Ocean Temperature's effect on Climate

Here are four factors that control temperature at any given location on earth: 1) latitude, 2) elevation, 3) ratio of land and water, and 4) ocean currents.

The heat equator, the region of highest mean annual temperature, is about 10 degrees north latitude. Thus, the Northern Hemisphere is warmer than the Southern Hemisphere. This is a result of the Antarctic having a higher albedo than the Arctic. The Northern Hemisphere has a greater fraction of land at tropical latitudes, and ocean currents transport more warm water to the Northern Hemisphere. There is an exchange of heat and moisture between the ocean surface and the atmosphere. Because of the difference in heat capacity between water and air, even a small change in surface ocean temperatures could modify atmospheric circulation, which could have far reaching effects on global weather patterns.

Most interactions between the oceans and the atmosphere are not understood. It is known, however, that ocean currents are caused by the wind. Winds blow over the ocean, causing surface water to drift along with them. Moving water piles up, creating pressure gradients within the water. These pressure gradients produce currents that transfer heat from the equator to the poles. As surface water drifts away with the wind, cold nutrient rich water from below rises in a process called upwelling. This also is an example of heat transfer.

The oceans play a major role in the climate system, yet the exact effect they will have on rising levels of carbon dioxide and global warming is uncertain. The oceans are huge storehouses of carbon dioxide. Microscopic plant (phytoplankton) extract carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere during photosynthesis. Warmer ocean temperatures could produce increased numbers of these plants, which could reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This is a negative feedback mechanism.

On the other hand, warmer ocean temperatures could increase the carbon dioxide in the air due to the fact that warmer water cannot dissolve as much carbon dioxide as colder water. This is a positive feedback mechanism.

How Ocean Temperature can Effect Climate

Energy from the sun evaporates large quantities of water from the oceans. This water vapor is then transported by winds to other regions where it condenses into clouds and precipitation.

Precipitation runoff from land surfaces eventually returns to the oceans. This cycle is called the hydrologic cycle. Of the total water vapor content of the atmosphere, 85 percent evaporated from the oceans.

Water has a high capacity for storing energy. It requires a relatively large amount of heat energy to bring about a small temperature change in water. Thus water has a high specific heat. The same can be said about the reverse - water cools slowly as well. The percentage of radiation reflected from a surface is called the albedo. Water surfaces reflect only a small amount of solar energy. An object that reflects very little sunlight absorbs a great deal. Water has a low albedo but high absorption. Because of these unique properties and because oceans cover about 70 percent of the earth, water has a strong modifying effect on weather and climate.

Movie Reflection of The Day After Tomorrow

In this movie Ocean water suddenly began cooling a lot in certain parts of the Atlantic causing unbalances in the Northern Atlantic Current. This caused huge storms which forced Earth into an almost instant ice age. This could not happen because the way it happens in the movie it only took a couple of days for everything to happen, in real life the same thing could happen technically except it would be a much larger time scale like years. This could happen because Global Warming is having a huge impact on the environment of the Earth. It is unlike anything that has ever happened and some people believe that it could become a cause of another ice age. I think that the movie is an extremely accurate depiction of what will happen in the future. The cause of an ice age is not known for sure and I personally think that this movie creates a realistic model for what could happen. Two websites to help you gather information on this topic are http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/greenhouse_data.html
and http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/060524-global-warming.html
This movie relates to my topic because in the movie the first sign of change in the environment was ocean temperatures. Ocean temperatures also had a great effect on the rest of what happened in the movie.

Activity 7

For Activity 7 we had to find Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrogen emission graphs for the Lansing area. The purpose of this activity was to help us determine change in gases in the past years for our area. The cause for doing this assignment is because the amount of gas in our atmosphere has effect on temperature and climate in our atmosphere. This knowledge will help in the future to find data on gas emissions in the area I need to find in information on. It will help me to determine the temperature change and reason for that change in oceans, which is my main issue of concern.

www.noaa.gov

http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/greenhouse_data.html

Activity 6

In activity 6 we drew a digram of the oxygen cycle. The amount of oxygen in the atmosphere compared to other gases helps determine the temperature and temp change. with that knowledge i can determine temperate change in the ocean due to oxygen rate compared to other gases.

Activity 4

In Activity 4 we experimented with how light effected the temperature of a miniature earth. Our model of Earth was made from a 2 liter pop bottle. We had six bottles, two with water, two with sand, and two with soil. One out of every category had paint on the top to simulate clouds to see how clouds would change the effect the light had on the substances temperature. This project tought us how clouds in the air effect how the sunlight change the temperature of the Earth. Therefore, I can now tell that clouds have an impact on the sun rays hitting the Earth and slightly effect how the rate at which the ocean will heat due to sunlight. Knowing this I can more easily determine how ocean temperature will be effected due to sunlight.

http://www.livescience.com/environment/050505_earth_bright.html

http://www.phy6.org/stargaze/Sun1lite.htm

Activity 2

In activity 2 we recorded and observed the weather for 7 days and created graphs out the data. This project helped us better to understand patterns and occurences in weather. It also kept us updated in current weather for our area and helped us to determine what we can expect from upcoming days. Overall this project gave me a better understanding of how weather and temperature can change and apapt to different times of the year or rotation of the eath to the sun. This will help me understand better how ocean temperatures are ultimately determined.

www.weatherchannel.com
www.weatherbug.com