On the top is the Illustration of major ocean currents throughout the globe. Ocean currents act as conveyor belts of warm and cold water, sending heat toward the polar regions and helping tropical areas cool off. The world’s ocean is crucial to heating the planet. While land areas and the atmosphere absorb some sunlight, the majority of the sun’s radiation is absorbed by the ocean. Particularly in the tropical waters around the equator, the ocean acts as a massive, heat-retaining solar panel. Earth’s atmosphere also plays a part in this process, helping to retain heat that would otherwise quickly radiate into space after sunset. The ocean doesn't just store solar radiation; it also helps to distribute heat around the globe through the global ocean current. When water molecules are heated, they exchange freely with the air in a process called evaporation, this results in the water cycle. Ocean water is constantly evaporating, increasing the temperature and humidity of the surrounding air to form rain and storms that are then carried by trade winds, often vast distances. In fact, almost all rain that falls on land starts off in the ocean. The tropics are particularly rainy because of high heat absorption, and thus ocean evaporation, is highest in this area. Outside of Earth’s equatorial areas, weather patterns are driven largely by ocean currents. Ocean Currents are movements of ocean water in a continuous flow, created largely by surface winds but also partly by temperature and salinity gradients, Earth’s rotation, and tides (rising water due the gravitational effects of the sun and moon). Major current systems typically flow clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the southern hemisphere, in circular patterns that often trace the coastlines. 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. Thus, ocean currents regulate global climate, helping to counteract the uneven distribution of solar radiation reaching Earth’s surface. Without currents, regional temperatures would be more extreme—super hot at the equator and frigid toward the poles—and much less of Earth’s land would be habitable.

Clarifying Questions: Answer in complete sentence. Use a different font color for answers.

1. Explain the meaning of “conveyor belt” in the second sentence. Think!
2. How do the oceans cool the tropical areas?
3. Why are the world oceans crucial to heating and warming the planet?
4. Why do the tropical waters absorb more heat than the polar waters? Think!
5. Aside from the oceans, what else retains the heat on Earth?
6. What do you think will happen on Earth’s temperature if we do not have the oceans? Clue! The beach sand is very hot on a sunny day but the wind is cool.
7. How do the oceans distribute heat around the globe?
8. What happens to water molecules when they are heated?
9. Water that rises into the air turns into clouds through the process of .
10. Rain storms are usually carried by winds.
11. Why do tropical areas receive more rain?
12. What are ocean currents?
13. What are the factors that create ocean currents?
14. What are tides?
15. What is the direction of the ocean current in the northern hemisphere?
16. What is the direction of the ocean current in the southern hemisphere?
17. How do the ocean currents regulate the global climate?
18. What will happen if there are no ocean currents?
19. What are the four factors that influence the weather?

1. A conveyor belt or a conveyor is a continuously moving strip of rubber or metal which is used in factories for moving objects along so that they can be dealt with as quickly as possible.

2. Ocean currents act as conveyor belts of warm and cold water, sending heat toward the polar regions and helping tropical areas cool off, thus influencing both weather and climate. ... When water molecules are heated, they exchange freely with the air in a process called evaporation.

3. The seas now absorb much of human-generated carbon dioxide, which then affects temperature change. The oceans store 93 percent of that energy which helps keep the planet livable by moderating temperatures.

4. The temperature of ocean water varies by location – both in terms of latitude and depth, due to variations in solar radiation and the physical properties of water.

5. The greenhouse effect causes the atmosphere to retain heat

Greenhouse gases like water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), and methane (CH4) absorb energy, slowing or preventing the loss of heat to space. In this way, GHGs act like a blanket, making Earth warmer than it would otherwise be.

6. So we go through the summer/winter cycle, and that has a big impact on the ocean temperatures. So, obviously, the sun heats the water. ... When the wind pipes up, it stirs the ocean, and it moves temperatures that are either very cold near the bottom up to the surface, or warm temperatures, it'll mix them down.

7. The ocean doesn't just store solar radiation; it also helps to distribute heat around the globe. ... 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.

8. A decrease in temperature caused the water molecules to lose energy and slow down, which results in water molecules that are closer together and a decrease in water volume. When water is heated, it expands, or increases in volume. When water increases in volume, it becomes less dense.

9. Evaporation and the Water Cycle

It is the invisible process of evaporation that changes liquid and frozen water into water-vapor gas, which then floats up into the skies to become clouds.

10. Winds bring changing weather conditions, such as clear, sunny skies or torrential MONSOON rain. Strong winds can bring storms and hurricanes.

11. These high clouds trap heat in the atmosphere, which helps to balance the sun's incoming energy with Earth's outgoing heat energy. With fewer heat-trapping clouds around, the air above the tropics is expected to cool, and cooler air means more unstable air, and hence, more rain.

12. An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of sea water generated by a number of forces acting upon the water, including wind, the Coriolis effect, breaking waves, cabbeling, and temperature and salinity differences.

13. Image result for What are the factors that create ocean currents?

Ocean currents can be caused by wind, density differences in water masses caused by temperature and salinity variations, gravity, and events such as earthquakes or storms.

14. Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun, and the rotation of the Earth. Tide tables can be used for any given locale to find the predicted times and amplitude.

15. The earth rotates on its axis from west to east. This rotation causes both the wind and ocean currents to move from east to west. Thus, the wind movement and ocean currents in the northern hemisphere goes clockwise and counterclockwise in the southern hemisphere.

16. Surface ocean currents form large circular patterns called gyres. Gyres flow clockwise in Northern Hemisphere oceans and counterclockwise in Southern Hemisphere oceans because of the Coriolis Effect.

17. 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. Thus, ocean currents regulate global climate, helping to counteract the uneven distribution of solar radiation reaching Earth's surface.

18. Oxygen in water

Oceanic currents help particles and plankton move around the ocean for other animals to feed on. ... The flow of the water circulates the oxygen to animals, if currents stop then many plants would begin to die, causing a lack of oxygen to the sea creatures.

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19. Although many factors combine to influence weather, the four main ones are solar radiation, the amount of which changes with Earth's tilt, orbital distance from the sun and latitude, temperature, air pressure and the abundance of water.

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