descirbe briefly how a warm climate and water interact
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The oceans influence climate over long and short time-scales. On the longest time-scale of geologic time, the shape and location of the continents helps to determine the oceans' circulation patterns. Since continental plates drift at about 5 cm per year and mountain ranges rise by about 1 mm, it usually takes millions of years for new land formations to change the oceans. Patterns of ocean circulation and up-welling can also change much more rapidly, resulting in climate variations and fluctuations on a human time-scale. Records of global and, in particular, regional climate show periods lasting from years to centuries during which the climate was systematically different from earlier and later periods. Scientists believe that this behaviour is related to changes in the way the oceans store and transport heat, although the precise causes of these changes are not always clear.
The oceans and the atmosphere are tightly linked and together form the most dynamic component of the climate system. Changes in external factors such the sun's energy, the distribution of various plant species, or the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere can alter the temperature and circulation patterns of the atmosphere-ocean system. Because the atmosphere and oceans are turbulent, they can also generate their own internal fluctuations. Short-term fluctuations in wind or temperature (that is, weather) can directly influence the currents and temperature of the underlying ocean, while oceanic fluctuations can magnify, diminish, or modify atmospheric fluctuations.
The oceans play a critical role in storing heat and carbon). When the earth's surface cools or is heated by the sun, the temperature change is greater - and faster - over the land than over the oceans. Because it is a fluid, the ocean diffuses the effects of a temperature change for great distances via vertical mixing and convective movements. The solid land cannot, so the sun's heat penetrates only the thin, upper crust. One consequence of the ocean's ability to absorb more heat is that when an area of ocean becomes warmer or cooler than usual, it takes much longer for that area to revert to "normal" than it would for a land area. This also explains why "maritime" climates tend to be less extreme than "continental" ones, with smaller day-night and winter-summer differences.
The ocean's waters are constantly being moved about by powerful currents. Surface currents are largely wind-driven, although the rotation of the earth, the presence of continents, and the oceans' internal dynamics also have a strong influence. Deep-ocean flow (and, to a lesser extent, surface flow) is driven by density differences produced by heating and cooling and by precipitation and evaporation (cool saline water is denser than warm fresh-water). The behaviour of the atmosphere strongly affects these density differences. For example, clouds can cool the sea by blocking the warming rays of the sun or reduce surface salinity by bringing rain. The wind can influence evaporation rates by blowing more strongly or more weakly.
The oceans and the atmosphere are tightly linked and together form the most dynamic component of the climate system. Changes in external factors such the sun's energy, the distribution of various plant species, or the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere can alter the temperature and circulation patterns of the atmosphere-ocean system. Because the atmosphere and oceans are turbulent, they can also generate their own internal fluctuations. Short-term fluctuations in wind or temperature (that is, weather) can directly influence the currents and temperature of the underlying ocean, while oceanic fluctuations can magnify, diminish, or modify atmospheric fluctuations.
The oceans play a critical role in storing heat and carbon). When the earth's surface cools or is heated by the sun, the temperature change is greater - and faster - over the land than over the oceans. Because it is a fluid, the ocean diffuses the effects of a temperature change for great distances via vertical mixing and convective movements. The solid land cannot, so the sun's heat penetrates only the thin, upper crust. One consequence of the ocean's ability to absorb more heat is that when an area of ocean becomes warmer or cooler than usual, it takes much longer for that area to revert to "normal" than it would for a land area. This also explains why "maritime" climates tend to be less extreme than "continental" ones, with smaller day-night and winter-summer differences.
The ocean's waters are constantly being moved about by powerful currents. Surface currents are largely wind-driven, although the rotation of the earth, the presence of continents, and the oceans' internal dynamics also have a strong influence. Deep-ocean flow (and, to a lesser extent, surface flow) is driven by density differences produced by heating and cooling and by precipitation and evaporation (cool saline water is denser than warm fresh-water). The behaviour of the atmosphere strongly affects these density differences. For example, clouds can cool the sea by blocking the warming rays of the sun or reduce surface salinity by bringing rain. The wind can influence evaporation rates by blowing more strongly or more weakly.
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