What effects do you think climate change and warming oceans may have on the way sounds move through the ocean?

Due to its physical properties, sound travels faster in warmer waters. As observed in the Arctic Ocean's Beaufort sea, sound travels four times faster compared with 10 years ago.

Here, a new phenomenon called the Beaufort lens was discovered. Because of warm water intrusion from the Bering Strait, three layers of water with different temperatures have formed. The top and bottom layer are warmer than the middle layer. The bottom layer is thought to have been created by the global warming.

Although sound propagates slower in the colder layer, it also bends back towards the area where it travels slowest. Thus, sound from this layer will bend back on itself when it reaches the warmer layers. In this way sound is carried to much longer distances.

The exact extent of this Lens is not yet known as it changes from year to year!

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