Thermohaline circulation is how ocean water move around the world by density gradient. This mechanism is influenced by temperature and salinity (salt content).
What is salinity? How salinity is different among the sea? How this impact climate change?
Don't worry, Cute Furball is coming to rescue!
Consider this experiment
There is a frozen salt water in the fridge. After 20 minutes, the ice cold start to melt a little bit. You pull a small portion into a small cup (A). After 1 hour, all the ice has melt down, you pull another portion into another cup (B). Cup A is more salty than cup B.
Why? Because in cup A has less water but more salt (the water still store in the ice). While in cup B, the ice have all melt down, leaving the cup with more water and salt.
Cup A: is represent the water in the Poles (cold and salty)
Cup B: represent water at the equator (warm and more mixed with molecules)
Remember what we learn from Chemistry?
Cold and salty-->higher density--> Sink
Warm and less salty-->lower density-->Rise.
This is how thermohaline circulation work.
Thermohaline circulation is important to climate change because it is the absorption mechanism that controls the amount of carbon dioxide in the ocean. The more carbon dioxide absorb into the ocean, the warmer the sea temperature. Increasing temperature is not the only changes that global warming bring to the ocean floor, but it is also the increasing ocean acidification which we will further discuss in the next section.
Got it? Ready for round 2? The global warming and changes in thermohaline circulation?
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