The Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean

1. The Artic Ocean is the second-largest ocean in the world, it drives our weather patterns, including hurricanes, and is home to many species from sea turtles to dolphins.

2. 23.5% of the Earth’s surface area (20% as per Wikipedia) is covered by Atlantic Ocean.

3. It has quick-moving surface currents and slower-moving deep ocean currents.

4. The seawater is constantly trying to find a balance. Warm water is less dense than cold water, so as water cools, it sinks, and warm water replaces it. Water with high salinity—more salt—also moves into waters with lower salinity. Those factors drive the conveyer belt, a process also called thermohaline circulation.

5. Atlantic Ocean has the largest drainage area. It receives water from a lot of rivers and seas because from both the sides of the ocean, the continents slope towards it. Some of the rivers that empty themselves in Atlantic Ocean are Mississippi, Rhine, Nile etc.

6. Without Africa's Sahara Desert, few hurricanes would strike the eastern coast of North America. That's because a wind stream called the African Easterly Jet is formed from the difference in the Sahara's dry, hot air and the humid cooler air to the west and south. The jet pushes westerly winds over Africa's west coast, where they sometimes pick up ocean water and form thunderstorms.

7. The Pangea break-up theory leading to formation of Atlantic Ocean is widely accepted because the coastlines of North America and South America on the west and Europe and Africa on the east almost match. There are paleontological and geological similarities among the continents as well to further strengthen the theory.

8. Icebergs (common in the months of February to August), hurricanes (common in the months of June to November) and persistent fog (common in the months of May to September) are the common hazards of the Atlantic Ocean. Hurricanes are common in North Atlantic but not in South Atlantic.

9. Fisheries—the grounds where fishermen take species to be bought, sold, and eaten—will also be impacted by changing water temperatures. A study published in the journal Science showed that some fish populations in the Atlantic have grown while others have shrunk in warming waters. Northern Europe's North Sea, which is part of the Atlantic, has seen several fisheries shrink as a result of warming waters and overfishing, while certain fisheries off the coast of New England have grown.

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