There is a lot of salt in the ocean and it makes water more dense. denser water will tend to slow the down to the bottom so salinity just vary between the major ocean basins. Most of the ocean is split into layers that depend on temperature and salinity they're all layers like a layer cake but it's all done by densityso saltier water tends to go down and fresher warmer water stays at the top.
To understand the world you need to understand the ocean. That’s the argument of physicist Helen Czerski who has long studied the complex ecosystems and forces that drive the ‘blue machine’ which covers 71% of our planet. Czerski joins Intelligence Squared to discuss her new book Blue Machine: How the Ocean Shapes Our World, and what we should know about these vast bodies of water – the waves, currents, invisible ocean walls and underwater waterfalls that are part of an interlinked system that shapes the world around us. In conversation with science editor of The Times Tom Whipple, Czerski discusses how, since the beginning of human civilisation, the oceans have been central to the way human societies have evolved and how threats like climate change and overfishing could threaten our future.
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