Yes! You heard it right. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have indeed created a visualisation to depict the impact of greenhouse gases on our oceans. While sharing a small video, the organisation captioned it, “Our ocean is changing.”While some people may call it scary it is important to understand the science behind it.NASA in its post mentioned, “With 70% of the planet covered by water, the seas are important drivers of Earths global climate.” Continuing in the same post, the organization has expressed concern about the increase in greenhouse gases from human activities that are altering the ocean before our eyes. View this post on Instagram A post shared by NASA Climate Change (@nasaclimatechange)A visualisation showing sea surface currents based on the Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, Phase II (ECCO2) model. The video shared by NASA uses a colorful image to represent ocean temperatures. Warmer waters are shown in reds and oranges, while cooler areas are depicted in greens and blues, which makes it easy to visually recognise the temperature variations across the globes oceans.The ImpactMeanwhile, it is worth noting that the visualisation highlights how human activities are increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These gases trap heat, and the oceans absorb a significant amount of this extra heat. This is causing a rise in sea surface temperatures.What is greenhouse effectAccording to the press relase shared by NASA, the greenhouse effect is the process through which heat is trapped near Earths surface by substances known as greenhouse gases. Imagine these gases as a cozy blanket enveloping our planet, helping to maintain a warmer temperature than it would have otherwise. Greenhouse gases consist of carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and water vapor. Water vapor, which reacts to temperature changes, is referred to as a feedback, because it amplifies the effect of forces that initially caused the warming.Overall, the purpose of the visualisation is to raise awareness about the effects of climate change on our oceans. Its a call to action to better understand and address this important issue. Meanwhile, NASA and its partners are on a mission to find out more.
