Subject Area
Climatology, Meteorology
Emergency Management
Skills
Human activities affect nearly all parts of the ocean. Lost and discarded fishing nets continue to lethally snare fish, seabirds, and marine mammals as they drift. Ships spill oil and garbage; they also transport critters to alien habitats unprepared for their arrival, turning them into invasive species. Mangrove forests are cleared for homes and industry. Our garbage—particularly plastic—chokes the seas, creating vast "garbage patches" such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Fertilizer runoff from farms turns vast swaths of the ocean into dead zones, including a New Jersey-size area in the Gulf of Mexico.
Climate change, the term scientists now use to describe global warming and other trends currently affecting the planet because of high greenhouse gas[1] emissions from humans, is strikingly reflected in the oceans. The year 2018 marked the oceans’ hottest year on record, and warmer waters lead to a range of consequences, from changing colors to rising sea levels to more frequent powerful storms. The greenhouse gas carbon dioxide is also turning ocean waters acidic, and an influx of freshwater from melting glaciers threatens to alter the weather-driving currents: the Atlantic Ocean's currents have slowed by about 15 percent over the past few decades.
Comment(s)
The oceans hold about 321 million cubic miles (1.34 billion cubic kilometers) of water, which is roughly 97 percent of Earth's water supply. Seawater's weight is about 3.5 percent dissolved salt; oceans are also rich in chlorine, magnesium, and calcium. The oceans absorb the sun's heat, transferring it to the atmosphere and distributing it around the world. This conveyor belt of heat drives global weather patterns and helps regulate temperatures on land, acting as a heater in the winter and an air conditioner in the summer.
Its on this premise that I am delighted to do more research in this area of study as further findings on how seas and ocean continue to governs our daily lives.
