what the ocean collapsing means and what ramifications that would have on the environment and on humanity
In: Planetary Science
Remember that time you went to the river? Where the water is moving it is clear and fresh but when a part of the river gets cut off it becomes mucky and gross. We call this cut off water stagnant and stagnant water is like a toilet that never flushed, waste goes in but never comes out.
In the middle of the Atlantic there is something special and much like your household toilet it is full of water and always spinning, the gulf stream. The gulf stream cycles the water in the ocean and keeps it full of oxygen. The fish that live in the ocean thrive because the gulf stream is constantly churning nutrients around its ecosystems preventing stagnation.
In fact without the churning of motion water will lose its Oxygen content and fish will die off. Those fish will not be able to distribute their nutrients and the fish that would eat them will go hungry. People who eat those fish will go hungry. If enough fish go hungry it can lead to a die-off and those fish who fight to survive do so in a nutrient poor environment. Remember the dominoes we played with and how one domino knocked down another until the whole row was knocked down? As the little fish die the big fish who eat them die and the people who eat the big fish have to find something else to eat.
Remember how I taught you about tornadoes? How they are made when hot air and cold air collide? The gulf stream is the same way. It is propelled by the collision of warm water from the equator and cold water from the north pole. When the warm water and cold water collide just right the system works but if the cold water overflows the hot water the gulf stream stops and the fish start dying. That’s why preserving the icecaps is so important so we can keep the gulf stream active and the fishes alive.
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