Science help???

Question

Explain why the oceans affect earths weather. Consider the weather at the equator in comparison to the weather at the poles. How do the oceans affect the weather in your immediate community?

Answer 1

Oceans are the reason why there is life on the poles. Currents and tides determine the weather on the poles. They carry the warm waters and make life pleasant. otherwise the cold weather would be a lot worse. But now you also have to consider the El Niño factor, it warms the waters making the poles melt. so what do you think this will effect?

Answer 2

Very Good question and here is the scientific answer. The oceans have a very great affect on Earth's weather by means of their currents which transport warm waters near their surface and colder denser waters deep within the ocean. The oceans also retain their heat much longer than the atmosphere does over land and so the temperature of the atmosphere over the oceans are moderated to a great extent. The oceans also provide the water vapor essential to life on the planet through evaporation, condensation, and the formation of clouds. This is also another method of transporting heat. The oceans also help bring essential rains to the continents through the hurricanes they help create. The Pacific ocean is where the El Nino La Nina and Southern Oscillation are observed. Here is a short description of their importance:

When non El Nino conditions exist we find a high pressure ridge over the eastern Pacific Ocean and lower pressures over Indonesia. This gives us the typical easterlies along the equator. This condition is accompanied by upwelling and cooler ocean water in the eastern Pacific with warmer water in the western Pacific. The trades are the lower extent of what is called the Walker circulation - rising air and heavy rain over the western Pacific and sinking dry air over the eastern Pacific. When this condition I have just described in very strong an exceptionaly cool eastern Pacific is referred to as a La Nina event. The name means "the girl child".

When the high pressure ridge over the eastern Pacific weakens and the low pressure over the western Pacific is replaced by high pressure the easterlies are weakended and basically replaced by westerlies. This carries warm water eastward and the Walker circulation is reversed with heavy precipitation over the eastern Pacific and drier sinking air over the west. This describes an El Nino event. Because it is often observed around December and Christmas it was given the name "the boy child".

The upper atmosphere reflects these reversals when a ridge in the upper atmospheric flow is replaced by a trough in the east and the trough in the west is replaced by a ridge. The trough in the east now brings the heavy precipitation into the western US bringing snow to higher elevations and latitudes and rain to northern Mexico. Because there is likely to be another trough over the eastern US, there will be warmer and wetter weather there as well. With this information you can decide which event you believe is worse, El Nino or La Nina.