Why the Pacific is the warmest - opinions and facts. Hydrometeorological conditions and temperature of the Pacific Ocean

Warm Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is located on 1/3 of the earth's surface and makes up half of the water volume of the World Ocean. The Pacific Ocean is located in almost all climatic zones Globe... It is the warmest, deepest and largest ocean. The Pacific Ocean is the warmest because its overwhelming proportion is located in strongly warmed latitudes.

In addition, the Pacific Ocean does not have such a wide border with the Arctic Ocean as the Atlantic Ocean, and the Antarctic border does not have a significant effect on cooling as in the Indian one.

Temperatures in the Pacific Ocean

The average water temperature on the surface of the Pacific Ocean is 2 ° higher than on the surfaces of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Maximum average annual temperature surface waters- +25 - +29 ° С, minimum average annual temperature - + 5 - + 6 ° С. The average annual water temperature in the Pacific Ocean is +19.1 ° C.

The deepest ocean is thanks to a large number deep water gutters. The Pacific Ocean contains 25 of the 35 deepest troughs in the World Ocean, including the deepest trench in the world (Mariana - 10902 m). The average depth of the Pacific Ocean is about 3976 m.

The largest ocean is considered due to its location in both hemispheres of the Earth. In the west, it washes Eurasia and Australia, in the east - North and South America, in the south - Antarctica. The Bering Strait shares the Arctic Ocean with the Arctic Ocean, the Drake Strait with the Atlantic Ocean, and the imaginary conditional line... The width of the Pacific Ocean reaches 17,200 km.

The Pacific Ocean owes its name to Magellan... During the three-month transition in the fall of 1520 from Tierra del Fuego to the Philippine Islands, he did not meet a single storm in the ocean.

This basin is considered the warmest among the ocean waters, and the Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic oceans are inferior to it, respectively. What is the temperature of the Pacific Ocean?

What is the Pacific Ocean like?

Name given by the Spaniard Vasco Nunez de Balboa to the Pacific Ocean "Great" fully corresponds to its scale. The area of the ocean exceeds the entire land area of the planet by the whole of Africa.

Despite its modern name, the Pacific Ocean is the most turbulent today.

Long time on the cards pre-revolutionary Russia the ocean was marked as Eastern. The most powerful hurricanes on the planet are born in its depths.

On all sides, the ocean is surrounded by a chain of underwater and surface volcanoes. The seismic instability created by them is the main reason for the appearance giant waves... They can reach speeds of 700-800 km / h.

Among foreign ports, the largest:

Shanghai port... Located in the East China Sea. The depth of the water area at the berths is 11 meters;
Port of Singapore... It is located at the junction of the Indian and Pacific Ocean. The depth of the water area at the berths is 16 meters;
Port of Vancouver... Located on the shores of the Georgia Strait. The depth of the water area at the berths is 16.8 meters;
Sydney Port... Located in Port Jackson Bay. The depth of the water area at the berths is 13.7 meters;
Long Beach Port... One of the ports of the Air Force. The depth of the water area at the berths is 17 meters.

Flora and fauna

The flora and fauna of the ocean is striking in its diversity. It is still not fully understood. Every year, scientists discover in it species of vegetation and marine life unknown to science. Today there are more than 100 thousand species... About 20 of them are deep sea. They inhabit the region of the famous troughs: Mariana, Kermadec, Tonga and the Philippine Trench.

The Pacific Ocean is the main place of seafood extraction... Almost half of the world's catch is caught here. The largest fisheries in ocean waters are for anchovies, mackerel and sardines. Seals feel great in the ocean waters and different kinds whales.

Are of particular value pearls of giant clams that they produce. The weight of the largest specimen known to date is over 7 kg. His appearance this pearl resembles a man wearing a turban.

The bottom vegetation of the Pacific Ocean has more than 4 thousand species. The most common of these are kelp.

Pacific horror called the giant tridacnus clams that live off the coast. Their weight reaches half a ton. Despite the horror that their appearance causes in humans, they are of great benefit to the ocean. Passing through themselves huge masses of water, they saturate sea water plankton and oxygen.

