Middle school ocean currents what are their effects. Similar to isobars on a weather map and serve an analogous objective question on computer network pdf purpose. Under historical greenhouse warming, regional ocean currents show diverse tendencies, but whether there is an emerging trend of. The oceans and atmosphere are tightly linked and together form the most dynamic component of the climate system. An important part of the circulation of heat and freshwater and other sea water constituents are ocean surface currents. Unit 2 ocean currents in this unit, you will investigate the forces that drive surface currents in the worlds oceans.
In the 2007 ipcc fourth assessment report summary for policymakers pdf file it states that, based on current model simulations, it is very likely 9099%. Ocean currents have no effect on the climate of landmasses. Climate climate circulation, currents, and oceanatmosphere interaction. Ocean water is on the move, affecting your climate, your local ecosystem, and the seafood that you eat. If not for the ocean currents, the global climate would be similar to an ice age. Localized currents can be observed in the form of rip currents at the beach, or a piece of floating wood meandering in different patterns in a tidal bay or river. Consider, too, that a decrease of only 9f 5c in global average temperatures is the estimated difference between todays climate and an ice age. In grade 10, you learnt about several factors that influence the climate of. Pdf indian ocean circulation and climate variability researchgate. How does the ocean affect climate and weather on land. Teachers, ask your students to create their own story by following the 18 frames in the story board below. Ocean currents transport heat within the biosphere. Ocean currents have a profound influence on climate covering some 71 per cent of the earth and absorbing about twice as much of the suns radiation as the atmosphere or the land surface, the oceans are a major component of the climate system. Climate circulation, currents, and oceanatmosphere.
Mouseover and click the desired area to view the valid global ocean model currents 072 hour forecast data attention ncom regional files with surface temperature and currents are available in grib2 format. Oct 29, 2014 greenhouse gasses may not be the sole culprit behind climate change, as according to a new study ocean currents also play a huge part in regulating our climate. I mean, the climate also contributes to ocean currents. How ocean currents moderate climate teaching resources. Warm and cold ocean currents can affect the climate of coastal regions, but only when local winds blow in from the sea. Without the ocean, our planet would be uninhabitable. Ocean currents flow for great distances, and together, create the global conveyor belt which plays a dominant role in determining the climate of many of the earths regions. Ocean current, stream made up of horizontal and vertical components of the circulation system of ocean waters that is produced by gravity, wind friction, and water density variation in different parts of the ocean. Students will observe a demonstration on how the temperature of water creates water movement. Demonstration and doityourself experiment about how hot and cold currents mix. Climate change caused by ocean currents, new research shows.
Which ocean current transports warm water away from earths equatorial region. A surface current warms or cools the air above it, in. Surface water moved by winds results in ocean currents. Ocean currents, abiotic features of the environment, are continuous and directed movements of ocean water.
The movement of ocean water sections 12 currents and climate. These currents transfer heat from the tropics to the polar regions, influencing local and global climate. Volume 1 of the okeanos explorer education materials collection why do we explore. Cold currents can lower air temperatures and can bring colder temperatures over land. Use your map with the labeled currents of the world to sail around the world. Deepwater circulation changes lead north atlantic climate during. Waters on the move for pretty much the same reason that air is after all theyre both fluids. Reveals how ocean currents transfer heat around the globe using the gulf stream as an example. These waters are the upper 400 meters of the ocean. Climate circulation, currents, and oceanatmosphere interaction.
Use blue pencil for the cold currents and red pencil for warm currents. Dec 18, 2012 lesson 7 ocean currents and global climate. Major coastal upwelling zones exist along the edges of the eastern boundary currents of the pacific and atlantic oceans fig. Climate change is happening now, and the effects can be seen on every continent and in every ocean. How does climate change affect the biodiversity of marine ecosystems. Thus, ocean currents regulate global climate, helping to counteract the uneven. Causes of climate change united states environmental. If the statement is false, rewrite it to make it correct. Ocean currents are similar to winds in the atmosphere in that they transfer. Currents affect climate by moving cold and warm water around the globe. In the following, we provide a brief overview of the random walk model and the construction of the reservoir age curves. Inquiry chart how does solar radiation affect climate. The oceans role in weather and climate noaas national. Visualization of ocean currents and eddies in a high.
