Long Story Shorts: What is Ocean Stratification?

The ocean has layers that mix—sometimes. What are the layers made of? And why is it bad news when they don’t?

Hey, teachers! Here’s a cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of Long Story Shorts:
• Water density and how it's impacted by temperature and salinity
• Mixing between ocean layers: how and when it happens
• As global temperatures rise, the ocean layers are becoming more stable
• More stable layers are problematic: effects on nutrient circulation and weather

This episode is part of our series Long Story Shorts—fun, quick explainers about all things coastal science!

Created by the Hakai Institute
Produced by Kristina Blanchflower and Josh Silberg
Animations by Kristina Blanchflower
Illustrations by Mercedes Minck
Stock images by Shutterstock