Role of Arabian sea and Bay of
Bengal in climate:-
The Arabian Sea and the Bay of
Bengal also exercise a profound influence on climate.Though both are
located in the same latitude band and receive the same amount of
solar radiation from the Sun, the Bay of Bengal is much warmer than
the Arabian Sea and many more storms brew over the bay. Recent
research shows that there are two causes.
1)The winds over the Arabian
Sea are stronger because of the presence of the mountains of East
Africa. These strong winds force a much more vigorous oceanic
circulation and the heat received at the surface is transported
southward and into the deeper ocean. The winds over the Bay of
Bengal, in contrast, are more sluggish and the bay is unable to
remove the heat received at the surface.
2)The bay receives more
rainfall; it also receives more freshwater from the large rivers,
especially the Ganga and the Brahmaputra, that empty into it. This
freshens the surface of the bay and stabilizes the water column,
making it more difficult for the winds to mix the warm, stable
surface layer with the cooler waters below. In the Arabian Sea, there
is no such stabilizing effect. As a consequence, the mixing with the
cooler waters below is more vigorous. Since a sea surface temperature
of about 28ºC is necessary for convection to take place in the
atmosphere, this condition is satisfied in the Bay of Bengal but not
in much of the Arabian Sea. Thus, in spite of their geographical
similarities, the two arms of the north Indian Ocean are strikingly
different when it comes to climate.
3) Maximum rainfall tend to
occur over the sea. Much more rainfall over Bay of Bengal than other
Arabian sea.
Reference:
http://www.nio.org/userfiles/file/ocean%20and%20climate.pdf
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