Ocean Currents
What do ocean currents do?
What is convection?
The rising of warm fluids and sinking of cold fluids.
What ocean current affects South Carolina?
Gulf Stream Current
Liquids and Gases
Is the Gulf Stream current warm or cold?
Warm
Convection can influence what factors of weather and climate? List at least two.
Land and sea breezes, creating global wind, the movement of the ocean water, pressure systems...
True or false: Warm ocean currents bring warm temps and water to the west coast of California.
False
What happens during a land breeze? Tell me what direction the breeze moves and why?
Land breezes form over the land and move toward the sea. This is because the land absorbs heat faster but also loses heat faster. The rising warm air over the land travels over the water, cools, and sinks back toward the coast.
Warm ocean currents flow from where on Earth to where on Earth?
From the equator to the poles.
Describe a sea breeze. Tell me what direction it moves and why.
A sea breeze starts over the water and travels toward the coast. The water absorbs heat slower than land and releases heat slower than land.