As we burn fossil fuels, the amount of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere is gradually rising, and with it, the planet's average temperature. How fast the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide—and with it, the temperature—goes ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 28, 2025
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A vast network of ocean currents nicknamed the "great global ocean conveyor belt" is slowing down. That's a problem because this vital system redistributes heat around the world, influencing both temperatures and rainfall.
Earth Sciences
Nov 18, 2024
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649
The presence of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in all the world's oceans but one has been in steady decline since 2001, when 152 countries agreed on a comprehensive global ban. The exception has been the Arctic Ocean, ...
Environment
Nov 5, 2024
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A group of scientists warned Monday of the greatly underestimated risk of a collapse of ocean currents in the Atlantic which could have catastrophic consequences for the Nordic countries as the region's leaders gathered ...
Environment
Oct 28, 2024
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The warming climate in polar regions may significantly disrupt ocean circulation patterns, a new study indicates. Scientists discovered that in the distant past, growing inflows of freshwater from melting Arctic sea-ice into ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 27, 2024
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770
In Bergen, Maaike Zwier analyzed pollen in sediment cores from lakes on Kerguelen Islands and South Georgia. In this way, she can say something about the local climate going back almost 12,000 years. The study is published ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 15, 2024
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27
A new study sheds light on the vital role that the mixing of Atlantic and Arctic waters plays in sustaining the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which is crucial for regulating Earth's climate.
Environment
Aug 29, 2024
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94
Earth systems could be "tipped" into unstable states if warming overshoots the 1.5°C target, but impacts could be minimized if warming is swiftly reversed.
Earth Sciences
Aug 3, 2024
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As climate change advances, the ocean's overturning circulation is predicted to weaken substantially. With such a slowdown, scientists estimate the ocean will pull down less carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Earth Sciences
Jul 8, 2024
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100
Colossal undersea mountains, towering up to thousands of meters high, stir up deep sea currents: impacting how our ocean stores heat and carbon.
Earth Sciences
Jun 26, 2024
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An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of ocean water generated by the forces acting upon the water, such as the Earth's rotation, wind, temperature, salinity differences and tides caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun. Depth contours, shoreline configurations and interaction with other currents influence a current's direction and strength.
Ocean currents can flow for thousands of kilometers, and together they create the great flow of the global conveyor belt which plays a dominant part in determining the climate of many of the Earth’s regions. Perhaps the most striking example is the Gulf Stream, which makes northwest Europe much more temperate than any other region at the same latitude. Another example is the Hawaiian Islands, where the climate is cooler (sub-tropical) than the tropical latitudes in which they are located, because of the effect of the California Current.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
