The Deepest And Coldest Parts of the Ocean are Warming Up
Researchers Reported in the Sept. 28 Geophysical Research Letters that thermometers moored at the sea floor of the Atlantic ocean recorded an average temperature increase over the last decade of about 0.02 degrees Celsius. While it is unclear since so little is known about the deepest parts of the ocean it is thought that the warming may be a consequence of human driven climate change, which has caused an ocean temperature increase near the surface.
The deep ocean is not well observed below 2000 meters, the deep sea is so hard to reach that the temperature at any given research site is typically taken only once a decade. But a team of scientists was able to measure the temperature hourly from 2009 to 2019 using sensors placed at the seafloor in four locations in the Argentine Basin, off the coast of Uruguay.
Temperature recordings for the deepest spots showed a defined trend of warming over the decade. Water 4540 meters below the surface warmed from an average of 0.209 degrees Celsius to 0.234 degrees, while waters 4757 meters down went from an average of 2.232 degrees to 0.248 degrees celsius. This warming is much less significant than closer to the surface, but it's also important to take note of that it would take a lot of heat to generate even the slightest bit of heating so deep down.
It's too soon to be able to tell whether the cause is by human activity or due to natural causes and variation, but continuing to monitor these sites will certainly help paint a clearer picture.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ocean-warming-deepest-coldest-temperature
What impacts could these temperature increases have on deep sea environments and ecosystems?
How important are deep sea environments to the surface world?
How much heat does it take to heat such a large body of water like this?
the temperature increase could destroy deep sea environments and ecosystems. That is a sad thought because we have not been able to research all of the ocean. If we were to loose those ecosystem who knows what scientific/ medically advantages that we will loose.
ReplyDelete-Angeline Upchurch
I think these impacts could be devastating or deadly to many of the environments, in oceans and any environment is important as it helps the food chain and breakdown of other environments can rupture the circle and cause an imbalance. And it takes a smaller amount than we thought to heat up water like this.
ReplyDelete-Tyler
It takes a lot of heat to warm such a large body of water, because of the hydrogen bonds in water. Hydrogen bonds take a lot of energy to break and therefore, warming water is difficult. The extreme warming of the ocean impacts the deep sea environments, if organisms can't rapidly adjust to these changes, then they may die off. Losing organisms throws off the survival of other ocean organisms. The complete impact of ocean environments changing can't be completely predicted, but it is likely to impact both the sea ecosystem and land ecosystems.
ReplyDeleteCarissa Bersche
These impacts will devastate the marine ecosystems. It will create more difficult conditions for organisms and animals to inhabit, and some many just completely die off if they can´t adapt. Because we don´t know much about the deep sea, losing organisms and species we haven´t even found yet is disheartening. These organisms could potentially create new food and energy resources.
ReplyDelete-Trinity Mathis
DeleteEven though we haven't discovered much of the deep sea, some of the weirdest looking animals have been discovered there like the anglerfish or the frilled shark. As well as new ecosystems like hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. The deep sea also plays a big part in regulating our climate by absorbing CO2 and heat. So it's very important.
ReplyDelete-Ilori T
Despite being largely unknown, the deep sea is nevertheless extremely important. Intrinsic value: Every expedition to the depths results in new species being found. Sometimes entire new ecosystems are discovered, such as around hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. The specialized adaptations of deep-sea organisms are not just interesting for interest’s sake: an understanding of their biochemistry could also lead to biochemical, medical, and other advances. - Nathan Clark
ReplyDeleteThis actually a very frightening issue because it shows the extent at which Earth's climate change problem has reached. I think the science community should put more focus into exploring our oceans because very little is known about them. -Shirin Saha
ReplyDelete