Oceanic Circulation and Climate

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Oceanic Circulation and Climate Ocean currents play an important role in transferring heat from the warm tropics to cold polar regions. An example is relatively mild climate of Norway that depends upon the warm waters form the south through an extension of the Gulf Stream System. Oslo is 60°N a flourishing capital of Europe. By contrast, to the west across the Nordic Sea is Greenland with its southern tip at also at 60°N and here glaciers reach sea level producing giant icebergs. The heat transferred by oceans currents and southwesterly winds to the shores and coastal ranges of Norway is the answer for this. Warm waters, heated by insolation in the subtropics, feed the Gulf Stream. North Atlantic Current then warms the UK and northwestern Europe. On its way north, the Gulf Stream transports some 100 million cubic meters of water per second, 5 times greater than the flow of the Amazon. This enormous flow of water brings large amounts of heat, which are available through redistribution by latent heat flux. This the energy contained in water and in water vapour, relative to ice or water, respectively. When water vapour condenses, the latent heat is released, warming the surrounding air. This heat powers storms, including the great hurricanes. When water freezes, latent heat is also released, warming the air in contact with the forming ice. Latent heat plays an important role in the redistribution of heat on the surface of Earth, especially through evaporation in the tropics and subtropics and the subsequent precipitation in higher latitudes. Secondly the warm waters sets up a low-pressure region around Iceland, reaching over the Norwegian Sea. The Icelandic Low acts as an enormous whirlpool sucking in warm air from the subtropical regions on top of the Gulf Stream and sending much of the heat to Norwegian shores. The transport of heat by the warm ocean
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