Ocean's role in climate
4 Ocean’s role in climate
4. 1 General introduction to ocean physics 4.2 Ocean current 4.3 Air-sea interaction 4.4 Climatic influence 4.5 Thermohaline circulation
4.1 General introduction to ocean physics 4.2 Ocean current 4.3 Air-sea interaction 4.4 Climatic influence 4.5 Thermohaline circulation
Global water reservoirs and fluxes Atmosphere 16 Evapo Precipitation Evaporation Precipitation transpiration.5 Sv 13.5Sy 12.2Sv 2.2sv Land Rivers Oceans 1.3Sv 59000 ,400000 Reservoirs in 103 km3, Fluxes in 106 m3/s(=Sv) Estimates of the global water storage in oceanic, terrestrial, and atmospheric reservoirs and the fluxes among them, after Baumgartner and Reuchel(1975)
The water molecule has a number of unusual properties One of these is that it has a very high heat capacity. Heat capacity is the amount of heat that must be put into one gram of a material in order to raise its temperature by one degree Celsius. Similarly. we might think of it as the amount of heat that escapes from one gram of a material when it cools by one degree Celsius. As its name implies the heat capacity is a measure of the ability of a material to store heat energy when its temperature is raised and to release that same amount of heat energy when it cools
The water molecule has a number of unusual properties. One of these is that it has a very high heat capacity. Heat capacity is the amount of heat that must be put into one gram of a material in order to raise its temperature by one degree Celsius. Similarly, we might think of it as the amount of heat that escapes from one gram of a material when it cools by one degree Celsius. As its name implies, the heat capacity is a measure of the ability of a material to store heat energy when its temperature is raised and to release that same amount of heat energy when it cools
Because of its high heat capacity, the water in the world oceans is an enormous reservoir for thermal energy. It serves to temper world climate, absorbing heat from the Sun in the tropics and redistributing it to more northerly regions via the great ocean currents. For this reason, the Gulf Stream is able to bring its warmth thousands of kilometers from the tropics to the European shores before cooling to the temperatures of Arctic waters
Because of its high heat capacity, the water in the world oceans is an enormous reservoir for thermal energy. It serves to temper world climate, absorbing heat from the Sun in the tropics and redistributing it to more northerly regions via the great ocean currents. For this reason, the Gulf Stream is able to bring its warmth thousands of kilometers from the tropics to the European shores before cooling to the temperatures of Arctic waters