Pacific waters

The ocean basin includes a large number of bays and seas. Among the significant straits is the Panama Straits. The most famous seas:

Yellow;
Beringovo;
Japanese;

Characteristics and properties

The saltiest waters oceans are located off the coast of tropical islands and continents. This is due to the small amount of rainfall that falls in these areas. The density of the salt here is 35.5 ‰. The lowest ocean salinity is observed in the region of cold currents in the eastern part of the basin.

In the northern seas of the Pacific Ocean, the density of salt in water is completely close to 0.

No one can say for sure how many freshwater rivers and streams flow into the Pacific Ocean. Only large rivers can be seen on the map, of which there are about 40. The largest freshwater drainage into the ocean is considered Amur river... Unlike the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, the Pacific does not have particularly salty seas such as the Red or Mediterranean.

Currents

All currents of the Pacific Ocean are divided into various groups ... The most common division:

north and south;
warm and cold.

Warm currents can be found in the Japan area. Here flows the current, which received the name Kuroshio... Another warm stream can be found off the coast of Australia and New Zealand. This group also includes the South Passat and Equatorial currents. The most famous cold currents of the Pacific Ocean are California and Peru.

All currents have a direct impact on the temperature distribution on the surface of the pool. This determines the climate of the territories adjacent to the ocean.

Climatic conditions

Quietest area the ocean is located in the interval from the Tuamotu Islands to South America. It was in it that the famous journey of Magellan took place. This is the area of light winds.

Natural phenomena

The strongest ebb and flow ocean waters can be observed off the Korean coast. In this area of the pool, the difference in level is up to 9 meters. On the opposite Korean side, the tide level difference is only 0.5 meters. It is very rare to see calm weather west of Tuamotu. Gusty winds and hurricanes blow in this part of the ocean.

Strongest oceanic winds walk in December off the coast of Australia. In the northern part of the Coral Sea, which is part of the Pacific Ocean basin, at the beginning of autumn, powerful tropical cyclones transform into warm westerly winds.

Why is this water area the warmest?

The average temperature of the Pacific Ocean waters is +19.4 degrees Celsius. This highest rate among all the oceans. Located in the southern latitudes, the Indian Ocean is colder than the Pacific Ocean by 2 degrees. The Atlantic Ocean is also inferior to it, the waters of which are located north of the Indian.

At first glance, this phenomenon seems inexplicable. After all, a significant part of the Pacific Ocean is in contact with the northern seas and Antarctica. According to scientists, largely on the water temperature in the Pacific such factors, how:

large volume waters concentrated in the equator, tropics and subtropics;
significant amount algae, shellfish and other ocean dwellers.

Range maximum temperature in the surface layer of water is in the range from +30 to + 3 ° С. The temperature of the ocean waters is controlled by atmospheric currents.

Highest temperature ocean surface waters are observed in the equator and tropics. It is + 25-29 ° С.

The western part of the ocean is warmer than the eastern one by 2-5 ° C on average. Coldest of all water in northern latitudes. Even in summer, the water temperature in the Bering Strait does not exceed + 5-6 ° C.

Ice formation in the Pacific Ocean is observed in the Antarctic zone, as well as in the northern seas.

What is the average temperature by month?

The temperature of the water in the ocean depends on the zone of its basin. The average annual temperature is determined by the state of surface waters in the basin as a whole. In winter it is:

December- + 14.6 ° C;
January- + 13.7 ° C;
February- + 13.9 ° C.

Average ocean temperature in the spring:

March- + 13.9 ° C;
April- + 13.5 ° C;
May- + 14.1 ° C.

Average ocean temperature summer:

June- + 15.2 ° C;
July- + 16.6 ° C;
August- + 17.3 ° C.

Average ocean temperature in the fall:

September- + 17.6 ° C;
October- + 16.6 ° C;
November- + 15.6 ° C.

But temperatures at the same time can significantly vary... For example, the water temperature in February varies from 27 ° C at the equator to -1 ° C closer to the Bering Sea. In August, the temperature is 25-29 ° С at the equator, 5-8 ° С in the Bering Strait.

