What effect does the ocean have on the climate?

The ocean is one of the main factors that determine the development of the earth's climate. It plays a decisive role in regulating and stabilizing the climate by exchanging energy and materials with the atmosphere and water cycle, and is called the "regulator" of the earth's climate.

The Climate Regulation Function of the Ocean

The climate on the earth is unpredictable, mainly due to the heating conditions of the atmosphere and the amount of water vapor contained in the atmosphere. It is not wrong to say that the heat on the earth comes from the sun. But the premise is that it must act as a "regulator" to influence the temperature of the earth through the ocean and make it change.

Sunlight shines on the earth in the form of short-wave radiation. When it passes through the atmosphere, only a small part of it is directly absorbed by the atmosphere, and most of it shines on the earth's surface, raising the temperature of the earth's surface. When the earth's surface warms, it will emit radiation continuously. This radiation is different from the short-wave radiation of the sun. It does not give off light, but only gives off heat, which belongs to long-wave radiation, also called thermal radiation. This long-wave radiation is easily absorbed by the atmosphere, so the atmospheric temperature rises.

The ocean accounts for 2/3 of the earth's area and is the main supplier of atmospheric heat; At the same time, the heat capacity of seawater is much greater than that of air. When the seawater temperature of 1cm3 decreases 1℃, the air temperature of 3000cm3 increases 1℃. Seawater is a transparent fluid, and sunlight can reach deeper places, so that a fairly thick water layer stores heat. If the global surface seawater with a thickness of 100 m cools 1℃, the released heat can raise the global atmosphere by 60℃. Therefore, a large amount of heat energy accumulated in the ocean for a long time is like a "boiler", which has a certain impact on the weather and climate through energy transfer.

The water vapor in the atmosphere mainly comes from the ocean. When seawater evaporates, it releases a lot of water vapor into the atmosphere. The evaporation of the ocean accounts for about 84% of the total evaporation, and the ocean can convert 3.6 trillion cubic meters of water into steam on average every year. The more water vapor in the air, the lighter and fresher the air will be.

At the same time, the ocean can absorb about 40% of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, reduce the impact of human activities on the environment, and effectively curb global warming.

It is not difficult to see from the above that the ocean is the main supplier of heat and water vapor in the earth's atmosphere. The thermal state and evaporation of the ocean directly affect the content and distribution of heat and water vapor in the atmosphere. So it is no exaggeration to say that the ocean is the "regulator" of the earth's climate.