The Ocean's Thermostat

[00:00:00] Kiran: Mics, camera, action. This week on Takaro, we are gonna be touching upon the oceans. So it's back to some geography. You know how the oceans are really important as a temperature control for the entire planet.
[00:00:25] Debkanya: That's right. That's what you guys have asked us for, and we are making sure that we're not going to miss out on giving you the latest from there. But before that, let's go back to the beautiful big blue ocean.
[00:00:43] Kiran: So what's very interesting with the ocean is that it actually is a very intricate system
[00:00:52] Debkanya: Hmm
[00:00:53] Kiran: different of, um, you know, temperatures. Because the ocean, if you think about it, every single ocean is connected, right? If you think about the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal, all of them are connected. But they don't all act as one, it's not the same temperature everywhere. kind of like different temperatures, different water pressures, different s- ecosystems of weather that it creates everywhere. So there's this new research by the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, which is the IITs, and, um, they published a research this month which basically said that this patchwork of temperature could actually act as a natural brake on drought. And what is
[00:01:41] Debkanya: Yeah
[00:01:41] Kiran: Is when, you know, there is no water and people are suffering, agriculture dies, uh, or farming dies. There's no water to drink, no water for your plants, and that's a drought. And, uh, I think a big concern for everyone globally is how, um, you know, how with all of these temperature changes and the world getting warmer, how do you actually yourself from these droughts?
[00:02:07] Kiran: Because
[00:02:07] Debkanya: Yeah. Yeah. I, I think one of ... It, it's come up quite a bit now. We mentioned El Niño to you in one of our episodes previously, where we spoke about how, you know, it's, it's like, you know, the water is almost like a conveyor belt where it carries warm water, goes to one side, cool water goes to the other side, and that impacts the weather patterns in that particular place, you know, wherever the warm water's gone and wherever the cool water's gone.
[00:02:32] Debkanya: Um, that's what's happened. In fact, you know, if you noticed, in India we had a very delayed monsoon because of El Niño, and we were worried, okay, is it gonna rain? And then of course, Mumbai and a lot of other places, some parts of Delhi and Gurgaon, there was so much rainfall that the whole city got flooded.
[00:02:48] Debkanya: Uh, so that also happened. So there's been a lot of erratic water, uh, you know, weather patterns that we've been seeing. But the ocean here now, what it does is what this ... Actually, this research, uh, is interesting and actually quite heartening, I think, is because it's saying that the ocean has always behaved like this, right?
[00:03:03] Debkanya: Where it's carried and ensured that different parts of the world has different temperature water. But that's going to make sure that if one part has drought, there will be other parts in the world where the waters will be warm enough to create enough rainfall, right? So if one part has not enough rainfall, then it will balance out.
[00:03:23] Debkanya: Before, scientists believed that this would happen, like there would be drought-like conditions in at least one-third of the world, right? That's around, say, 16% of the world would have drought, and that's a large number, right? Imagine. But now they're saying because-
[00:03:39] Debkanya: one-sixth of the world.
[00:03:40] Debkanya: My bad. Thank you for correcting me there. One-sixth of the world will have drought-like conditions at 16%. Um, but now with this new research, they are saying that this could actually impact around 2 to 6% of the world only, which is a much smaller number. And this then will help us plan better because then if we can track that, okay, we know that certain regions will have drought-like conditions, so therefore their farms will not be able to grow the food that they need.
[00:04:06] Debkanya: They will not have the water that they need. Other parts will be better prepared to create like a, possibly a pipeline of food, water, and supplies to help out. In a way, it's actually... It's interesting, right? It's a call for the world to work together a lot more, to collaborate a lot more, using data to make decisions that will help everyone out.
[00:04:27] Kiran: Yeah. When, when one part suffers, the others can come in and help and, uh, contribute and consolidate. So, so yeah, it's actually interesting. Now, it doesn't really predict exactly where this drought is gonna happen, but it just says that, you know, the, the ocean, a living system always ensures that it's not, like, gonna affect the entire world.
[00:04:50] Kiran: There will be parts that will still have the rainfall, like you mentioned, which is
[00:04:54] Debkanya: Yeah, which is beautiful. Uh, the ocean coming to our rescue yet again. I mean, we know that. We, again, this is something we spoke about. The ocean absorbs 90% of the heat that is produced by greenhouse gases, by all the activities we humans do on this planet, right? 90% of that heat is absorbed by the ocean. So I mean, the ocean's a constant ally
[00:05:14] Kiran: Yeah. In fact, going into another research study which came out again just, uh, this week, a study by researchers at the University of California in San Diego, published a sort of experiment that they did. Now,
[00:05:31] Debkanya: Hmm
[00:05:32] Kiran: going back to the El Niño, and where does the El Niño happen? In the Pacific, right?
