Sea Life Advent Calendar December 2024
The sea covers 70 percent of Earth’s surface. It contains about 1.35 billion cubic kilometers (324 million cubic miles) of water, which is about 97 percent of all the water on Earth. The sea makes all life on Earth possible, and makes the planet appear blue when viewed from space. Earth is the only planet in our solar system that is definitely known to contain liquid water. From the shoreline to the deepest seafloor, the sea teems with life. The hundreds of thousands of marine species range from microscopic algae to the largest creature to have ever lived on Earth, the blue whale.
The sea also plays a vital role in climate and weather. The sun’s heat causes water to evaporate, adding moisture to the air. The oceans provide most of this evaporated water. The water vapor condenses to form clouds, which release their moisture as rain or other kinds of precipitation. All life on Earth depends on this process, called the water cycle. The atmosphere receives much of its heat from the sea. As the sun warms the water, the ocean transfers heat to the atmosphere. In turn, the atmosphere distributes the heat around the globe. Because water absorbs and loses heat more slowly than land masses, the ocean helps balance global temperatures by absorbing heat in the summer and releasing it in the winter. Without the ocean to help regulate global temperatures, Earth’s climate would be bitterly cold.
