Average February sea-surface temperatures during mid-Pliocene

Average February sea-surface temperatures during the mid-Pliocene, derived from the PRISM3_SST_v1.0 dataset (see PRISM Data page). Sea-surface temperature is key to paleoclimate work because it is the temperature at the interface between air and sea—where sea ice forms (which affects Earth’s albedo, or surface reflectivity), where cold upwelling cells or warm surface currents affect the climate of nearby coastal zones, and where wind interacts with the water surface to create such phenomena as El Niño. Sea-surface-temperature maps show scientists how well or how poorly ocean currents distribute heat from the tropics to the poles.