Oceans And Climate Change - Essay Example

OCEANS AND CLIMATE CHANGE 21 December OCEANS AND CLIMATE CHANGE Climate change is an important study referring to the distribution of the various patterns of weather across the globe. There are various factors determining the climate of any region. One of them is the Ocean Current. Ocean Current is a constant movement of ocean water, towards a particular direction, and is generated by forces such as wind, salinity, temperature etc. There are many ocean currents; some of them are discussed below. Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream is a strong, narrow, warm, fast moving and swift ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico or North of Grand Bahamas Island, where the Florida Current and the Antilles Current meet and flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The Gulf Stream conveys warm water to the Grand Bank from the southern latitudes, it give rise to several branches and eddies. It makes Western and Northern Europe warmer, as otherwise it would be, by carrying warm water northeast across the Atlantic. Gulf Stream is a western boundary current majorly that is driven by wind stress which exerts a torque on the Ocean; this wind stress is due to constant rotation of the earth. Western boundary currents are normally very warm, deep, and narrow currents that carry water from the tropics to the poles cold deep water is formed in the Northern sea and it flows southward as a western boundary current; the warm water flows northward and replaces it. Due to North Atlantic drift the wind exerts a torque, which causes a large western intensified gyre; it has led to the development of cyclones in the atmosphere and also in the oceans. In addition to that the Gulf Stream is an important source of renewable power generation. Equatorial Current This is the ocean current which is controlled by the winds and flows towards the West near the equator. The consist primarily of two currents which are nearly 600 miles (or 1000 km) in width, described as the North and South Equatorial currents, and are separated by a counter current which flows towards the East and is 300 miles (or 480 km) in width. The equatorial current normally flows at 10 to 40 inches per second and have a depth of less than 1650 feet (or 500 meter). Labrador Current The Labrador Current can be described as a cold current, flowing south from the Arctic Oceans along the coast of Labrador passing from Newfoundland. It continues flowing south and along the eastern coast of Nova Scotia. This current is often referred as a continuation of two currents, the Baffin Island Current and the West Greenland Current. The Labrador Current enters the Grand Banks, which is southeast of Newfoundland, where it mixes up with the warm Gulf Stream. Their combination is the root cause of heavy fogs and has produced one of the richest fishing arenas of the world. Besides, this current is responsible for the transportation of glaciers of Greenland into the trans-Atlantic region, which is heavily used by ships. Great Ocean Conveyor Also known as the Thermohaline Circulation, the Great Ocean Conveyor is the circulation of ocean which is controlled and determined by the differences in temperature and salt content. It is due to this circulation that the sea water at depth is restored and replaced by the surface sea water. Although this entire process is very slow, yet large volumes of water are displaced, becoming a cause of transportation of heat, nutrients and other minerals to long distances. This circulation helps in the moderation of the climate of the coastal areas of Europe. How Oceans Regulate the Climate The warm water of the tropic region is carried into the colder regions through the Ocean Currents. During this travelling, their heat is escaped into the atmosphere. One such example could be the coast of California. The flow along the coast of California helps the cold water to rise from the bottom of the ocean. This is the reason why the beaches along this coast do not have warm water even in the summers. The wind then takes this cool temperature towards the land and as a result the coast of California has a temperature range of about 50-75 degree Fahrenheit throughout the year. Weakening of Ocean Conveyor and its Impacts The Great Ocean Conveyor plays a significant role in controlling the quantity of sea ice in the polar region by providing it with necessary amount of heat. This is a natural process, but due to the issues of increasing global warming and universal pollution, it is expected that this natural system could be disturbed and it might be changed, or weakened. This circulation controls the rate and speed at which the deep waters are exposed on to the surface, and some way or the other it controls the concentration of carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere. It is said that the temperature of Western Europe is primarily controlled and determined by these circulations. The weakening of the Great Ocean Conveyor is an assumed effect of global warming which could lead to cooling in the North Atlantic region. The regions, such as Ireland, Great Britain which are warmed by these circulations are expected to get affected. But it is still unclear to the scientists. "Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal." (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. NASA) Impact of possible Climate Change The climate of the Earth is significantly affected by the Ocean Currents, which are the primary source of transferring the heat to the Polar Regions from the Tropical Regions. Due to the issues of global warming the sudden and unexpected change in climate has started to affect the ocean temperatures. This sudden rise in temperature has resulted in rather quick melting of glaciers in the Arctic Region, which has become a cause of rising sea levels around the globe. It has been calculated that this sudden rise of sea water has eaten up a large area of land already and is expected to cause a huge change in the geographic of continents. "Taken as a whole, the range of published evidence indicates that the net damage costs of climate change are likely to be significant and to increase over time." (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. NASA) This is a severe and threatening issue as it has caused the transfer of nutrients from land, changes in the natural chemistry of the oceans, the food chains, ocean currents and the marine life. All of these cause a severe impact on the breeding cycles and migrations of marine animals and plants, thus causing damage to those who have their lives attached to them for food and earnings. “The slower dynamics of the ocean also means that some changes such as ocean acidification will be irreversible this century.” (Dr Richardson ScienceDaily June 6, 2008) Conclusion The understanding of these oceans currents and their effects help in determining the possible changes to the global climate and their possible impact on the people. “….This understanding is crucial because it allows decision makers to place climate change in the context of other large challenges facing the nation and the world. There are still some uncertainties, and there always will be in understanding a complex system like Earth’s climate. Nevertheless, there is a strong, credible body of evidence, based on multiple lines of research, documenting that climate is changing and that these changes are in large part caused by human activities.” (Advancing the Science of Climate Change. U.S National Research Council) References: James Burroughs, William. 2007. Climate change: a multidisciplinary approach. T. Hardy, John. 2003. Climate change: causes, effects, and solutions. S. Broecker, Wallace. 2010. The great ocean conveyor: discovering the trigger for abrupt climate change. United States Global Change Research Program. 2009. Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States. Cambridge University Press. Read More