2: History and Importance of Ocean Studies
- Page ID
- 44301
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)- CC5 Transfer and Storage of Heat by Water: Water’s high heat capacity allows large amounts of heat to be stored in the oceans and released to the atmosphere without much change of ocean water’s temperature. Water’s high latent heat of vaporization allows large amounts of heat to be transferred to the atmosphere in water vapor and then transported elsewhere. Water’s high latent heat of fusion allows ice to act as a heat buffer, reducing climate extremes in high latitude regions.
- CC9 The Global Greenhouse Effect: Perhaps the greatest environmental challenge faced by humans is the prospect that major climate changes may be an inevitable result of our burning fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide and other gases into the atmosphere where they accumulate and act like the glass of a greenhouse, retaining more of the sun’s heat.
- CC10 Modeling: Complex environmental systems including the oceans and atmosphere can best be studied by using conceptual and mathematical models. Many oceanographic and climate models are extremely complex and require the use of the fastest supercomputers.
- CC11 Chaos: The nonlinear nature of many environmental interactions, including some of those that control annual fluctuations in fish stocks, mean that fish stocks change in sometimes unpredictable ways.
- CC16 Maximum Sustainable Yield: The maximum sustainable yield is the maximum biomass of a fish species that can be depleted annually by fishing but that can still be replaced by reproduction. This yield changes unpredictably from year to year in response to the climate and other factors. The populations of many fish species worldwide have declined drastically when they have been overfished (beyond their maximum sustainable yield) in one or more years when the yield was lower than the average annual yield on which most fisheries management are based.
- CC17 Species Diversity and Biodiversity: Biodiversity is an expression of the range of genetic diversity; species diversity; diversity in ecological niches and types of communities of organisms (ecosystem diversity); diversity of feeding, reproduction, and predator avoidance strategies (physiological diversity), within the ecosystem of the specified region. Species diversity is a more precisely defined term and is a measure of the species richness (number of species) and species evenness (extent to which the community has balanced populations with no dominant species). High diversity and biodiversity are generally associated with ecosystems that are resistant to change.
The oceans have played a key role throughout human history. They have provided sustenance for humans for millennia. They have facilitated long-distance trade, transported armies for foreign wars, and provided the arena for countless naval battles. They currently offer a source of recreation for hundreds of millions of people. However, the oceans’ key role in mediating global climate and local weather is likely more important to humans than any of these other functions.
Given the enormous importance of the oceans to human existence, one might expect our knowledge and understanding of them to be extensive and thorough. However, the oceans, which cover approximately 70% of the Earth’s surface to an average depth of almost 4 km, are a vast domain that remains largely unvisited and unexplored. Amazingly, until the 1930s no human had ever descended below 150 m.
In this chapter, we will review some of what has been learned about the oceans and about why they are so important to humans. Compared to other sciences, oceanography is young, and oceanographers continue to make new, sometimes startling, discoveries.