How does temperature affect the ocean?

How does temperature affect the ocean?

The ocean absorbs most of the excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions, leading to rising ocean temperatures. Increasing ocean temperatures affect marine species and ecosystems. Rising temperatures cause coral bleaching and the loss of breeding grounds for marine fishes and mammals.

How does the ocean change with depth?

This is due to an increase in hydrostatic pressure, the force per unit area exerted by a liquid on an object. The deeper you go under the sea, the greater the pressure of the water pushing down on you. For every 33 feet (10.06 meters) you go down, the pressure increases by one atmosphere .

What are the factors affecting sea water?

Salinity of seawater is affected by evaporation, precipitation, ice formation, and ice melting. Evaporation increases the salinity of seawater because when seawater evaporates, the salts are left behind, thus increasing their concentration.

What are the two main factors that affect seawater density?

There are two main factors that make ocean water more or less dense: temperature and salinity. Cold, salty water is denser than warm, fresher water and will sink below the less dense layer. Density is defined as the measure of a material’s mass (e.g. grams) divided by its volume (e.g. milliliters).

How does the energy of a deep water wave change?

The energy of a deep-water wave does not touch the bottom in the open water (Fig. 4.18 A). When deep-water waves move into shallow water, they change into breaking waves. When the energy of the waves touches the ocean floor, the water particles drag along the bottom and flatten their orbit (Fig. 4.18 B).

Why is the water in the deep ocean cold?

Therefore, the deep ocean (below about 200 meters depth) is cold, with an average temperature of only 4°C (39°F). Cold water is also more dense, and as a result heavier, than warm water. Colder water sinks below the warm water at the surface, which contributes to the coldness of the deep ocean.

How does sea surface temperature affect the climate?

Because the oceans continuously interact with the atmosphere, sea surface temperature can also have profound effects on global climate.

Is the temperature of the ocean going up or down?

While most parts of the world’s oceans have seen temperature rise, a few areas have actually experienced cooling—for example, parts of the North Atlantic (see Figure 2). Sea surface temperature—the temperature of the water at the ocean surface—is an important physical attribute of the world’s oceans.