Ocean circulation: the planet's great heat engine
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Barbara Manighetti
Giant currents in the deep ocean transport so much heat around the globe that they play a critical role in shaping the earth’s climate.
The ocean is in perpetual motion: that’s obvious to anyone who looks out over the sea. But the tides and waves that we see are just a tiny part of the movement in the ocean as a whole. Most movement comprises large-scale, unseen shifts to equal out water density differences caused by variations in temperature and salinity (saltiness) from the Poles to the Tropics.