Why oceans are important to Arizona

Life systems on Earth are complex and interconnected in sometimes surprising ways. With every breath we take and drop we drink, life in Arizona is connected to the ocean.

“We are so dependent on climate cycles that are happening in the Pacific,” says Susanne Neuer, an oceanographer and founding director of ASU’s School of Ocean Futures. “Our storms bring water from the Pacific that has evaporated there. Next time you get drenched in the rain, just think about how this is all water that originally came from the Pacific. In summer, we get the monsoons from the Gulf of Mexico and Gulf of California. Life in the desert, and the supply of water, are really dependent on the ocean.”

More than that, the entire globe depends on the ocean in some way or another. That’s why ASU’s School of Ocean Futures is critical to the overall mission of the Global Futures Laboratory, which aims to ensure a habitable planet and a future in which well-being is attainable for all.