The Striking Deep Current Reversal In The Tropical Pacific Ocean

The ocean's immense heat storage capacity means that it has a dominant role in the regulation of heat exchange and of the Earth's climate. And it is the ocean's currents that drive thermal exchanges between ocean and atmosphere and contribute to climate balance. This they do in transporting warm- and cold-water masses from the Equator to the poles. The near-surface currents are generated essentially by the winds, whereas the deeper ones (known as thermohaline currents) result from water density variations induced by differences in temperature and salinity between the distinct masses. The prevailing winds in the tropical Pacific, the trade winds, blow from the American continent towards Asia, causing the warm surface waters to drift in a general East-West direction...