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https://theconversation.com/ever-heard-of-the-maritime-continent-its-not-far-from-australia-and-channels-heat-around-the-world-221988>
"Africa, Asia, Australia, Antarctica, North and South America, Europe – and the
Maritime Continent.
Never heard of the last one? That’s because it’s not a continent made of land.
In fact, it’s the largest warm tropical sea in the world, lapping against the
shores of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and smaller
countries.
Why call it a continent? The name comes from the way the seas and land in this
region interact. This single region is the main heat engine pushing heat around
the world. The Maritime Continent is home to large expanses of warm, shallow
seas bigger than Australia. Known as the tropical warm pool, these seas – the
warmest on Earth – sustain warm sea temperatures and act as a engine for the
Earth’s climate system.
As the world heats up under climate change, more heat pours into the seas. That
means the Maritime Continent’s warm pool is growing. It’s roughly doubled from
22 million (1900-1980) to 40 million square kilometres (1981-2018)."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
