The Oceans

There is transfer of momentum through the ocean surface winds, which in turn mobilize global surface ocean currents. These currents were present in the latitudinal transfer of heat, which performs similarly to the atmosphere. The warm waters move toward the poles and vice versa. The energy is transferred through evaporation. The water that evaporates from the ocean surface latent heat storage which is then released when the vapor condenses into clouds and precipitation.

Ocean surface temperature variation from the norm (FMOC Home Page)

The significance of the oceans that store much more energy to the atmosphere. This is due to the higher heat capacity (4.2 times that of the atmosphere) and its highest density (1000 times greater). The vertical structure of the oceans can be divided into two layers, which differ in their level of interaction with the atmosphere. The bottom layer, which involves the deep cold waters and commits 80% of the ocean volume. The top layer, which is in intimate contact with the atmosphere, is the seasonal boundary layer, mixing a volume that extends only to 100 m. deep in the tropics, but it reaches several miles into the polar waters. This single layer stores 30 times more energy than the atmosphere. In this way, given a change of heat content in the ocean will change at least 30 times higher in the atmosphere. Therefore small changes in the energy content of the oceans can have a significant impact on global climate and clearly on the global temperature (GCCIP, 1997).

The energy exchange also occurs vertically between the Border layer and deep waters. The salt contained in sea water remains dissolved in it at the time of forming the ice at the poles, it increases the salinity of the ocean. These cold water and salt are particularly dense and sink, carrying them in considerable amounts of energy. To maintain balance in the flow of water masses there is a global thermohaline circulation, which plays an important role in regulating global climate (GCCIP, 1997).

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