Oceans and climate change - Essay Example

However, these changes are not taking place uniformly. In fact, the poles have already experienced the greatest warming, and are expected to continue to warm more intensely as compared to other areas. This has resulted to loss of ice in the arctic regions. Consequently, this has resulted to increase of ocean volume and thus affecting the entire planet. The ocean has experienced an increase in temperatures due to climate change and this has affected the already existing conditions of the living things negatively.

On the other hand, El Niño and La Nina have contributed to changes in the oceans. The ocean is an essential aspect of understanding how climate change is affecting the planet. This is due to frequent fluctuation of the climate from cold to warm weather. This paper seeks to focus on the effects of climate changes and how this will affects or has affected the oceans and the people. Firstly, it is essential to note that about 71% of the land surface is covered with the oceans (New England Aquarium 1).

These include Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Southern oceans. An ocean acts as the planet largest heat absorber (New England Aquarium 1). This means that as the ocean absorb, store and deliver large quantities of heat, the ocean buffer the climate of the planet (New England Aquarium 1). This means the change in the ocean has irreversible outcomes in future. The first impact of climate change on the ocean is the increase in the oceans levels. This is due to warming of water that in turn results to increased water volume.

This is commonly known as thermal expansion. This expansion and warm temperature have resulted to sea rise due to extra water generated from the melting glaciers. Moreover, increased melting has been reported at the ice caps in Greenland and west Antarctica (New England Aquarium 1). This is projected to change one to two feet by 2100 (New England Aquarium 1). The