2. Why is the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt vital?

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The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt is vital for many reasons. The conveyor belt greatly changes and affects global climate due to the change in temperature it causes. The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt changes climate because the dense and cold northern waters of the Norwegian Sea which have a high salinity flow South beneath the tropical and warm equatorial waters which flow North into the Norwegian Sea. Because of this process Norway, similar in latitude to Manitoba, Canada, has on average 20°F warmer weather annually. However this process did not always exist, before the Isthmus of Panama formed the waters of the Pacific and Atlantic flowed together which evened out the salinity of the waters. This process's many vital effects on the enviroment make Earth how it is today.

Sources:

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/conveyor.html

http://www.whoi.edu/main/topic/ocean-conveyor

http://enviroliteracy.org/water/oceans/the-great-ocean-conveyer-belt/