Ever wondered why the ocean is always cold? Even on the hottest summer days, it remains about the same, but the land doesn’t. Like many things, this is not something people think about when they compare the ground and crystal blue ocean waters.
As you may have recalled, in 2019, temperatures were hotter than they have ever been in the 20th century and increased by 0.95C on average globally. The Earth’s land recorded being 1.43C warmer than usual, while the ocean’s temperature was 0.77C warmer. It has been recognized as evidence that the world’s continents are slowly but surely, and in 2019 specifically, heating up. With a nearly 100:50 ratio in temperature increases between land and ocean, the land is twice as hot as the ocean. A finding like this has a significant impact on the global pattern of what the future will look like, as it holds massive implications for those living on the Earth’s land going forward.
What Drives a Global Warming Contrast?
As a somewhat misunderstood answer, the land-ocean contrast has only been taken note of in recent years, meaning that scientists will require more time to study this pattern, to see whether it remains the same in the decades to come. The thing that experts are most aware of and afraid of is the fact that this ratio could change, and the land could get even warmer.
The answer to this ratio is that land has more heat capacity than water, which means it requires far less heat to raise the temperature. So, although the land and ocean are exposed to the same temperatures, land will continue to be more affected than the ocean. A good way to tell whether the ocean is warming up rapidly is to look at its color. If it is turning dark blue too fast, then it is heating up too quickly.
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