These currents are on the oceans surface and in its depths, flowing both locally and globally. Deep ocean currents are densitydriven and differ from surface currents in scale, speed, and energy. More specifically, ocean currents influence the temperature of the regions through which they travel. Is there a relationship between the direction of the ocean current and the coastal climate. Today, ocean currents are also gaining importance due to the possibility of harnessing alternative energy. Largescale, surface ocean currents are driven by global wind systems that are fueled by energy from the sun. Global winds, ocean currents and regional climate patterns. Climate is the pattern of temperature and precipitation typical of an area over a long period of time. Focuses on north pacific ocean climate and fish, especially salmon. Through its transport of heat, carbon, plankton, nutrients, and oxygen around the world, ocean circulation regulates global climate and maintains primary productivity and marine ecosystems, with widespread implications for global fisheries, tourism, and the shipping industry. The circulation of the ocean is a key factor in air temperature distribution. Ocean currents and climate national geographic society.
Some are global factors that affect all parts of earth. This chapter describes the structure and dynamics of wbcs, their roles in basinscale circulation, regional variability, and their influence on atmosphere and climate. Examine ocean salinity and temperature patterns and their. Identify major ocean gyres and their physical properties temperature, speed, and direction. Currents flow in complex patterns affected by wind, the waters salinity and heat content, bottom topography, and the earths rotation. How ocean currents transfer heat from one place to another. This website and its content is subject to our terms and conditions. These materials will help you understand the factors that impact the earths weather and climate, and how changes in temperature or air circulation are part of complex, longterm cycles. Abrazil current bguinea current cfalkland current dcalifornia current 1.
The ocean plays a major role in regulating the weather and climate of the planet. Ocean currents summary students will learn what causes ocean currents and how they play a role in distributing marine debris and pollution around the world. Major ocean currents an ocean current is a large volume of water flowing through the ocean. Surface currents surface currents are caused by the wind and. Ocean circulation, driven by temperature and salin. Ocean currents that have a northward or southward component, such as the warm gulf stream in the north atlantic or the cold peru humboldt current off south america, effectively exchange heat between low and high latitudes. This animation helps to convey the importance of earths oceanic processes as one component of earths interrelated systems. Ocean currents and climate study guide ocean water the ocean water never stands still. Now, thats the only quick notes you need to learn the flow pattern of ocean currents. Ocean current is the directed movement of the ocean water by virtue of the forces like wind, earths rotation, gravitation of the moon etc. These waters make up about 10% of all the water in the ocean. This makes them one of the most important driving forces of climate. Ocean currents and climate read earth science ck12.
Visualization of ocean currents and eddies in a highresolution global oceanclimate model francesca samsel, mark petersen, gregory abram, terece l. Swimming at the beach near rip currents can be very dangerous. It can negatively and positively affect the climate. World map of average ocean currents solid lines are warm currents and dashed lines are cold currents. To understand the effects of winds on ocean currents, one first needs to understand the coriolis force and the ekman spiral. In order to be used by ocean animals, solar energy must first be absorbed by algae and phytoplankton. But for a long time, discussions of climate change did not take the oceans fully into account, simply because very little was known about them.
Tes global ltd is registered in england company no 02017289 with its registered office at 26 red lion square london wc1r 4hq. Objectives students will watch an internet video on ocean currents and. Currents affect climate ocean currents have a huge impact on our weather. Tidal currents are the only type of currents that change regularly and can be easily predicted. Climate change has the potential to disrupt ocean currents and thus the oceanic redistribution of heat, which may impact on regional climates. The ocean covers more than 70 percent of the earths surface. Ocean currents and climate american institute of physics. These currents influence the climate by transporting heat. Pdf the united states is an ocean nationour past, present, and future are inextricably connected to. They provide highlevel policy advice designed for use by policymakers at.
Jinyi yu equatorial current system the equatorial counter current, which flows towards the east, is a partial return of water carried westward by the north and south equatorial currents. Patterns of heating and cooling results in ocean currents. Searchable bibliography on climate change and living organisms and ecosystems from. The overall goal for this lesson is for students to learn more about the effect of ocean currents on climate change and determine if the possibility exists that rising atmosphere and ocean temperatures might trigger a massive melt down of the greenland ice sheet which in turn may stall the great ocean. Deep ocean currents are densitydriven and differ from surface currents in. Current a current is a large stream of moving water that flows through oceans carry water all over. Feb 08, 2016 new studies show ocean currents are weakening, could lead to more extreme climate mach nbc news duration. Ocean currents act much like a conveyor belt, transporting warm water and precipitation from the equator toward the poles and cold water from the poles back to the tropics. While certain effects of climate change can be beneficial, particularly in the short term, current and future effects of climate change pose considerable risks to peoples health and welfare, and the environment. The ocean currents from the coast affects how the air will be on land.
