Ocean Currents

There may another explanation for the unusual weather for the regions we are passing through, which would be the disruption of ocean currents.

We have already discussed the need for energy transfer. The transfer of energy throughout the oceans occurs in the cycle of thermohaline circulation (Adam-Carr, 8.8).

The causes and drive behind this circulation process are the distinctions in the density of seawater – distinctions caused by differences in temperature and salinity. Much like an immense conveyor belt, this process transports warm water on the surface of the sea from the southern hemisphere to a gradual path toward the North Pole (“Ocean Circulation”). As the water travels, it acquires greater amounts of salt and becomes denser (Adam-Carr, 8.8). Then, somewhere in between Greenland and Norway, the water’s temperature drops, the water sinks into the depths of the sea, and commences a flow back to the southern hemisphere (Adam-Carr, 8.8). Warm surface water around the Equator then again travels toward the poles to replace it (“Ocean Circulation”).

Thermohaline circulation is comprised of every ocean current driven by variances in temperature and salinity of the seawater. Ocean currents strongly affect the climates of the land in near proximity, as warm ocean currents heat the overlying air and cold ocean currents cool the overlying air (Adam-Carr, 8.8).

This movement of circulation brings a massive amount of heat northward, and has an essential factor in upholding and sustaining the climate in its current, regular state.

                                                                                   

Scientists have proposed that climate change processes could very well be leading to a wane in this transfer of energy throughout the oceans. Higher temperatures driven by global warming could likely result in additional fresh water in the northern North Atlantic. This would be arrived at through the increase of precipitation and the melting of sea ice in close proximity, mountain glaciers, and the Greenland ice sheet (“Ocean Circulation”). This substantial entry of fresh water could diminish the salinity and density on the surface, resulting in the thermohaline circulation shutting down. In the event of the thermohaline circulation shutting down, the southern hemisphere would warm up and the northern hemisphere would turn colder.

An abundance of regions would undergo an abrupt, noteworthy shift in their climates, which one would have difficulty in adjusting to. Camper’s crew has already experienced difficulty in adjusting.

Works Cited

"Ocean Circulation." Center for Ocean Solutions. Center for Ocean Solutions, n.d. Web. 27 May 2012.

Adam-Carr, Christine. "8.8: Energy Transfer within the Climate System: Air and Ocean Circulation." Science Perspectives 10. Toronto: Nelson Education, 2010. Print.