Question: What do you like most about Oceans
Comments
-
I’ve read that because of the global warming when the northpole melts the golfstream could be stopped, what would cause that for example Europa would get colder
-
Well, indeed is correct that with climate change currents may change their path, or weaken, or strengthen, and this in turn could have strong impact on the climate on land.
For example, it is also because of the Gulf Stream that in Europe we have a much better climate that on the east coast of US, at the same latitude. If the Gulf Stream would change, climate in Europe and in the US could also change, and this would have a lot of consequences for example, as you can imagine, on agricultural production.
So indeed it’s true that any strong change, as for example the melting of the northpole, will bring other changes, although we are not very sure about how our planet will react. We do not have much experience in that! this is the reason why we are studying also the climate of the past (it’s called paleclimatology and paleoceanography) to see how the Earth reacted to changes in the past, and see if we are able to understand which changes will occur in the future.
stefan
Hi Stefan, thanks for the question, right to the point, isn’t it?
Well, I think I have two answers to this, one is more personal, and one is more science-related.
Honestly, I find the Ocean, seas, and all water basins simply extremely beautiful. Have you ever sat on the beach, and just stare at the sea? how it reflects the sun light, or the moon light, and its sounds, and its elegant movements…, the same sea can be the most peaceful thing on Earth, or dangerously stormy, showing Nature’s power at its most. I think maybe what I like most of the Ocean is its ability to surprise and wonder me, everyday, since it never rests. This personal motivation perhaps triggered me to go deeper in Ocean observations, and to become an oceanographer.
On the scientific side, I like to study the Ocean because it plays a crucial role in our climate and life system, and it is fascinating to think that the water in the ocean bounds all human kind together: understanding how the ocean works is thus very important if we want to learn how to take care of our little planet. Moreover, fluid dynamics (the study of the motion of fluids, and thus also of the ocean currents and waves) is on one hand a very challenging field, with still a lot of unanswered questions, and I do like challenges!, but also it is something you can “touch with your hands”. I can do experiments in my lab with water, I can go sailing in the Ocean and measure its currents directly, and this is an aspect I really like of my discipline. I do not think I would be able to study, let’s say particle physics: these particles are tiny, I cannot see them, I just have to believe they are there, I cannot play with them.
Water, on the contrary, is something tangible, that’s why I am really happy to have chosen this branch of physics!
0