How Do Ocean Currents Affect The Climate System

A one way trip taking two weeks longer than the other. This was explained with the global ocean conveyor current loops. Global temperatures are rising because of gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and others. Penguin and polar bear population are suffering because of these changes. These changes potentially could stop the ocean currents causing an ice age. Ultimately, this will have an effect on upwelling creating a problem for fish populations. Furthermore, anoxia and sulfide eruptions can have a big toll on the ocean food chain. Mass die off of sea life is becoming more common and unless climate change is stopped they will become more

ocean is made up of different layers of varying densities and chemical compositions. During the

8. What are different ways that earth materials are moved around in the oceans? Surf is a powerful force. It causes erosion and moves sediment from one location to another. Currents are another manner in which materials are transported through the ocean system. There is a longshore current and a beach drift responsible for disturbing and transporting materials.

Global warming has influenced the ocean more than anything else has in the world. The two largest changes happening in the ocean are the rising water levels and the rising temperature. Both of these factors have arrived because of an increase in greenhouse gases and an overall rise in temperature across the globe. The most common greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, comes mainly from the exhaust of cars and trucks. Our actions are affecting the oceans and seas more than ever before.

One effect of global warming is sea level rise. Water expands when it is warmer. Because of the overall temperature increase on Earth, the oceans are expanding and therefore causing the sea levels to rise.

One impact of climate change is rising seas levels. Sea levels will rise because when the Earth heats up, the warmer water expands shrinking shorelines; a process called thermal expansion. In addition, when glaciers melt the problem is twofold, the glaciers will release fresh water into the oceans, submerging low-lying land, threatening dense coastal populations, eroding shorelines, desecrating property, and exterminating ecosystems

Fast occurs in the Pacific and slow in the Atlantic. Furthermore, there are plate boundaries Beneath Continents that sometimes-divergent currents occur beneath continents in which the continent breaks apart, producing a rift valley e.g. the Great African Rift Valley in East Africa. In a rift valley you find lakes and volcanic activity e.g. Mount Kilimanjaro. In time the rift valley will develop into an ocean of its own.

(Stephen A. Nelson, 2011) The formation of coasts depends what kind of material is in the land and the water, the harder the material that is in the land and water, the harder it is to erode. (The Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, 2014) For example, coastlines that are made of granite (a hard, stable rock) will take a very long time to erode matched against a coastline made mainly of clay that will not take as long to erode. Sugarloaf Mountain, which is on the coast of Rio de Janerio, Brazil, is made of granite and quartz and has been a landmark for decades. Whereas in the White Cliffs of Dover, England, are made of Calcium carbonate which is a very soft material that erodes incredibly easily. (BAC Australia, n.d) The energy in the ocean comes from waves that are really big. The larger a wave has, the more energy it has in it and the more sediment (Particles of rock) it will move. The affect where sediment is repositioned in the ocean is called tides. Tides are the rise and fall of the ocean, the water slowly rises up and then slowly falls back down again. Depending on whether the tide is a high tide or low tide, sediment materials can end up far off the

Salt is expelled as the ocean water freezes to form sea ice. This creates dense brine that sinks and flows down the continental

There are several disasters that disturbs the Earth surface. When it comes to powerful force waves, tsunamis got the highest. Most likely tsunamis occur due to earthquakes that alter the ocean floor. Furthermore, the waves increase height by the friction of the sea beds being drag. So, the waves get steeper and steeper, finally, it breakdowns into a surf. In instance, one of the most devastated tsunami happened in Hilo, Hawaii in 1946.

Tidal patterns change, however, due to continents. The water is unable to move freely because the continents block its path.

Thermohaline circulation, often referred to as the ocean 's "conveyor belt", is a worldwide current system in which warmer, fresher water moves along the surface and colder, saltier water moves deep beneath the surface. Deep ocean currents are caused by differences in water density. Colder, saltier water is denser and sinks while warmer, fresher water is less dense and rises. Temperature of seawater is affected by heat from the sun and gets more heat input near the equator than near the poles. Salinity of seawater is affected by many factors including evaporation, precipitation and ice melting. Evaporation increases the salinity of seawater because when seawater evaporates, the

     Now that we are aware that global warming is influencing our world’s oceans, we must look at the affects that it is having. I did not find any positive affects of global warming on the oceans. It is sad to say, but I was left with only the negative. One of the effects that warmer temperatures have on the oceans is that they disrupt the ocean circulation rate (Pearce, 1996). As I previously mentioned, oceans must maintain all of its characteristics properly. Warmer temperatures in the atmosphere affect circulation rates in the oceans. If circulation rates in the oceans are altered, then everything in the oceanic environment becomes changed. The oceanic currents become affected, as well.

Oceans absorb most of the sun’s radiation compared to the atmosphere and land surface. Movement of the heat through local and global ocean currents affect the regulation of weather and temperature conditions. Understanding the essentials of the ocean 's circulation has advanced during the past decades and scientist are able to model and find new data on past climates. Oceans move an extensive amount of heat across the planet in the same amount as the atmosphere. The difference is the oceans are confined by land masses so its heat is channeled into specific regions. Ocean currents are located at the surface and 300 meters deep below the water. Currents are powered by wind, tides, the Earth 's circulations, the sun (solar energy) and water density. These characteristics affect the shape, size, directions and speed of ocean currents.

According to a 2014 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change, the warming of the climate system is unmistakable with unparalleled changes over so many decades. The surface of the ocean has warmed by about 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880. About 70 % of the world’s coastal areas have experienced a significant increase in sea-surface temperature.