to achieve some function. For instance, the blood, vessels and heart are primary components of the human body’s circulatory system. Similarly, trains, platforms, tracks, roadway signals and overpasses are among the potential components of a nation’s railway system. System can even be applied to the processes or ideas that are part of some method or ordered set of procedures for getting a task done.
tissue: Made of cells, it is any of the distinct types of materials that make up animals, plants or fungi. Cells within a tissue work as a unit to perform a particular function in living organisms. Different organs of the human body, for instance, often are made from many different types of tissues.
warm-blooded: Adjective for animals (chiefly mammals and birds) that maintain a constant body temperature, typically above that of their surroundings. Scientists generally prefer the term endothermic to describe animals that generate heat to control their body’s temperature.
zooxanthellae: Certain photosynthetic algae that live in most reef-building corals. These algae provide both food and color to the corals. The corals protect the algae. Meanwhile, the algae feed their host, provide oxygen and help the corals get rid of their wastes. This mutual support by unrelated species is known as mutualism.