The scene in the picture above is meant to show a tidal wave, overwhelming the shore. It's very simple, but of all the attempts I made this week, I find this one most pleasing to the eye.
The leader of our LMAC community, @shaka, is taking a breather. He has invited community members to peruse templates from the past and see what we can create. I decided to go all the way back to the beginning, when this community was just an idea. Here is @shaka's first beautiful LMAC template:
The sea often seems to draw @shaka, as many of our templates feature this life-giving and mysterious presence on earth. Without our ocean, we cannot survive. And yet, the ocean holds many secrets. So much is hidden from us in the sea, and may never be discovered. More than 80% of the ocean is unexplored.
Here is another one of my efforts at making a collage this week.
While we customarily speak of 'oceans', there is actually just one world ocean. It is believed that the ocean is almost as old as the earth itself --4 billion years old. The earth, it is believed, is 4.54 billion years old.
The Earth with its Great Ocean Revealed
Image credit: Project Apollo Archive. Free
We know that the ocean gives us food, and oxygen. The ocean is also a vast 'carbon sink'. That is, it helps to take climate-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. As a matter of fact the ocean is one of the largest carbon sinks in the world. However, as the ocean cleans our air for us, we pay a price. The ocean becomes more acidic. A more acidic ocean is a more hostile place for marine life.
Another One of My Attempts to Make a Collage This Week
Ocean Currents
The interplay between climate and the ocean is complex. The ocean helps to cool the earth. At the same time, ocean currents influence weather and climate. But the currents themselves are affected by a warming climate. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, "Climate change is altering the processes that propel water across the globe, and should this alter ocean currents, it would likely lead to a cascade of even more change."
Yet Another GIF That Didn't Work
What is a current? It is a temporary or long-lasting movement of water in one direction. Currents can be deeply embedded in the ocean, or they can be on the surface. Because currents move heat around the world,the strongest of them can affect global climate patterns. (Information derived from the Smithsonian Magazine)
The Global Conveyor Belt
There is one massive current, deep in the ocean, that connects the world as water is pushed around the globe. The global conveyor belt takes 1,000 years to complete its cycle. This current is impelled by water temperature and salinity. Changes in water temperature and salinity affect the movement of the belt. The effect is called thermohaline circulation.
Image credit: Robert Simmon, NASA. Public domain
Earth's Rotation and Currents
The ocean, and the movement of the ocean, have a profound effect on all life on earth. Inescapable is the fact that the earth is an orb spinning through space. As such, one of the greatest influences on ocean currents is the rotation of the earth itself. The force exerted by the spherical, rotating planet is called the Coriolis effect. This force is strongest at the poles and weakest at the equator. Here's a diagram that illustrates this phenomenon.
The Coriolis Effect
Image credit: Mariiana QM. Used under a CC 4.0 license.
And finally, another of my attempts to make a collage this week. I just couldn't get the concept worked out.
Elements I used in the collages displayed were all public domain:
*The ocean: a free Pixabay picture
*Whale: PandannaImagen on Pixabay
*Orange fish: freeillistrated Pixabay picture
*Monastery: Darkmoon_Art on Pixabay
*Hand: Tama66 on Pixabay
It's a pleasure to join my community members in this retrospective collage week. All the designs are amazing. They are a tribute to the community, and to its founder, @shaka. Please check them out at our LMAC community. LMAC has a Discord channel, and a school, run by our teacher and colleague, @quantumg.
If you like to have fun and explore your creative impulses, join us. No skill required. Just enthusiasm.
