Download Ocean and Climate Name

Ocean and Climate
Name: ____________________________________________________ Period: ____ Date: _________
Essential Question: How does the ocean affect the climate?
One way the ocean affects the climate in places like Europe is by carrying heat to the north in the Atlantic Ocean.
Way up north, cold water in the North Atlantic ocean sinks very deep and spreads out all around the world. The
sinking water is replaced by warm water near the surface that moves to the north. Scientists call this the Great
Ocean Conveyor Belt. The heat carried north from near the equator helps keep the Atlantic Ocean warmer in the
winter time, which prevents too cold winter. Without this heat from the water near the equator, the winter in
Europe would be a lot colder! The "great ocean conveyor belt" refers to the major ocean currents that move warm
water from the equator to the poles and cold water from the poles back toward the equator.
Does the salt in the ocean do anything?
Fresh water has lower salinity (saltiness) than estuary water, where the
ocean water mixes with river water. The ocean itself is most salty of all.
The amount of salt in the ocean water also affects currents. Saltier water is
heavier than less salty water. When salty ocean water freezes, the ice can no
longer hold on to the salt. Instead, the salt mixes with the water below
making it saltier and heavier.
The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt carries warmer, less salty water from the
equator to the poles, and colder, saltier water from the poles back toward
the equator. Colder water and very salty water are heavier than warmer water and less salty water.
The water in the North Atlantic sinks because it's cold, but also because it's salty. Being both cold and salty makes
it really heavy, so it can sink very far. But if too much ice melts in the North Atlantic because of greenhouse gases
and consequent global warming, the water could become less salty. If that happens, the Ocean Conveyor Belt
might stop warming the North Atlantic. Europe will get really cold? Some scientists say it seems unlikely, but NASA
satellites are keeping a close eye on the melting ice and the ocean currents to try to understand this complicated
system better.
Since the late 1960s, much of the North Atlantic Ocean has become less salty, in part due to increases in fresh
water runoff induced by global warming, scientists say. Now for the first time researchers have quantified this
fresh water influx, allowing them to predict the long-term effects on a "conveyor belt" of ocean currents. Because
water with lower salinity is less dense, adding fresh water may affect ocean flows like the conveyor belt – a system
of Atlantic currents that exchanges cold water in the Arctic region for warm water from the tropics.
A study last year concluded that an altered Great Ocean Conveyor Belt could actually plunge the planet into a
global cooling event.
Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane causes global warming that melts the polar ice caps and
results to the alteration of the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt and climate change.
http://www.livescience.com/3883-global-warming-sea-salty.html http://climatekids.nasa.gov/ocean/
Clarifying Question:
1.
What is the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt?
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
2.
The "great ocean conveyor belt" refers to the major _____________________that move warm water
from the ____________ to the poles and cold water from the _____________back toward the equator.
3.
Arrange the following from the saltiest to the least salty ( ocean, estuary, lake)
______________________________________________________________________________________
What happens when saltwater freezes?
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt carries _____________________water from the _____________ to the
poles, and _____________________from the poles back toward the equator. Colder water and very salty
water are ____________________________________ water and less salty water.
Why do the water in the North Atlantic sink?
______________________________________________________________________________________
Why is the ice in the North melting?
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
What would happen if the ocean water becomes less salty?
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
Why is NASA keeping an eye on the melting ice?
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
What happened since the late 1960s?
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
What would eventually happen when the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt is altered?
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
Study the chart on the front page and identify where the warm water of the ocean is rising from.
______________________________________________________________________________________
What are examples of greenhouse gases?
______________________________________________________________________________________
How can greenhouse gases result to climate change?
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.