Science News discusses the normally still Arctic Ocean in the article, “Loss of Sea Ice Stirs Up Arctic Waters.” The Arctic Ocean usually does not mix because the wind, which would generally create internal waves, is foiled due to a shield of sea ice.
Strong winds are unable to trigger a response when the ocean is blanketed with ice. However, when the ice melts in the summer, the wind creates “large internal oscillations.” The area of sea ice that is present in the summer has dwindled recently because of internal waves. Due to this adaptation, the Arctic Ocean will experience changes. What types of changes will the Arctic Ocean encounter? How will this affect the already limited marine life?
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Many of the events that are major causes of climate change are positive feedback processes. This means that when things like increased circulation of water in the Arctic is caused by warming temperatures and as this increases it causes the process of climate change to speed up as well – similar to the snowball effect. As mixing of waters in the Arctic continues to happen as more sea ice melts it could have global effects. The global conveyor belt of ocean currents is generated in the northern Atlantic from upwelling and sinking of large amounts of water depending on temperature gradients. If the temperature of the Arctic changes it could severely throw off the generator of the global conveyor belt. This would have huge effects on the climate patterns all over the world.