[00:05:37] Kiran: So what they kind of focused on is how can you reduce the temperature of that region in the Pacific that causes El Niño? Because
[00:05:48] Debkanya: 嗯
[00:05:49] Kiran: like we mentioned in the last episode, um, it is getting so hot that the El Niño is gonna severely disrupt weather and climate across the world this year and next year, right?
[00:06:03] Kiran: So it's called the super El Niño. study, which was so cool and, and it's so simple, they just kind of salt water, just, just a mist of salt water into the clouds.
[00:06:20] Debkanya: Okay
[00:06:20] Kiran: Very, very simple, right? Now, what that does to the clouds, clouds always retain moisture, right?
[00:06:27] Kiran: Clouds are made of water, actually. so when this cloud gets salt in it, suddenly becomes whiter because of the salt, right? And,
[00:06:41] Debkanya: Interesting
[00:06:42] Kiran: it becomes whiter and it becomes a more reflective surface, think of it like a mirror, you know, going from a, a window where you can see through to a reflective surface like a mirror, you suddenly have bouncing back into space than being let through into the Pacific Ocean and heating up the system even more. So the idea over here is what if we could build that reflective surface by just spraying salty water into clouds so that the clouds kind of become this barrier for sunlight to heat up the water more? It is genius
[00:07:21] Debkanya: It is, it is beautiful and it's quite poetic, right? Painting the clouds, but not with paint, but with seawater, right? Saltwater literally to make them whiter. But... And that is super interesting to think that, you know... And, and this technology, by the way, is used, um, in our, in, in buildings around you. If you l-
[00:07:40] Kiran: Mm-hmm.
[00:07:40] Debkanya: A lot of people are now starting to paint their rooftops with a white paint, a sp- a special type of paint, not just any, but it's a white reflective paint to make sure that their buildings stay cooler, right?
[00:07:52] Debkanya: It's pretty much the same concept where you're sending the heat back up and let- not letting it come down to where you are, and that's fantastic. And the, we're trying the same thing. Of course, like you said, this is just research. They've just experimented on a small bit. I don't think we are quite ready yet to go around painting all the clouds with saltwater.
[00:08:11] Debkanya: But it's... I also wonder though, Kiran, is like, playing around with something that is natural, I wonder how that's going to impact something else that we have no idea about right now, right?
[00:08:24] Kiran: that's the problem, right? This experiment may work for now,
[00:08:28] Debkanya: Hmm
[00:08:29] Kiran: is there a repercussion two years down the line because something changed and the weather system changed? Are you postponing the inevitable? Are you just postponing the inevitable heating up of the El Niño to a super El Niño?
[00:08:42] Debkanya: Hmm
[00:08:43] Kiran: those are things people are not sure of as yet, and which is why this is just an experiment. It is a very, very exciting development, but no one knows what the repercussions will be. And, in fact, I think that's what the scientists are gonna do. They're gonna keep doing these studies to see what happens in smaller ecosystems, see if there are repercussions, any sort of, uh, side effects, and then see whether it makes sense for us to do this at bigger scale. But then problem is, to a large extent, you're also playing weather god,
[00:09:13] Debkanya: Yeah.
[00:09:14] Kiran: um,
[00:09:15] Debkanya: But I mean, the other way of looking at it is a lot of the issues that we are facing today with the weather, they are manmade, right? So
[00:09:24] Debkanya: the,
[00:09:25] Debkanya: So the solutions have to be manmade too. So
[00:09:28] Kiran: They, they
[00:09:29] Debkanya: may-
[00:09:29] Kiran: yes.
[00:09:30] Debkanya: So we are on the right track
[00:09:32] Kiran: reduce the man-made cause
[00:09:35] Debkanya: The the the impact of, of manmade, uh, yeah.
[00:09:40] Kiran: Instead of, instead of having to find even more solutions that are man-made, because man-made over man-made over man-made, nature's gonna come back some way or the other,
[00:09:48] Debkanya: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I think, I
[00:09:50] Debkanya: think ultimately it comes down to the fact that even if it's manmade, uh, we are part of nature. Let's not forget that we are an integral and very important part of nature, and if we keep seeing ourselves as that, then I think we'll do the right thing
[00:10:05] Kiran: Yeah. And, and so very exciting, um, you know, from a geography perspective. about it. Maybe try doing some experiments at home and in school which are similar to this, seeing reflective surfaces and heat, um, and, and maybe kind of looking at what is possible, right?