Thermal Properties of Water

For many years now, scientists have believed that our climate is changing. This climate change has caused water currents up north, near Antarctica to shift leading to warm waters taking the place of the usual cold arctic waters. Warm water melts the glaciers and causes the top of the glaciers to float off into the sea, allowing the warm water to melt even more glaciers. The extra glacier melting into our sea has caused the sea levels to raise and the

Another factor of ascending sea levels is the increase in temperatures (3). Eissa and Zaki implies that “a considerable number of many species will be threatened with a continuous increase in sea levels to a certain point that the animal or species could become extinct” (The impact of global climatic…” 2). Sea levels are rising at very accelerated rates, and until the water keep rising, they will become very harmful to the human population and many marine organisms. However, increasing temperatures is one of the main factors of climate change. Johansen insists that “the warming of the world’s oceans has not only affected the animals who live above the surface, but also the ones who live below” (“Marine Life…” 1). Increasing temperatures are mostly caused by many human activities such as the release of fossil fuels emissions and greenhouse gases. The two main processes that cause increasing temperatures are Climate Change and the Greenhous effect. These can be very harmful to the marine population and permanently extinct them. According to recent studies, NOAA has discovered that seawater temperatures are increasing by about 0.1 Celsius, and many organisms confronted with this change could be in great danger (NOAA 2). In addition to increasing temperatures and sea levels rising, another factor would be ocean acidification. Global Issues portrays that” ocean acidification is caused by substantial amounts of carbon dioxide which is caused by greenhouse emissions” (Climate

The oceans have been recorded to be rising in surface temperature, which in turn is causing fish to migrate to colder oceans near the poles; this disruption fisheries and other animals who prey on fish. The rise in temperature also can control currents, which caused a 40% increase in tropical storms since the 1950’s. The rise in temperature in our atmosphere has also caused for the melting of the ice caps, which has raised the sea levels almost 6.7 inches in the last century, with some locations on the eastern parts of Canada reading increases as high as 8 inches. These readings are more than double what they were in the previous century. The acidity of oceans is also increasing due to the increase of CO2 in the air. This is doing many things to different ecosystems such as coral reefs. The Great Coral Reef in Australia has lost half of its’ coral over the last 27 years alone. The rise in temperature and carbon dioxide causes the coral to bleach, which makes it weak and allows it to be destroyed very easily by any storms, or other predators. The rise in carbon emissions not only affects land life, but is also destroying our oceans as

While thermal expansion is difficult to observe on a small scale, such as a glass of water, it can have a significant impact on a massive volume of water such as the combined oceans of the world. Melting land ice, the other major factor in the sea-level rise, is a more straightforward issue. As global temperature increases, land-based glaciers and ice will melt sooner and accumulate later. Naturally, this runoff will lead to an increase in the total amount of water in the ocean.

Rising sea levels has two main causes, increased glacier melt and the water itself expanding as it gets warmer known as thermal expansion (U.S.). The increased heat in water that is causing glaciers to melt and the water to expand is largely due to greenhouse gas emissions (U.S.). The dependence on fossil fuels by many countries around the world means that there will be difficulties in reducing continued damage to the atmosphere from greenhouse gasses (“Causes”). Another reason that greenhouse gas emissions have had such negative effect stems from the destruction of forests, particularly those in tropical locations (“Causes”).

Another effect of global warming is evaporating seawater. The temperature rise is forecasted to rise approximately 2.5 to 10 degrees in the next century (Jackson, #5). Since this heat is also warming the surface water of the ocean to above average temperatures, the water is slowly evaporating. Though this may sound like a good thing because sea levels are rising way too high, this is the leading factor of extreme power of hurricanes. As seawater evaporates, the water vapors that are now trapped in the air promote the longevity and size of

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.