In the interim between 40 ° S and 40 ° N the temperature off the coast of America is 3-5 ° C lower than that of New Zealand. North of 40 ° north latitude in the east is 5-7 ° C higher than in the west south of 40 ° south latitude.

Find out a few more interesting facts about the pacific from this video:

The warmest and at the same time the largest ocean is the Pacific. It is surrounded by the following continents: Antarctica, North and South America, Australia and Eurasia. It is truly enormous: from east to west it stretches 19.5 thousand km, and from north to south - 15.8 thousand km. The volume of water is more than 723 million cubic kilometers together with the seas, and the area is about 180 million square kilometers. The greatest depth - 11022 m, is located in the Mariana Trench.

It is believed that the first European who was able to see the Pacific Ocean was the Spanish conquistador Balboa. At the beginning of the 16th century, he, together with his team, crossed the Isthmus of Panama and ended up in an ocean then unknown to him. At that time, he called it the South Sea, because he did not yet know that it was far from the sea. After him, Fernand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator, could see a huge reservoir. He was able to cross the ocean of Tierra del Fuego to the Philippine Islands in 110 days. Since all these days the weather was calm and calm, the navigator decided to call the ocean Pacific. For a long time it was called that until in 1753 the Frenchman Jean-Nicholas Buach proposed to call him the Great, however, this name never received universal recognition.

Despite the fact that the Pacific is bordered by the Arctic Ocean and Antarctica, it is considered the warmest. Why? But because it contains a huge amount of water, which tends to accumulate heat. As for the relative values, the average temperature is not knowledgeable of competitors the reservoir is 19 ° C, but in the equatorial zones it is much higher and can reach 25 ° C, or even 27 ° C.

It is also worth talking a little about environmental issues... Scientists say that human activity in the ocean has led to severe pollution of its waters, resulting in the death of some species of animals and plants. So, by the end of the 18th century, not a single sea cow remained in the Bering Sea (an extinct mammal from the order of sirens, which was distinguished by its large size). By the beginning of the 20th century, some species of whales, as well as seals, had almost completely disappeared. The greatest danger to the local flora and fauna is water pollution with heavy metals, oil products, as well as waste from the nuclear industry. Why, you ask? It's simple - all these substances are spread throughout the ocean, they were found even off the coast of Antarctica. Now, however, waste disposal is strictly limited, but it does not help much.

Another problem is garbage that is dumped into the ocean. Currently, in its northern part, a huge garbage patch has formed from various waste, which is formed thanks to currents. Today, the slick is about 500 miles from California, passes Hawaii and nearly hits Japan. In 2010, the mass of the slick reached 4 million tons, and it is increasing every year.

Here we can only say one thing - take care of nature!

in the world. At breaks, you probably thought about which and which ones. Do you know which ocean is the warmest in the world? Let's talk about this.

Warmest ocean: list

We have carefully studied the information recorded in the book "Geography of Continents and Oceans", and based on it, we have compiled a list that will help you find out which ocean on earth is the warmest.

4 - Arctic Ocean

The smallest and coldest ocean, which covers only 14.75 million km² - the Arctic. Several layers of water masses stand out here. For example, in the Norwegian Sea, the water temperature varies from 6 to 8 ˚С. But in the East Greenland Current measuring instruments show 1˚C. By the way, + 1˚C- this is the average water temperature in the Arctic Ocean.

Note: now there is a fifth ocean - the South. We tried to find out the average water temperature, but we couldn't. There is information that in the southern regions in winter time water temperature - 1.8-1.9 ° C. Off the coast of Antarctica in summer time - -1 to 0.5 ° С.

3 - Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean covers an area of 92 million km and most of it lies in the belts that all year round are under the rays of the sun. Therefore, in the central part of the ocean, the water temperature warms up to + 28 ˚С, and in the northern and southern parts - 0 С. Average water temperature - 16.5˚C.

The water in the ocean is desalinated, so corals cannot be found there. But there are plenty of marine life here: flounder, perch, sardine. In addition, shrimp, lobster, cuttlefish and oysters are caught in the ocean. There are also dolphins, swordfish and sharks.

