Measuring sea temperatures is critical in predicting hurricanes and global warming, according to American metrologist Frank Kheil.

Twice a year, the retired weatherman voluntarily boards the Bermuda cargo vessel Oleander from Port Elizabeth, in New Jersey, to sail back to the Island to measure and record the Atlantic Ocean temperatures for the US National Weather Service.

"I take the temperature of the ocean starting from Ambrose Light in New Jersey all the way out to 250 nautical miles," he told The Royal Gazette.

"I take temperature readings once per hour while on board the ship. I've been doing this on Bermuda Container Line ships since 1985.

"I was on the original Oleander which is now called the Hibiscus, but I started doing this on this ship in 1992 and I make two trips a year, but the National Weather Service has other volunteers who do this too."

He uses a probe linked to a computer to help measure the temperature. The probe is thrown into the sea and will take three to four minutes to reach the ocean bottom.

Asked how measuring the sea temperature is relevant to forecasting, he explained: "It's all a part of the world climate control.

"This measures the salinity of the water — they do this all over the world and they put all the data into a massive computer and they can tell if the oceans are warming or cooling. It's done by many ships.

"The Oleander has been very good in having volunteers on board for all these years. This is very important to weather forecasting and global conditions."

Mr. Kheil, who lives in Massachusetts with his wife, started in the Navy by joining what was then called the Weather Bureau.

From 1961 to 1973, he spent 12 years on ocean weather ships, mostly in the North Atlantic and Labrador Sea area.

Before volunteering for the National Weather Service (NWS), which is apart of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), he was a metrologist with the NWS.

"We did make a few trips into Bermuda once in a while," he points out while noting he's been travelling to Bermuda off and on since the 1960s.

He continued: "Then when I finished with the weather ships I became a meteorologist on land at different airports such as in Buffalo, New York and in Providence, Rhode Island.

"I ended my career in Massachusetts about 13 years ago, then I became a volunteer for National Marine Fisheries which is also apart of NOAA."

Mr. Kheil has a special office on the ship's bridge where he analyses the readings he takes. The data is sent back to NOAA instantly, via an onboard satellite link.

He said: "All this data is sent back to the oceanographers and scientists back on land via satellite and they compile the data in a large computer and compare it to previous runs to see if there has been any change in ocean conditions."

Some people believe global warming does not exist and the subject of climate change is often viewed differently in political circles.

But Mr. Kheil believes more research needs to be done on the issue. "My opinion is that I'm not entirely convinced what global warming is being caused by, that's why all these studies are being done.

"But climate change in my estimation should be based on centuries rather than a couple of years, so it's probably a political thing, there are pros and cons on both sides of it.

"I'm sure there is a lot we can do to prevent polluting the atmosphere, I agree with that, but I'm not sure that every change in temperature is due to global warming."

Asked what people can do to reduce polluting the atmosphere, he said: "My personal preference is to depend less on oil and using more wind and solar power to heat your homes and even using solar-power cars.

"Basically, we must try to get off of the oil standard and start using wind turbines — I think that is the way to go. That would save a lot of oil and prevent a lot of polluting of the atmosphere."