Most people know about the properties of water and the role water plays in the systems that affect the globe. However many people do not know the extent to which water systems specifically the oceans, play in the processes of the world like climate and climate change. One example is thermohaline circulation, which is a process by which oxygenated water is circulated around the globe in both deep and shallow water. This circulation system uses the density differences of cold and warm water in order to distribute oxygenated water to all depths of water. Given the importance of thermohaline circulation in the movement of oxygen around the oceans as well as the role it plays in keeping areas of the earth warmer, it is surprising how little people know about it. In an attempt to analyze the potential effects of melting ice caps in the thermohaline circulation, we will look at whether an ice cube melts faster in fresh or saline water. We hypothesize that an ice cube will melt faster in saline water given the fact that the density differences will cause the warm water to be pushed to the surface, thus causing the ice cube to be surrounded by warm water and melt faster. So if the water has a higher saline solution, then an ice cube will melt faster. This hypothesis will be tested by measuring the times it takes an ice cube to melt in

Some environmental services that the oceans provide to the planet is regulations of the Earth’s systems. By having the basins mix across the ocean, it reduces the differences between them and makes the Earth’s ocean a global system. For example, in the North Atlantic Ocean, the wind-driven surface currents go away from the equator to the poles allowing it to cool while it eventually sinks at the high latitudes into the ocean basins which then causes the mixture between them. Since ocean currents carry massive amounts of heat and transfer it all throughout the globe, it allows for the circulation to impact the full effects of climate change in our planet. Carbon and microalgae are also another factor since it exists in all parts of the ocean. For instance, carbon dioxide and organic matter dissolve in

As the ocean has “specific heat capacity thousands times that of air” [Science line 2015] this then in turn means that the air above the water is heated not necessarily to the same temperature but it does rise. Furthermore, this then can being to cause a chain reaction effect with global warming. Firstly let’s put this in perspective imagine that everything is heating up meaning that the water is beginning to heat up as well. Now the water begins to increase the temperature in the air above it, after that the heat within the air is transported all around the world dude to the ocean currents. From here, it is easy to see how global warming effects the whole planet at once. [Science line

As ocean temperatures increase due to global warming they increase ice melt of these ice sheets and glaciers by melting the floating ice from below. If the air temperatures increase then the ice will begin to melt from above, creating pools of melted water that will in turn melt more of the surrounding ice. This may not always result in a problem as it’s expected that ice sheets reduce in size in the summer months but recently what has been found is that less ice is formed during winter so in total the ice sheets and glaciers are being reduced in size, adding more and more fresh water to our

Water takes up a larger percentage of the surface of our Earth than does land. The earth’s oceans are vital aspects to our environment and it is necessary that we take care of them. On another note, global warming is an issue that is having effects on almost all aspects of our environment. Global warming itself means a gradual increase in the temperature of our Earth’s atmosphere over large periods of time. There is evidence that global warming has occurred in the atmosphere, however, now we are beginning to see its effects in the world’s oceans, as well. Though some may not see the connection that it has with the oceans, it has had quite a profound effect on our Earth’s oceans. As I mentioned before, oceans are environments that must

The aim of the experiment is measure the specific heat capacity of water and two metals, aluminum and copper respectively of different conductivity to heat. Heat is a form of energy associated with the motion of atoms or molecules and is capable of being transmitted through solid and fluid media by conduction, through fluid media by convection, and through empty space by radiation. It could also be defined as the transfer of energy from one body to another as a result of the difference in temperature or the change in phase.

Temperature is a major determining factor of global climate patterns. It affects the life cycles of plants and animals, influences weather and tides, and controls the freeze and thaw of the polar ice caps. A small change in average temperature can have powerful effects on the environment worldwide. Salinity helps us understand the health of a water body, and what animal and plant species we expect to find (or not find) there.3 Some animals tolerate changes in salinity well, and are found in both freshwater and salt water (eels, alewives, invasive Chinese Mitten Crabs). Others are healthy only when living within a certain range of salinity (oysters). Oceans are4 the lifeblood of planet Earth and humankind. They flow over nearly three-quarters of our planet, and hold 97% of the planet's water. They produce more than half of the oxygen in the atmosphere, and absorb the most carbon from it.

One of the most serious effects of global warming, as it continues to intensify, is the increase in the ocean levels. Thermal expansion of the ocean and glacial melting are likely to cause a .5 to 1.5 meter rise in the ocean level by the year 2100. As the ocean level rises and if no protection is provided, many freshwater supplies could be jeopardized. Tens and possibly hundreds of millions of