Properties of Water and Its Effects on Climate and Environment

Properties of Water and Its Effects on Climate and Environment

Water is an esential factor for the existence of all life on earth. Pure water under ambient conditions occurs in threes states; gaseous (water vapor) liquid water and solid as ice. Scientific progress has been made on understanding IAPSO standard seawater thermodynamic properties.

Thermodynamic properties of seawater have variables including density, speed, specific heat capacity freezing temperature and adiabatic lapse rate. Data for such properties is collected by essay professors using satellites, research vessels and automatic buoy. More accurate data is required to be obtained, and the measuring instruments are calibrated to international metrological standards.

Temperature is considered a thermodynamic property of seawater caused by the activity of the water molecules and atoms. More activity from the particles increases the temperature of the water. For salt water, the temperature is a measure of heat content, and when there is no molecule activity, the heat content is zero. Units for measuring seawater temperature are degrees Celsius. Heat content is measured in Kelvin. Heat is however measured in joules and heat exchange measured in watts in oceanography.

The pressure of the water rises as one goes deep. The water is compressed and expanded by the change of water pressure. The water temperature is increased by the compression of water without heat transfer and expansion of water without heat exchange decreases the temperature. Potential seawater temperature is the change in temperature when water moves from one pressure zone to another. This logic implies that water at the surface of the sea is of low temperature than deep waters since the pressure at the surface is lower.

Water temperatures differ in the tropics and latitudes. Subtropics receive warm waters while Antarctica has cold waters. The rise of isotherms is usually associated with Antarctic circumpolar current. Seawater thermodynamics are determined by the correlating equations for some related properties including density, heat capacity and sound speed.

ENSO (El Nino) in South America.

In cases of El Nino, climatic anomalies are also known as patterns related to each other cause these changes. Changes in air pressure and wind speed along the west side of the equator move the water to the east side of the equator. These changes deepen the level of ocean separating cold and warm water (thermocline). El Nino is caused by the periodic changes in seawater temperatures and pressure across the equator. This condition occurs mainly at the end of the year. This is the conditions experienced mostly on the west of the tropical South America.

El Nino is a climatic condition due to unexpected temperature changes on the water surface. El Nino is usually the warm phase of a subsequent cold phase known as La Nina. These conditions are not predictable, but they are believed to appear after every seven years. Climatologist believes that El Nino is affected by the southern oscillation.

Upwelling is the condition where the trade winds are blown to the west across the tropical Pacific. The winds push warm water to the west of the Pacific. The warm trade winds raise the sea surface and raise the temperatures as well. This change of water levels and temperatures is known as upwelling. Upwelling provides food for marine life making fishing a primary industry in South American countries such as Peru and Chile. Upwelling also promotes changes in global climate. It contributes to rainfall in Indonesia and New Guinea and causes dry conditions in the cooler eastern region.

El Nino also causes the change in the coastal ecosystem. Without upwelling, the nutrient cold water is not available therefore causing a decrease in fish population as most of the fish die or migrate. Lack of fish changes the economic conditions of the affected regions.

Severe changes in the climatic conditions are experienced during the period of El Nino. Precipitation occurs due to convection of warmer water increasing rainfall in areas such as Ecuador and the north of Peru causing flooding and devastating soil erosion. Such rainfall causes distractions of homes, school, businesses, and infrastructure.

While South America experiences rainfall, drought is experienced in Indonesia and Australia. Rivers dries up, and water supply is limited affecting agriculture in a negative way. El Nino conditions are also believed to change the atmospheric circulation on the earth’s surface. This is the significant movement of air helping in the distribution of heat over the face of the earth. El Nino caused climatic changes in Australia which experienced harsh drought conditions; Tahiti experienced typhoons, and Chile experienced rainfall and flooding and a reduction of fish in both Chile and Alaska. Nations away from the Pacific also are affected with India experiencing fewer monsoons and sub-Saharan Africa recording an increase in rainfall.

Monsoon in India

Monsoon occurs annually due to the wind blowing from the southwest of the Asia region or the northeast of Asia forming rainy clouds, therefore, causing heavy rain falls. In India, the seasonal monsoons occur when humid air is blown towards the Himalayan Mountains while blowing to low pressure zones of the Tibetan Plateau resulting in heavy rainfall causing flooding and destruction of property and crop

In the past years, India has experienced weak monsoons leading to a decrease in the food production due to less rainfall. Less food production has caused an increase in food prices making Indian government result to other alternatives to increase agriculture production. Summer monsoons vary the amount of rainfall. In 2009 for example, the rainfall was low and agricultural productions were low. Small agricultural productions in India are a blow to the country’s economy considering India has the largest dependency on agriculture in the whole world. Too much rainfall as well is harmful causing treacherous coastal waters for fishery on the south of Asia to fish.

Flood due to too much rainfall has sets back on land, property, and health. Flood water drowns and destroys homes leaving people prone to harmful weather elements as it was the case in India and Pakistan during the 2014 monsoon where more than 200 people lost their lives. Sanitation is also compromised leading to out brake of diseases such as cholera and malaria.

Heat waves are also common during winter. Heat waves occur when the clouds cannot provide protection over the dry land and evaporation cannot cool off the land either. A significant heat wave occurred in India in 2015 killing more than 2500 people and 1000 in Pakistan. Temperatures rise 50 degrees; water becomes scarce, and diseases are spread due to poor hygiene during this time of the year.

Lake effect (great lakes North America).

The effect of cold winds during winter causes great change in snowfall on the eastern and the southern shores of the lakes. The lakes which include Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario, Lake Erie and Lake Huron all experience intense snowfall and extreme whiteout conditions.

Lake-effect snow is less experienced in the northern and western side of the shore. However, these conditions can be encounterd if the direction of the wind is from the northeast or the east. Snowfall has increased in the northern lake-effect zone due to increasing in temperature. With the rise of the global temperatures, changes are notable in areas more southern zones where lake-effect rain has replaced lake-effect snow.

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