Not exact matches
A lot of reseach energy is being devoted to the study of Methane Clathrates — a huge source of greenhouse gases which could be released from the
ocean if the thermocline (the buoyant
stable layer of warm water which overlies the near - freezing deep
ocean) dropped in depth considerably (due to GHG warming), or especially if the deep
ocean waters were warmed by very, very extreme changes from the current climate, such that deep water temperatures no longer hovered within 4C of freezing, but warmed to something like 18C.
We need to be cognizant of everything from local - scale
stable boundary
layer micrometeorolgy and
ocean unstable boundary
layer turbulent processes to global oceanic and atmospheric circulation patterns such as the Arctic Oscillation and the Gulf Stream's seasonal evolution.
The existence of that cooler
layer is evidence that the rate of evaporation is the primary influence on variability in the rate of
ocean energy loss (apart from internal
ocean circulation variability which is not relevant here) and it follows that more evaporation for the same rate of conduction and radiation (from a
stable temperature differential) will send that cooler
layer deeper and / or intensify the temperature differential between it and the
ocean bulk below.
When the MJO inhibits convection, light winds and clear skies allow the upper few meters of the
ocean to warm and separate into
stable layers stratified by temperature and salinity.
Stable layering in the
ocean limits the rate that human - derived carbon dioxide can acidify the deep
ocean.