Ocean's Impact on Weather and Climate

• The ocean significantly impacts weather and climate
• It absorbs solar energy, releases it gradually, and redistributes it globally through currents.

Key Definitions

• Weather is the daily atmospheric state, including temperature, pressure, humidity, precipitation, and wind.
• Climate is the average weather patterns for a specific region.
• Ocean currents are directional movements of ocean water, including surface currents from steady winds and deep currents from temperature and salinity differences.

Energy from the Sun

• The sun drives weather patterns by the radiant energy absorbed by oceans and the atmosphere.
• Unequal heating and Earth's rotation cause atmospheric and oceanic circulation, determining regional climates.
• Solar radiation drives convection in the atmosphere and oceans, producing winds and currents.
• Convection is heat transfer via rising, hotter, less dense fluids and sinking, cooler, denser fluids.
• Warm air rises, distributing heat, then cools, becomes dense, and sinks, creating wind convection currents.
• Earth's rotation causes wind cells to spin clockwise north of the equator and counterclockwise south of it (Coriolis effect).
• Higher latitudes get less solar energy per area than lower latitudes, causing temperature variations.
• Ocean temperature changes are typically smaller than land temperature changes over the same period.
• Higher elevations generally have lower average temperatures.
• Solar energy reflected or absorbed by surface features affects heat energy transfer.

Water's Heat Absorption

• Water absorbs more heat than land or air, storing large amounts of solar energy, significantly affecting weather and climate.
• Atmospheric temperature changes are more rapid when in contact with land or the ocean, which warms or cool the atmosphere.

Sea and Land Breezes

• Sea breeze: Land heats faster than oceans during the day, causing warm air to rise over land (low pressure) and cool air to sink over oceans (high pressure), which makes winds blow toward the coast.
• Land breeze: Land cools faster at night, causing warm air to rise over oceans and cool air to sink over land, so winds blow away from the coast.

Ocean and Atmosphere Connection

• The ocean and atmosphere transport heat and fresh water globally.
• Wind and ocean currents move warm water toward the poles and cold water toward the equator.
• Most thermal energy on Earth's surface is stored in the ocean, with energy transfer linked to ocean-atmosphere interactions.
• The global ocean conveyor belt circulates planetary currents.

Ocean Currents

• Ocean currents regulate global weather patterns.
• Wind influences ocean circulation, creating currents that move energy from the tropics to the poles.
• The Gulf Stream carries warm surface water from the tropics north along the U.S. East Coast and to Europe.
• Surface winds are not the only drivers for currents; salinity and temperature also matter.
• Deep ocean currents are caused by temperature and salinity differences, which affect water density.
• Warm water is less dense than cold water, and fresh water is less dense than salt water.
• Thermohaline circulation is a major deep ocean current moving energy from the tropics to the poles.
• The Gulf Stream transfers heat to the air and water as it brings warm water north, subsequently becoming colder and denser.

Factors Affecting Weather and Climate

• Weather and climate are influenced by the interactions of the hydrosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere.
• The rotating Earth causes uneven sunlight absorption because it spins on an axis, which is tilted.
• Earth's rotation also results in oceanic and atmospheric flows that curve (Coriolis force).
• Constantly changing atmospheric conditions interact with land, oceans, and living things to create weather and climate patterns.
• The ocean absorbs the most heat due to the high thermal energy transfer causing an impact on weather and climate
• Landforms affect atmospheric and oceanic currents that distribute heat, and can deflect wind due to mountains.
• The location and distribution of ice affect global temperatures, with diminishing ice impacting weather and climate patterns.
• Living things recycle atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide, produce greenhouse gases, and release heat
• The greenhouse effect maintains Earth's surface warmth, with a balance needed to maintain life and avoid extreme temperature alterations.
• Sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, ice, landforms, and living things are all important factors for weather and climate regulation.
• These factors vary with latitude, altitude, and geography, influencing oceanic and atmospheric flow patterns across diverse timescales.

Oceans Regulating Global Climate

• Oceans play a vital role in regulating global climate and weather patterns.
• Warm water evaporation transfers thermal energy to the atmosphere, which causes the rising water molecules to cool and condense to form clouds.
• Increased water vapor raises humidity and temperature in the area.
• Cold ocean water cools the atmosphere, reduces evaporation and humidity.

Hurricanes

• Hurricanes often have a dark spot in the center (the eye of the storm) and violent storms usually form 5 to 15 degrees north or south of the equator.
• Solar radiation warms ocean water, causing rapid evaporation, leading to cloud formation and precipitation.
• Rapid evaporation creates large storms such as hurricanes.
• The combination of the rapid evaporation and rising of water vapor pulls air away from the surface of the ocean water.
• When air is pulled away it leaves an area of low pressure underneath the rising air and causes more air to get pulled into the low-pressure zone.
• Air warms and rises, cooling and condensing to form storm clouds, further lowering surface pressure.
• The system begins to spin as air rushes into the low-pressure area.
• An eye forms in the center as clouds spin faster.
• Hurricanes lose force upon hitting land due to lack of warm ocean air.
• Evaporation is the process of changing from a liquid to a gas.
• Condensation is the process of changing from a gas to a liquid.