Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of seawater generated by a number of forces acting upon the water, including wind, the Coriolis effect, breaking waves, cabbeling, and temperature and salinity differences. [1] Depth contours, shoreline configurations, and interactions with other currents influence a current's direction and ...
Human activities affect marine life and marine habitats through overfishing, habitat loss, the introduction of invasive species, ocean pollution, ocean acidification and ocean warming. These impact marine ecosystems and food webs and may result in consequences as yet unrecognised for the biodiversity and continuation of marine life forms. [3]
An ocean current is a continuous, directed flow of seawater caused by several forces acting upon the water. These include wind, the Coriolis effect, temperature and salinity differences. [15] Ocean currents are primarily horizontal water movements that have different origins such as tides for tidal currents, or wind and waves for surface currents.
Winds drive ocean currents in the upper 100 meters of the ocean's surface. However, ocean currents also flow thousands of meters below the surface. These deep-ocean currents are driven by differences in the water's density, which is controlled by temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline). This process is known as thermohaline circulation.
A crucial system of ocean currents may already be on course to collapse with devastating implications for sea level rise global weather — leading temperatures to plunge dramatically in some ...
This energy could manifest in many different ways, like strong ocean currents, calm seas, or turbulent storms. [60] The Māori have a rich oral history of navigation within the Southern Ocean and Antarctic Ocean and a deep understanding their ice and ocean patterns. A current research project is aimed at consolidating these oral histories. [61]
UNESCO mentions that the report in the first time "notes a growing scientific consensus that melting Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, among other factors, may be slowing important ocean currents at both poles, with potentially dire consequences for a much colder northern Europe and greater sea-level rise along the U.S. East Coast." [143]
Since the early ocean expeditions in oceanography, a major interest was the study of ocean currents and temperature measurements. The tides , the Coriolis effect , changes in direction and strength of wind , salinity, and temperature are the main factors determining ocean currents.