What factors affect plant and animal life in the ocean?

What factors affect plant and animal life in the ocean?

Biotic factors include plants, animals, and microbes; important abiotic factors include the amount of sunlight in the ecosystem, the amount of oxygen and nutrients dissolved in the water, proximity to land, depth, and temperature. Sunlight is one the most important abiotic factors for marine ecosystems.

How do warm and cold currents affect climate?

Ocean currents act as conveyer belts of warm and cold water, sending heat toward the polar regions and helping tropical areas cool off, thus influencing both weather and climate. Land areas also absorb some sunlight, and the atmosphere helps to retain heat that would otherwise quickly radiate into space after sunset.

How does temperature and currents affect marine life?

Warmer waters cause coral bleaching, which in turn impacts coral reef ecosystems that are home to most of the ocean’s biodiversity — and provide crucial sources of food for people. Warmer waters threaten to cause mass migration of marine species in search of the right conditions for feeding and spawning.

What happens when cold current and warm currents meet how is it important for fisheries?

By meeting the warm and cold currents, a large amount of fog is created, which controls the temperature conditions in the fishing regions of the meeting grounds.

How do warm water currents affect the climate?

Warm currents are formed when the cold saline water becomes dense and sinks allowing the light warm water to flow in the opposite direction, usually far from the equator. The changes in current movements affect the coastal climate by carrying a lot of heat.

How does water temperature affect aquatic plants?

Water temperature has a direct effect on the growth of aquatic plants. An unnatural introduction of warm water into a water body is called thermal pollution. Examples of this kind of pollution include runoff from heated roadways and warm water released from industrial facilities into waterways.

What causes cold surface currents to flow?

Cold surface currentscome from polar and temperate latitudes, and they tend to flow towards the equator. Like the warm surface currents, they are driven mainly by atmospheric forces §. Gyres form when the major ocean currents connect.

What is the difference between a cool and warm current?

Warm currents are masses of warm water with higher temperatures moving away from the equator. Warm currents are formed when the cold saline water becomes dense and sinks allowing the light warm water to flow in the opposite direction, usually far from the equator.