Teams participating in yacht races have collected temperature and salinity data on their route for scientific purposes and the private sector is also getting involved.

UNESCO: World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP)

The data collected will be ocean temperature and salinity, crucial factors in both ocean circulation and climate.

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The first Argo floats were deployed in late 1999, and by November 2012, Argo had collected its millionth profile of temperature and salinity, twice the number obtained by research vessels during all of the 20th century. 120, 000 new profiles are collected every year, at the impressive rate of 1 profile approximately every 4 minutes.

UNESCO: World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP)

Liquid Robotics, the US company behind the project, collected data about the Pacific Ocean's temperature, salinity and ecosystem from the drone.

BBC: PacX Wave Glide

The professor said the data he collected showed that hydrocarbon emissions were greatest on days when the temperature was higher than 95.

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"As of a week ago, the ocean surface temperature was a few degrees higher than usual, " Liu said, referring to data collected by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency satellite.

CNN: graphic

The annual average temperature is 54.2 degrees Fahrenheit, and it is ranked the 20th hottest state, according to data collected between 1971 and 2000 by the NOAA National Climatic Data Center.

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