2 - Indian Ocean

This is not to say that the Indian Ocean is the warmest, so in our rating we assign it the second step. Despite the fact that the water temperature in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf reaches up to + 35˚С, there are places that are very cold, for example, off the coast of Antarctica - minus 1.8 С. The average water temperature in the Indian Ocean is + 17.3˚С.

If we take into account the color of the waters of the Pacific Ocean, then they have a blue tint, the waters of the Indian Ocean are dark blue. These places are famous for their coral "spots", among which are the well-known Maldives. Other ocean riches should not be ignored - this is the place where large areas where pearls, diamonds and emeralds were mined.

The shores of the Indian Ocean are considered the most beautiful, so if you are planning to go on a trip, visit these unique places. They attract tourists with their indescribable beauty and mystery.

An interesting fact: the temperature of the world's oceans at a depth of 2 to 4 thousand meters is constant - 0 - + 2˚С.

1 - Pacific Ocean

We assign the first place in our rating to the Pacific Ocean. Why is the Pacific Ocean the warmest? Because most of it is located in latitudes that warm well. Unfortunately, the water temperature in the central region and in the north is different, if in one place you can swim and sunbathe in the sun, in another you won't even want to take off your jacket. Judge for yourself: in the central regions of the ocean, the water temperature is in the range of +25 - 29˚ Celsius, while in the northern part it will not exceed + 8˚С. The most cold water off the coast of Antarctica. Its temperature is below 0˚С. But if we take the average indicators, then they are 2 degrees more than that of the Indian - 19.4˚C.

There are four oceans on planet Earth, which are united into one World Ocean. Based on the scale of these water bodies, the climatic conditions in their territories are varied and unpredictable, especially in recent decades. In the ranking of the warmest oceans in the world, there is no place for the Arctic Ocean, as it is located in the northern hemisphere and is mostly filled with huge masses of ice due to the harsh polar climate.

The largest ocean on the planet Quiet , is also the warmest ocean on Earth. The waters of this ocean wash five continents at once, which determines the difference in climatic zones, the average water temperature is 19 ° C, in tropical and equatorial zones the temperature rises to 27.5 ° C. The main source of heat in ocean waters is solar radiation and atmospheric circulation.

The area of the Pacific Ocean exceeds 179 million km 2, with such a size, which covers both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres, it is not difficult to achieve climatic and temperature records, which, together with the anomalous warming of the 21st century, have become widespread and quite frequent.

The widespread use of oceanic space by humans, which led to its large-scale pollution, also affects the change in the temperature regime of the waters towards warming.

For the animal and flora In the Pacific Ocean, temperature shifts can be disastrous. Since 1998, the UN has been constantly raising the problem of warming not only the Pacific, but the World Ocean as a whole, which can lead to catastrophic consequences for the entire planet.

So far, the temperature indicators deviate slightly from the norm, but the further economic activity of man, clogging the air and oceanic spaces, can lead to global cataclysms, during which the population of the planet can radically change downward.

Indian Ocean occupying an area of 76.144 million km 2, is the second warmest water resources with average temperature 17 ° C. In spite of high temperatures waters in the equatorial zone, often exceeding 27-29 ° C, due to the peculiarities of the location of the Indian Ocean does not have stable temperature indicators, accompanied by significant differences.

In the southern part of this ocean, icebergs and massive ice formations are not uncommon, which significantly affect the climatic features of ocean waters.

Bottom waters and increased salinity have a particular effect on the temperature regime of the Indian Ocean, but one of the global factors, as in the case of the Pacific Ocean, is the contamination of human waste products and the massive release of oil refining waste and pure oil products.

Atlantic Ocean with an average temperature of 14 ° C it is in third place in the rating. Its water area is 91.66 million km 2. The impact of the world's four main atmospheric centers and a significant meridional extent determine the climatic features of the Atlantic Ocean.

V to a greater extent the temperature of ocean waters does not have stable values along its entire length, showing sharp fluctuations, as a rule, in negative side as you move away from the equator. Due to significant daily changes in air temperature, oceanic waters do not have time to warm up, thereby rapidly losing all the temperature accumulated during the day at night.

Also on zonal temperature conditions the presence of strong currents, which sharply negatively affect the heat exchange of water, actively affects.