ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

RISE project (oceanography)

Have you ever heard of the ocean? It's the big blue thing that covers most of our Earth! Well, scientists who study the ocean are called oceanographers. They want to learn more about the ocean so they can protect it and help us understand how it affects our planet.

One group of oceanographers is working on a big project called RISE. That stands for "Research on the Impacts of Sunlight and Ecosystems." It's a big name, but it just means they want to study how sunlight affects the ocean and the plants and animals that live there.

To do this, they've put a bunch of fancy equipment in the ocean. They have underwater robots that can swim around and take pictures and measurements. They also have things called buoys, which float on the surface of the ocean and send information back to the scientists on land.

The scientists want to know how sunlight affects things like plankton (tiny plants and animals in the ocean), which are important because they provide food for bigger animals like whales and fish. They also want to know how things like pollution and climate change affect the ocean and its creatures.

So, by studying the ocean and the things that live in it, the scientists working on the RISE project are helping us better understand our planet and how we can take care of it.