Today was full of information on tides and currents in the ocean. We began by talking about the chemistry of seawater and how water is polar due to positive and negative charges it has. Also, there is a higher concentration of salt along the Equator because of the warmer temperatures evaporating water more often leaving salt behind. Then, we found out what greenhouse gases were and how they contribute to global warming by keeping in heat and insulating the earth. After forming a better understanding of oceans and the environment, we got into tides and what they were and how often they occurred. There are both low and high tides and each happen twice a day depending upon the alignment of the earth with the moon. We then reached waves with which we talked about how they do not move horizontally, but up and down. The last thing was currents and how the Coriolis Effect cause currents in the Northern hemisphere to spin clockwise while the currents in the Southern hemisphere to spin counterclockwise. One thing discussed was a special type of current known as a rip current which you should not try to fight against as they are very strong. We ended the class talking about El Niño, an unusual switch in the pressures of the western and eastern Pacific. It was important to go over all of the things in order for us to better understand the ocean, factors affecting it, and also specific movements it undergoes. It will allow us to be familiar with certain instances the ocean has especially with the tides and the best time to observe shoreline organisms or even dock a boat. The ocean sure has a lot going on!!!
