Ocean currents protect Galápagos Islands from global warming

Ocean currents protect Galápagos Islands from global warming

Subject: Geography

Context- Cold ocean currents have sheltered the Galápagos Islands from global warming, according to a recent study.

What the study has found-

• The islands are protected from an otherwise warming Pacific Ocean by a cold, eastward equatorial ocean current. And this current has been gaining strength for decades.
• The temperatures in waters along the west coast of the Galápagos have dropped by 0.5 degrees Celsius since the early 1990s.
• This phenomenon is a cause for cautious optimism for the second-largest marine reserve in the world.
• The island is a biodiverse ecosystem — home to several endangered species. It is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Flora and fauna of the Galápagos could assist reseed failing ecosystems and maintain the region’s fisheries.
• Corals do not bleach and die in these waters off the west coast of Ecuador. So, the marine food chain does not suffer, unlike in the warm waters nearby.

Other threats-

• But, the island group is certainly in need of greater protection from overfishing as well as the pressures of growing eco-tourism.
• The human pressures on this area and the mechanism that keeps it alive are at odds. It’s a major resource that should be protected.

Geographical advantage

• From space, the Galápagos may appear to be a collection of minuscule specks in the eastern Pacific Ocean. However, it is their precise position on the equator that makes them significant.
• The equatorial undercurrent in the Pacific Ocean is bound to the equator by the force of the planet’s rotation.
• Under the ocean’s surface,a swift circulation of cold, nutrient-rich water flows from west to east.
• Some of this water is forced to the surface when it reaches the Galápagos Islands.
• The nutrient-rich water triggers photosynthesis and leads to an explosion of food for a wide variety of animals.
• The cold ocean current creates a cooler, more stable environment for coral reefs and marine life and birds that often live much closer to the poles.
• It is described by the UNESCO World Heritage Convention as a “living museum and showcase of evolution.”
• Galápagos is home to the critically endangered — Galápagos penguin, Galápagos fur seal and Galápagos sea lion.

Effect of El Niño–

• El Niño is a climate pattern that causes unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
• El Niño poses a threat to the island group. It shuts down the cold current every couple of years, causing penguin populations to collapse.

Effects of Ocean Currents-

• Climatic Conditions:
  • Currents influence the climatic conditions of the regions in which they flow.
  • The warm Equatorial currents raise the temperature of the region in which they flow. Similarly, the cold currents lower the temperature of the places where they flow.
  • For example, the British Isles would have been extremely cold without the warm North Atlantic Drift.
  • The hot climate of Peru is cooled by the cold Peru Current.
• Rainfall:
  • The winds blowing over warm currents pick up and carry moisture and bring rainfall like the North Atlantic Drift brings rainfall in some areas located along the western coasts of Europe.
  • On the contrary, cold currents do not bring rainfall and make the region cooler and drier.
  • The Kalahari Desert hardly experiences rainfall due to the cold Benguela current.
• Fog Formation:
  • The meeting of the warm and the cool currents results in the formation of fog.
  • The ship’s face danger due to the fogs caused by the meeting of the warm currents with the cold currents.
  • This has resulted in the wreckage of many ships in the past as they are not able to view icebergs due to poor visibility.
• Creates Fishing Zone:
  • The mixing of warm and cold currents results in the deposition of planktons. Therefore, at such places, fishes can be found in abundance.
  • For example- Warm gulf stream and Cold Labrador current meets at Grand Bank (major fishing zone), USA.
  • Warm Kuroshio current and cold Oyashio current meets at Japan coast forming major fishing zone.
• Desert formation:
  • Cold ocean currents have a direct effect on desert formation in west coast regions of the tropical and subtropical continents.
  • There is fog and most of the areas are arid due to desiccating effects (loss of moisture). For example- They include the biggest Sahara Desert (3.5 million square miles), the Great Australian Desert and other hot deserts like the Arabian Desert, Iranian Desert, Thar Desert, Kalahari and Namib Deserts.
• Violent Storms:
  • At times the meeting line of a warm and a cold current may result in a violent storm.
  • The hurricanes which occur off the coast of the U.S.A. follow the line where the Gulf Stream merges with the Labrador Current.