Ocean & Climate
The relationships between ocean and climate are complex and in many ways affect one another. By learning about and understanding the issues, we empower ourselves and others to address them
This section offers key issues, possible responses, and excellent resources on the challenging situations examined here.
How does the carbon cycle work? If CO2 is a problem, what can be done to solve it?
CO2 is essential to the balance of nature and to human survival. However, in excess, it disrupts natural systems in many ways, not all evident and understood, that in turn affect human systems with measurable consequences. The emissions of automobiles and coal-fired powerplants, increasing carbon concentrations in the air, have been shown to have serious consequences downwind with destructive impact on forests, lakes and streams, wildlife, and humans.
Present Situation:
The Role of the Ocean in the Global Carbon Cycle
The Rise of CO2 & Warming
Global Warming: The Causes
How does the melting of polar ice in the Arctic and Antarctica reshape ocean, weather, and coastal communities around the world?
As Earth warms due to climate change, large amounts of ice in the Arctic and Antarctic are melting at increasing rates. The meltwater raises global sea levels and disrupts ocean circulation patterns that help regulate climate. Less ice and more dark ocean water leads to changes in reflectivity, which causes the planet to absorb more heat, further accelerating warming.
Present Situation:
NASA: Ice Sheets- Earth Indicator
NOAA Arctic Report Card 2025
How does climate change and melting polar ice disrupt ocean currents and why does that matter?
Ocean currents act like the Earth’s conveyor belt, moving heat, nutrients, and oxygen around the planet. As climate change warms the ocean and melts polar ice, freshwater pours into the ocean, changing its density and salinity. This weakens major current systems, which help regulate climate. Changes to currents can affect weather patterns and disrupt marine food webs.
Present Situation:
Slowdown of the motion of the ocean
Advancing our understanding of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)
Arctic Ice Melt is Changing Ocean Currents
How do CO2 emissions or global warming affect the weather? Is there a correlation between our behavior and global phenomena?
Severe weather conditions persist around the world. We see images and reports of hurricanes and typhoons, tsunamis and rogue waves, droughts and wildfires, coastal inundation and sea level rise. The impact on natural resources, coastal communities, and human dislocation and life can be devastating.
Present Situation:
NASA: Ocean Topography From Space - Rising Seas in a Warming World
As excess carbon dioxide is absorbed into the oceans, it has profound effects on marine life and ecosystems, with far-reaching consequences extending to human health and well-being.
Ocean acidification is a critical outcome of increasing dissolution of CO2 in seawater. Decreasing ocean pH results in decreasing calcification, respiratory difficulties, and reproductive changes in marine species worldwide. The most evident result can be found in the dramatic changes evident in coral reefs, as rich a biotic community as the rain forest, as well as in microscopic organisms at the bottom of the marine food chain that sustain fisheries and food security.
Present Situation:
Acid in the Oceans: A Growing Threat to Marine Life
Acid Test: The Global Challenge of Ocean Acidification
EPOCA Ocean Acidification Blog
Many SIDS are not waiting around for the next disaster to strike. They are taking measures to adapt to, manage, and mitigate the myriad risks posed by changing climate.
Though SIDS do very little to contribute to climate change, they stand to be most affected by it. Small Island Nations are the first and most vulnerable societies to face the challenging conditions of sea level rise, coastal inundation, coral reef stress from acidification, extreme weather, and other dramatic manifestations of climate change. Some island nations already face the prospect of complete submersion, loss of place and national identity. There are innovative strategies to respond to these challenges, and to them we may look to see the future.
Present Situation:
The compounding hazards of climate change impact marine fisheries, aquaculture, tourism, trade natural products, livelihoods and recreation.
Just as the ocean is integrated by natural systems, it is also inter-connected by intricate financial relationships, through trade, transportation, integrated economies, global investment, and foreign aid. A natural disaster has an equally destructive impact on the community's capacity to survive the economic consequences of damaged agricultural or manufacturing capacity, a disrupted labor force, social chaos, and the dramatic cost of restitution and recovery.
Solutions:
Teaching Resources:
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