Global warming is heating up our oceans but the solution to fighting it could possibly be found in ships.
Scientists have discovered that if they could keep the water in the oceans cool despite the increase in temperature that is caused from global warming, this could have a cooling effect across the earth. How to keep the oceans cool? Use ships!
Riding the Waves
A study has found that the wakes of ships could be the solution. Wakes are the ripples that occur on the surface of water when ships sail across the ocean. These wakes are aided by the sea’s natural way of foaming up which is due to phytoplankton that creates chemicals. Wakes can last for up to 10 minutes after a ship has crossed the surface of water. If this effect could last longer, it would help to sustain the cooling effect of wakes and bring the water’s temperature down. But how?
Adding Science to Nature
The dark ocean is capable of absorbing up to 95 percent of radiation from the sun. So, if climate scientists can create designer foaming agents in the water, they could exaggerate the natural effect of the wakes to make them much brighter to reflect the sun away from the ocean. If these wakes could be 10 times more luminous and could last 10 days, they would cover 5.5 percent of the world’s oceans and they could cool down the planet by up to 0.5 degrees Celsius by the year 2069. It might not seem like a lot, but it could help to restore some of the ice loss in the Arctic. This is because most of the world’s ships move around in the Northern Hemisphere so this scientific breakthrough could help to keep the temperature of the ice much cooler.
Between the years of 1983 and 2012, the Northern Hemisphere experienced the warmest period in the last 1,400 years! Studies such as the above are exciting, creative ways in which scientists can work on slowing down global warming and saving our oceans.
Image credit: Tof Locoste / Dollar Photo Club
