So how can the ocean influence climate?
Short time
scales (less than a few years)
The
contrast in the heat capacity of the land and ocean has a profound effect on our climateÕs seasonality and
its response to increasing greenhouse gases.
The
ocean plays a critical role in the El Ni–o phenomenon, a periodic climate oscillation centered in the
equatorial Pacific, and a topic we will come to later on in the course.
Long
time scales (greater than a few years)
Changes
in the global thermohaline circulation, which warms the North Atlantic, can affect temperatures
in that region.
Long-term
changes in sea ice coverage can affect the planetÕs energy balance.
Changes
in ocean ecosystems because of ocean circulation changes probably have a large influence on
climate on time scales of hundreds to thousands of years. Ocean
ecosystems help regulate CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, and hence the greenhouse effect.