The Sea Warming

        Oceans play a fundamental role in mitigating climate change by acting as a major heat and carbon sink. The oceans also support the facade of climate change, as evidenced by changes in temperature, current, and sea level rise, all of which affect the health of marine species, offshore and deep-sea ecosystems.

        The ocean is one of the important factors in controlling the Earth's temperature due to its enormous heat absorption. Due to the relatively large specific heat compared to the atmosphere, a small increase in sea temperature alone causes massive phenomena such as sea level rise.

 

<Area occupied by the Earth>

      The ocean accounts for about 70% of the Earth's surface, with an average depth of about 3,700 m. The total amount of seawater on Earth is about 1.35 billion km3, which is 97.4% of the total water on Earth.

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<Global Warming Ratio>

      The first thing that appears when the temperature of seawater rises is the acceleration of global warming. Land accounts for only 5% of global warming, 91% of marine warming, 3% of ice loss, and 1% of air warming. If the water temperature of the sea, which has such a huge impact, rises, the speed of global warming will eventually accelerate. 
        And rising sea temperatures are important because the ocean is the most important source of carbon dioxide absorption. The lower the water temperature, the more carbon dioxide is absorbed in the sea, and as the water temperature of the sea rises due to climate change, the absorption of carbon dioxide decreases and humidity is emitted. This causes an increase in precipitation due to typhoons and rain clouds. As precipitation increases, the salinity of the ocean decreases, and the low-salt fountain increases, and the water temperature rises faster even with a little sunlight. In the end, as the seawater temperature rises, the vicious cycle of faster sea temperature rises is repeated.

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<The Role of the Ocean>

1) Concept of heat capacity

       The term "heat capacity" means the amount
of heat required to increase the temperature of
a material by 1℃. Comparing the heat capacity
of the sea with the heat capacity of the atmosphere,
the value actually changes due to temperature,
pressure, salt concentration, etc., but the specific
heat of seawater is about four times that of the
atmosphere.

       And the total mass of seawater is about 250 times the total mass of the atmosphere. Therefore, the zero capacity of the entire seawater is about 1,000 times the total heat capacity of the atmosphere. Thanks to the ocean maintaining a stable temperature, the entire Earth's climate was able to calm down.Thanks to seawater, the environment suitable for life is maintained.

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2) Oxygen supply

       The sea, which acts as the lungs of the Earth, accounts for about 70% of the total oxygen emissions as it accounts for 70% of the Earth's surface.The sea itself does not produce oxygen, but seaweed, the tree of the sea, plays a role in producing oxygen. Just as trees photosynthesis, algae produce oxygen through photosynthesis. In addition, small phytoplankton live in the sea, and when they thrive in large quantities, they absorb carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and supply oxygen through photosynthesis.

       The reason why it is difficult for the sea, which produces oxygen and plays an important role in our lives, to produce oxygen is "climate anomaly (increase in global average temperature)."If the amount of dissolved oxygen (physical quantity used as an indicator of water pollution) in the sea decreases due to global warming, the amount of dissolved oxygen falls below a specific level, meaning a sea area with no or insufficient oxygen and has a great impact on the survival of sea life. ) is formed.Warm water absorbs less oxygen than cold water, and when the water temperature on the surface of the sea increases due to climate change, oxygen absorption decreases, making it difficult to absorb oxygen to deep seawater.

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3) Absorption of carbon dioxide

       The sea also plays an important role as a place to absorb carbon dioxide, a major cause of global warming. Recently, after the Industrial Revolution, "global warming" caused by "greenhouse gas" emitted into the atmosphere has become a problem. It is estimated that about 90% of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased by artificial activity is eventually absorbed by the sea. In this respect, it can be said that the sea is acting to suppress rapid fluctuations in global temperature.

       There are two main absorption paths for carbon dioxide: 'Dissolution Pump' and 'Biological Pump'. One is due to the action of a 'dissolution pump' that melts directly in the atmosphere. The seawater in which carbon dioxide melts near the surface layer sinks into the deep sea along with carbon dioxide by vertical seawater circulation. Another is by the action of a 'biological pump'. Carbon dioxide is used as a material for plankton's body or shell that proliferates near sea level, and it refers to the action of transporting parts of the body or shell to the deep sea without decomposition.