Abstract

Applying Raoult’s law to the ocean confirms the notion, that the stability of the osmotic concentration (Osm) of the inner environment of land vertebrates (0.3Osm) and the much higher salinity of present day’s ocean (1.09 Osm) reflects a long-term salination process, which continues irrespective of the recent short-term global melting of dilution period. Climatic advances and retreats have been deduced from the law of dilute solutions applied to the ocean. Salinity changes over geological ages provide evidence for a dynamic osmolyte system against a general geochemical balance. The long-term increase in ocean salinity is contrasted by short-term fluctuations with severe climatic consequences. Fluctuations in salinity give an explanation of wet and dry climatic periods and are major driving forces of biological evolution. The recent global warming causing the expansion of sea volume, the melting of sea ice and ice sheets, contributes to the short-term dilution effect temporarily outweighing the long-term effects of salinity increase contributed by the human pollution.

Keywords:Osmolyte systems; Raoult’s law; Salination process; Global warming; Glacial and interglacial periods; Climatic changes; Consequences of salination

Abbreviations:Osmotic Concentration (Osm); European Space Administration (ESA); Sea Surface Salinity (SSS)