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.