Introduction
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| Ocean | Surface Area miles2 |
Surface Area kilometers2 |
Of all oceans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific | 64,000,000 | 166,000,000 | 45.0% |
| Atlantic | 31,600,000 | 82,000,000 | 22.2% |
| Indian | 28,400,000 | 73,600,000 | 20.0% |
| Southern | 13,523,000 | 35,000,000 | 9.5% |
| Arctic | 4,700,000 | 12,173,000 | 3.3% |
One cannot learn about the weather we experience without considering the ocean and its effect on our weather...and the weather's effect on it. We must consider the ocean because nearly 71% of the earth's surface is covered by it and more than 97% of all our water is contained in it.
We must consider the ocean and its impact as more than one-half of the world's population lives within 60 miles (100 km) of the ocean.
We must consider the ocean as its ability absorb, store, and release heat into the atmosphere is huge and often directly affects us. In fact, just the top 10 feet of the ocean surface contains more heat than our entire atmosphere.
Major climate events, such as El Niño, result from ocean temperature changes. These temperature changes then have impacts on weather events such as hurricanes, typhoons, floods and droughts which, in turn, affect the prices of fruits, vegetables and grains.
It is essential that we consider "the ocean".