In particular, these marine biodiversity hot spots have undergone local to regional increasing water temperatures, slowing current circulation. Because they respond extremely slowly to changes, the effects of global warming will gradually become noticeable but over a period of centuries. Strong, persistent currents along the western boundaries of the worlds major ocean basins are called western boundary currents wbcs. Pdf in recent years, the indian ocean io has been discovered to have a much larger impact on climate variability than previously thought. The site includes comprehensive essays on ocean currents, the forces that influence them, the impacts currents have on the earths climate and biological diversity, methods used to measure ocean currents, and profiles of researchers that work in fields involving ocean currents. The gulf stream and north atlantic current modify the climate of northwestern europe by making the. Tcss earth systems unit 5 climate and weather information.
Can you think of another factor that would affect currents near coasts. Ocean currents flow for great distances, and together, create the global conveyor belt which plays a dominant role in determining the climate of many of the earth s regions. The symbols are to help locate the cities on the world map. On our watery planet the climate is governed largely by the oceans. Although 40 percent of earths population lives within, or near coastal regions the ocean impacts people everywhere. Ocean and atmospheric circulation play an essential role in sustaining life by moderating climate over much of earths surface. Jinyi yu equatorial under current the most prominent of all eastward flows is the equatorial undercurrent. With the above points, you can find the nature of almost all currents. Pdf ocean and marine resources in a changing climate. Ocean currents map pdf knowledge of ocean currents can be used in cruise planning to reduce transit times. This activity is used to discover how the atmosphere can be divided into layers based on temperature changes at different heights, by making a graph. Correlate current direction and speed with global winds. Tcss earth systems climate and weather unit information graphing layers of the atmosphere. On a map, students will locate and draw the major gyres and ocean currents that have an effect on canadas climate.
The oceans waters are constantly being moved about by powerful currents. Climate change and the great barrier reef nccarfs evidencebased policy information briefs address key challenges to effective adaptation to australias variable and changing climate. A climate region is an area with similar temperature and rainfall. Yes, the direction of the ocean current and the costal climate do have a relationship. Arica, chile along the peru current trondhiem, norway along the norwegian current tokyo, japan along the kuroshio current map of major ocean currents 1800 1500 1200 900 600 300 300 600 900 1200.
Each of the following diagrams is a pdf file which depicts the general ocean circulation andor tidal currents in their respective areas. Prediction of io climate variability is still at the experimental stage, with varied success. As climate change warms the global ocean, it changes patterns of currents and gyres and thus heat redistribution in such a way that there will be a fundamental change in the climate regime as we know it, and possibly a powerful loss of global climate stability. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Earths rotation results in the coriolis effect which also influences ocean currents.
Obtain maps of sea surface temperature sst and ocean surface winds from the live access server. This area is where coupled sea surface temperature and atmospheric variations drive the overall global atmospheric circulation pattern. It is a significant pacific and the atlantic ocean current that flows from east to west. Ocean currents are like rivers that move within the ocean. Awarmer and drier bwarmer and more humid ccooler and drier dcooler and more humid 2. Prevailing winds, ocean surface currents, and the associated mixing influence the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the ocean, as well as global climate. The thermohaline circulation is a pattern of ocean currents driven by density differences. Explore the idea of what causes ocean currents by comparing how water behaves. Climate impacts on global hot spots of marine biodiversity ncbi.
What i think it negatively affects the climate and the animals that live in it. Circle the letter of each sentence that is true about ocean currents. Anticipated effects of climate change on coastal upwelling. How they move influences climate and living conditions for plants and animals, even on land. Fast facts climate change leading to increases in ocean temperatures, evaporation of seawater, and glacial and sea ice melting could create an influx of warm freshwater onto the ocean surface. Currents like the gulf stream were only minor actors in the story. This indicates how strong in your memory this concept is. Surface currents caused by wind warmer currents deep currents caused by density differences colder currents. Convection occurs because the oceanic waters heat up becoming less dense. Ocean currents flow for great distances, and together, create the global conveyor belt which plays a dominant role in determining the climate of many of. Identify the major ocean currents around africa and the influence on climate control over africa.
Ocean currents result from two processes the action of the wind on the surface of the water, and from variation in water temperature that causes movement a process known as convection. Pdf today, ocean currents are also gaining importance due to the possibility of harnessing alternative energy. Eastern boundary currents are often associated with what process. Cool, more dense water from the poles moves in deep ocean currents toward the equator and a convective movement is created. Ocean motions currents and climate shelby county schools. The great ocean currents the climate engine ocean currents transport enormous amounts of heat around the world. Africas climate regions key concepts you must know, or be able to do the following. Because the ocean water is dense, it carries enormous amount of energy that could possibly be captured and converted into a usable form through the use of turbine generators. Surface ocean currents, which occur on the open ocean, are driven by a complex global wind system. Climate factors are the conditions that affect the climate characteristics of a particular location.
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