Backgrounder
Backgrounder
The world’s oceans and our climate
Alan Porteous, Phil Sutton, and Lionel Carter, NIWA
The ‘Ocean Conveyor’.
The circulation of the world’s oceans helps to keep the climate of the land masses relatively stable. Ocean currents have evolved over a long time – in spite of suggestions of near-instant climate change in the recent film The Day after Tomorrow, abrupt breakdown in ocean circulation is unlikely this century.
The circulation of the world’s oceans is driven by tidal forces, wind stress, and changes in the density of the water.