How Do the Oceans Affect Global Climate?
Just like the oceans affect weather patterns, they play a major role in the Earth’s climate system. The oceans have tremendous thermal and dynamical inertia, which can slow and dampen the rate of climate change. The upper ten feet (3 meters) of the ocean holds as much heat as the entire atmosphere. The moderating effect of ocean temperature reduces the daily and annual range of coastal temperatures, and results in a lag of the global summer and winter seasonal temperatures extremes by several weeks behind the annual track of the sun. For the considerably longer periods decades to millennia which are relevant for climate change, the significantly larger heat capacity of the deep ocean is important. Ocean currents and mixing by winds and waves can transport and redistribute heat to deeper ocean layers. It can reside in this deep reservoir for centuries, further stabilizing the Earth s climate and slowing the effects of climate change. The ocean stores and transports not only heat but als
