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State of The Oceans and Climate

The oceans play a key role in regulating climate through absorbing heat and carbon dioxide. However, absorbing too much heat risks harming biodiversity and absorbing excessive carbon dioxide increases acidification. Warmer oceans also bleach corals and reduce algae, removing food sources for other species. Changes in salinity from evaporation and precipitation impact ocean currents and the water cycle. Disruptions to patterns like El Niño/La Niña due to climate change could increase flooding events like those seen recently in Pakistan.

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Avery Chan
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13 views6 pages

State of The Oceans and Climate

The oceans play a key role in regulating climate through absorbing heat and carbon dioxide. However, absorbing too much heat risks harming biodiversity and absorbing excessive carbon dioxide increases acidification. Warmer oceans also bleach corals and reduce algae, removing food sources for other species. Changes in salinity from evaporation and precipitation impact ocean currents and the water cycle. Disruptions to patterns like El Niño/La Niña due to climate change could increase flooding events like those seen recently in Pakistan.

Uploaded by

Avery Chan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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State of the

Oceans & Climate


Climate
- Heat sink & carbon sink
- Absorb heat and carbon dioxide [caused by climate change]
- Climate regulation
- Transportation of heat from equator to poles; cold water from poles to tropics
- ‘Conveyer belt’
- Currents in ocean stabilises regional temperature, making land habitable
- Concerns:
- Heat absorption too much: affect biodiversity
- CO2 absorption too much → ocean acidification → threaten healths of
marine ecosystems
Biodiversity

- Mangroves → grown in coastal areas with roots in seawater


- Reduce impact of seawater by bringing down water levels and inflow
speed
- Protection
- Concerns:
- Warmer ocean:
- Algae fails to carry out photosynthesis; and can die
- Coral lose food source → turn weak/die
- Coral bleaching
- Unsuitable environment for some fishes
Salt in oceans
- Salinity reflects net exchange of freshwater between oceans and the
atmosphere
- Evaporation: increase salinity; precipitation: decrease salinity
- water sinks due to higher salinity (density), vice versa
- This leads to ocean currents → part of the water cycle

- Salinity change → water cycle changes


- i.e. salinity helps predict climate change
- Concern:
- If too much ice melts, the salinity will decrease, which affects ocean currents
El Nino & La Nina
- Recurring climate patterns: warm and cool phases across the Pacific Ocean
- Natural & irregular occurrence
- El Nino:
- warming of the central & eastern tropical Pacific (e.g. Southern US)
- Wind weaken, or blows from west to east (instead of east to west, the normal
situation)
- La Nina:
- Reverse of El Nino: Sustained cooling of central & eastern tropical Pacific
- Above-average precipitation across the Pacific Northwest's southern and
eastern regions
Flooding in Pakistan
- Normally in Pakistan, there are only 3 - 4 cycles of rain
- But is going through its eighth cycle of monsoon

- Causes:
- Seawater warms → top layer release heat to ocean, lower layers hold onto
heat → thermal expansion → saltwater incursion (movement of saltwater to
freshwater)
- → sea level rise → more floods and rain

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