While coastal currents are caused by local winds, surface currents in the open ocean originate from global wind patterns. On the next page, you'll learn about these currents. More Surface Currents Circular wind patterns create five major gyres at the ocean's surface. Photo courtesy NOAA As...
While coastal currents are caused by local winds, surface currents in the open ocean originate from global wind patterns. On the next page, you'll learn about these currents. More Surface Currents Circular wind patterns create five major gyres at the ocean's surface. Photo courtesy NOAA As...
At what latitude are the ocean gyres centered? How many degrees of latitude are there between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn? What hemisphere is the Tropic of Capricorn in? The Equator divides the Earth into which two hemispheres?
Marine plastics picked up by the currents collect in massive ocean “gyres” — the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is now twice the size of Texas. These are swirling petrochemical spills, but unlike crude oil, the long molecular chains in plastics don’t exist in nature and don’t meaningfully...
The patch developed in this area because of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre—one of many oceanic gyres caused by a convergence of ocean currents and wind. As the currents meet, the earth’sCoriolis Effect(the deflection of moving objects caused by the Earth’s rotation) causes the water to...
Thanks to the aesthetically pleasing map, a couple of trends jump out at you. First, large swaths of ocean remain lightning-free. Large bodies of water remain relatively calm because the seas are more resistant to the Sun’s warming touch. Land heats up readily and warms the air above it...
nutrient-rich marine snow essential to the global food chain, but its accumulations in the briny deep represent the Earth’s largest carbon sink and one of the least-understood components of the planet’s carbon cycle. There is also the growing concern overmicroplasticsswirling in ocean ...
The temperatures of the deep-ocean set the ‘general background temperature’ for the Earth during different geological periods. Creating warm and cold climate states. Now we are living in an era of long glacials and short interglacials, our present era is an era within an Ice House Climate...
We throw away billions of utensils every year, and many of them end up in the environment. The BYO cutlery movement could make a dent.