What's the role of ocean in global warming?

Question

Don't tell me there's not such thing as global warming, i'm asking this for my homework...

So, i know the ocean has something to do with global warming but i don't know what it is. And how does global warming causes hurricanes and storms and drought? Please answer me ASAP, thanx.

Answer 1

Trust me, im a Marine Scientist and I can tell you without a doubt that global warming is real. It is a natural event of the earth. Its happened in the past and its happening now. The difference is is that its happening a lot faster thanks to a certain specie on this planet. Its a very complex issue and theres no simple answer, but stick with me :)

Oceans affect climate in many ways. As the major reservoir of water, oceans dominate the movement of water, supplying most of the water vapour in the atmosphere by evaporation. Of this evaporated water, 91 percent is returned to the oceans as precipitation, the remainder is transported and precipitated over landmasses. Runoff and groundwater from land flow back to the oceans.

The oceans and the atmosphere are tightly linked, and together form the most dynamic component of the earth’s climate system. They bring moisture to coastal areas that may be carried inland by the wind. Typhoons and hurricanes form over the oceans, and as oceans get warmer these will be more frequent.

As oceans get warmer more water gets evaported through precipitation. These are how storms and formed. The water in the atmosphere the more storms and hurricanes get fromed because all that water and energy has to come back down some how.

Oceans store heat. When the earth’s surface cools or is heated up by the sun, the temperature change is greater and faster over land than over the oceans. One consequence of the ocean’s ability to absorb more heat is that it cools the surrounding area when it is hot and warms it when it is cold.

Water vapour which is basically water that gets evaportated and put into the atmosphere is actually a greenhouse gas meaning that it helps trap heat from the sun and doesnt allow it to escape back into space. Its a deadly cycle, as the oceans get warmer mor water vapour is produced heating the oceans even more and so on and so on.

The carbon cycle plays a very big part in this also. The global carbon cycle involves the flow of carbon between the major carbon reservoirs: the atmosphere, the oceans, the vegetation and soils of terrestrial ecosystems, and fossil fuels deposits. Huge amounts of carbon are stored in the oceans (especially the deep oceans), in the fossil fuels reserves, and the soils, compared with what’s in the atmosphere. There is no return for the fossil fuels to balance the outflow, at least not over timescales shorter than millions of years, which means that the carbon released into the atmosphere cannot be reabsorbed by the oceans.  

Alot of sceptics say that its fine... we can pump out as much CO2 as we like, the oceans will absorb it. While its true that oceans do absorb CO2 they do not hold on to it forever. Eventually the oceans will relese the stored CO2 back into the atmosphere.

The oceans are the wild card in the climate system and the greatest unknown. Alot of people don't associate climate change with the oceans, but hopefully I have given you a bit of an idea the enormous role they play.

Sorry this is so long, but its a very big issue and can be very complex to explain in a short period of time.

Answer 2

In theory, global warming causes an increased amount of evaporation on the ocean's surface, releasing more H2O vapor into the atmosphere, which  can act as a greenhouse gas.  Additionally, as the temperature of a body of water rises, gases become less soluble in it, so the ocean will release more CO2 and O2 into the atmosphere.  Co2 is a greenhouse gas.  Global warming is thought to change weather patterns because of its supposed effect on the earth's temperature.

Answer 3

Bob's right:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19...

Answer 4

Plankton in the  ocean capture a huge amount of CO2.  Growing more plankton might be useful in reducing global warming.

The ocean is relatively dark, and heats up even more than the land.

When the ocean heats up, it necessarily releases CO2 (warm liquids don't hold as much gas as cold liquids) which makes global warming worse.  (This is why, in past natural warming, CO2 goes up after temperature does).

Global warming may or may not cause more storms.  No one knows.  But, since storms get their energy from heat, it surely makes storms more violent.

Answer 5

Water when cold absorbs Carbon and when hot releases it ,

the Oceans are part of that