What effects does the ocean have on the weather and climate?

Question

What effects does the ocean have on the weather and climate?

Answer 1

Tough question as the answer is very in depth, but let me attempt to simplify.  I will base my answer on the Northern Hemisphere and try not to get too technical.

Major ocean currents in the Northern hemisphere flow in a clockwise direction and act as a conveyor belt for the transport of heat.  There currents flow to the south along the west coast of continents, west near the equator, north along the east coast of continents, then east toward the west coast of the opposite continent.

These ocean currents transport a very large amount of potential energy with them.

Currents flowing along the equator toward the east coast of a continent, tend to be warm and very moist.  This produces alot of thunderstorms and rainshowers.  These westward currents are quite warm on the eastern side of the ocean.  One of the terms used for this warm current in the Pacific is El Nino.

Currents flowing northward along the east coast of continents, transport warm water and northward, making the east coast a temperate zone.  

The north west coast of continents in the northern hemisphere is influence by the cold stable and yet quite moist air.  This cool stable air is responsible for the large amounts of rain that western portion of Washington state gets annually.

The southwest coastal region is inflluenced by the southward moving cold currents.  These currents are responsible for the extrme stable conditions and the fog and stratus clouds the dominate the waters off southern California.

That is the quick and simple answer to your question.  Hope the info helps.

Answer 2

Mostly as an equalizer

Answer 3

This is an extremely general question. For places that live very near an ocean it affects weather and climate because of the increased water vapour in the air making it more humid and generally rainier. However, on a global level the ocean current is what drives most of the climate in the world the currents move warm water out from the equator towards the north pole and when it reaches up to about Baffin Island in Canada it starts to cool and when water cools its maximum capacity for salt decreases so the water becomes saltier and more dense and sinks below the incoming warm water and starts flowing back towards the equator but it is so deep that it is not warmed up there and flows back around Austrailia an restarts the cycle. Long story short this is what the first answer was referring to as an equalizer because if this ocean current did not exist then North America would experience much colder and harsher winters and equatorial countries would experience much hotter climates. Check out the movie The Day After Tomorrow for a vague idea of the consequences save the hurricanes.

Answer 4

Ocean currents are rivers of hot or cold water within the ocean.They flow thousands of kilometres and determine the climate of some continents.For example,the warm Gulf stream makes the the north west Europe much more temperate than any other region in the same latitude.Surface ocean currents however are affected by seasons .

Thus, warm currents transport warm water from the tropics towards the poles and are generally driven by winds.Cold,deep-water currents transport cold water from the poles towards the tropics.They are caused by decreases in temperature and increases in salinity,which make water more dense,so it sinks and spreads back towards the equator.So,ocean currents help in thorough mixing of cold waters from the bottom and the poles with the warm waters of the surface and tropics which influences the climate and weather in many ways.