Effects of Earth's Average Temperature on Oceanic Temperatures

Greenhouse Gases

• Ocean World at Texas A&M University states the Earth's medium global surface temperature should be - 64 degrees Fahrenheit but it has been about 89 degrees Fahrenheit warmer; the reason for this increase has to do with greenhouse gases being released into the Earth's atmosphere. Water vapor is the most important greenhouse gas and it plays a primary role with the increase in Earth's temperature says Ocean World. The EPA points out that most climate change scenarios project that greenhouse gas concentrations will increase through the year 2100. Greenhouse gases play a major role with the increase of the ocean temperatures, which in turn affects various parts of Earth's biosphere.

Glaciers

• Water has the ability to absorb heat better than many other substances; it would take a great deal of thermal energy to raise ocean temperatures. Universe Today claims that Earth's elevated temperatures have caused the oceans to become significantly warmer. NASA had collaborated with the University of California, Irvine, to conduct glacier melt research in Greenland, Canada in 2008. Results from this research indicated that ocean waters in Greenland are warmer and glaciers are melting at an accelerated pace. Warmer oceans are increasingly playing a part in changing the landscape of tundra areas, which contain much of the world's fresh water supplies.

Climate

• When sunlight is absorbed within the biosphere of the Earth, waters near the equator take in most of this heat. According to Ocean World, 98 percent of the sun's thermal energy is absorbed by the world's oceans. After absorbing so much heat, the oceans release it through the form of evaporation. When water evaporates from the oceans, it releases a lot of water vapor and a tremendous amount of heat into the air. These two weather-related phenomena affect weather patterns or climates all over the world. Higher ocean temperatures release more heat into the air, which could increase rainfall and sea levels, throw agricultural and growing seasons out of cycle, disrupt animal migration patterns and force a change to their habitats as well as create severe flooding in coastal cities and regions around the globe.

Ecosystems

• Warmer ocean temperature patterns can disrupt marine life and force different species to migrate in search of cooler waters. Currents are also affected by warmer oceans since they also affect marine life and the environment. Acidic seawater is another problem that results from higher temperatures in oceans because the chemical composition of seawater is transformed by the increased heat and greenhouse gases. Humans are affected by higher ocean temperatures as well as other life forms. Higher ocean temperatures may disrupt available marine life that is needed for nutrition, permanently alter weather patterns across the Earth, wipe out two percent of the world's available land and displace millions of people from their homes.