We humans live on the land and have named our planet Earth but as we get to learn more about our home it becomes obvious that the greatest habitable part is in the ocean.
Water in the oceans dictates almost all life and climate on our planet and we only have a very sketchy idea of its make-up. A few obvious things we know are that 70% of the Earth’s surface is ocean, 93% of all the heat from the Sun goes into oceans, it's deepest point is 11,000 metres deep compared to the highest point on land, Everest at 8884 metres.
Water in the oceans dictates almost all life and climate on our planet and we only have a very sketchy idea of its make-up. A few obvious things we know are that 70% of the Earth’s surface is ocean, 93% of all the heat from the Sun goes into oceans, it's deepest point is 11,000 metres deep compared to the highest point on land, Everest at 8884 metres.
The oceans have an average depth of 4.2 kilometres compared to the troposphere of 10 kilometres but we only live in the bottom one kilometre of the atmosphere. In addition water is thicker and heavier than air and is 784 times denser so it could be argued that water has a much greater capacity than air.
As far as life is concerned 93% of all biomass is in the oceans and we get 50% of all the oxygen we need to breathe from the oceans. Most life is in the top 100 metres of the sea, where sunlight penetrates, but the dark deeps hold more life than we expected and we know almost nothing about them.
As far as life is concerned 93% of all biomass is in the oceans and we get 50% of all the oxygen we need to breathe from the oceans. Most life is in the top 100 metres of the sea, where sunlight penetrates, but the dark deeps hold more life than we expected and we know almost nothing about them.
Of all the water on the planet 95.6% is in the oceans and only 2.5% is fresh water. Of the available fresh water 68.7% is locked up in ice, 30.1% is in ground water (aquifers) and 1.2% is surface water available for our use.
There is a minuscule, but very important amount of water in the atmosphere. This is important because the water vapour condenses and makes rain and it is a vital contribution to changing temperature, redistributing heat and of course it is a big factor in our weather. Water vapour is an important greenhouse gas but it is driven by other factors such as temperature as water vapour increases in the atmosphere by 8% for every 1c increase in temperature.
There is a minuscule, but very important amount of water in the atmosphere. This is important because the water vapour condenses and makes rain and it is a vital contribution to changing temperature, redistributing heat and of course it is a big factor in our weather. Water vapour is an important greenhouse gas but it is driven by other factors such as temperature as water vapour increases in the atmosphere by 8% for every 1c increase in temperature.
There is enough water locked up in ice to increase the sea level by 66 metres and, as many of us live near the sea, we only need a one metre sea level rise to flood so much infrastructure that it will bankrupt most economies. When the planet was in the last ice age period the sea levels were 120 metres lower so there is quite a lot of natural movement.
There are important aspects of climate change that are dominated by the oceans. 93% of all the heat from the sun is absorbed by the oceans, 3% goes into melting ice and 3% is absorbed by the earth. Only 1% is taken up by the atmosphere. There is as much heat in the top three metres of the oceans as there is in the whole atmosphere.
There are important aspects of climate change that are dominated by the oceans. 93% of all the heat from the sun is absorbed by the oceans, 3% goes into melting ice and 3% is absorbed by the earth. Only 1% is taken up by the atmosphere. There is as much heat in the top three metres of the oceans as there is in the whole atmosphere.
The oceans contain the thermhohaline circulation currents that are vital to distributing heat around the planet and of course the interaction between the oceans and the atmosphere with clouds and storms that make our weather.
Probably the most important aspect of climate change and the way we are changing the planet is that the oceans are absorbing 25% of the CO2 that is produced by humans, which reduces the greenhouse effect, but it is making the oceans more acidic. Sea water is a saline solution with a pH number of 8.25 and has moved to a more acidic level of 8.14. Although this may not seem much it is a 30% increase in acidity. Marine life is very sensitive to acidity, especially creatures with a calcium carbonate structure such as plankton, the base of the food chain. Information on plankton is sketchy but there is a reported 40% decline in their numbers and their wellbeing is vital to our lives on this planet.
We can understand floods and drought on the land but the big action is in the oceans and it will pay to be alert to ocean acidity and ice sheet loss as they will have devastating effects.
We can understand floods and drought on the land but the big action is in the oceans and it will pay to be alert to ocean acidity and ice sheet loss as they will have devastating effects.
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