The Ocean's Thermostat and a Historic World Cup Artwork

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The Ocean's Thermostat and a Historic World Cup

July 19, 2026 • Kiran Menon, Debkanya Dhar

0:00 | 16:02

Oceans, Droughts & Geoengineering + FIFA World Cup Stats and Messi Milestones | Takaro Kids

This Takaro Kids episode explores how interconnected oceans regulate Earth’s temperature and how new IIT Gandhinagar research suggests ocean temperature “patchwork” may act as a natural brake on drought, potentially limiting drought-like conditions to about 2–6% of the world instead of around 16%, helping regions plan support and supplies. The hosts also discuss a UC San Diego experiment inspired by El Niño: spraying a mist of saltwater into clouds to make them whiter and more reflective so more sunlight is bounced back into space, while noting uncertainty about long-term side effects and the risks of “playing weather god.” The episode then shifts to the FIFA World Cup, highlighting that the top four ranked teams reached the semifinals, that the finalists are Spain and Argentina, and that Messi became the first player with 10 career World Cup assists. A quiz asks which famous Argentine captain is linked to the phrase “Hand of God.”

00:00 The Ocean's Thermostat and a Historic World Cup
00:43 Ocean Science
10:36 FIFA World Cup
14:39 Quiz Time

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Kiran 0:02

Mics, camera, action. This week on Takaro, we are gonna be touching upon the oceans. So it's back to some geography. You know how the oceans are really important as a temperature control for the entire planet. And we're also gonna give you an update on the FIFA World Cup

Debkanya 0:25

That's right. That's what you guys have asked us for, and we are making sure that we're not going to miss out on giving you the latest from there. Some interesting stats coming out of the World Cup. But before that, let's go back to the beautiful big blue ocean

Kiran 0:43

So what's very interesting with the ocean is that it actually is a very intricate system

Debkanya 0:52

Hmm

Kiran 0:53

different of, um, you know, temperatures. Because the ocean, if you think about it, every single ocean is connected, right? If you think about the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal, all of them are connected. But they don't all act as one, it's not the same temperature everywhere. kind of like different temperatures, different water pressures, different s- ecosystems of weather that it creates everywhere. So there's this new research by the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, which is the IITs, and, um, they published a research this month which basically said that this patchwork of temperature could actually act as a natural brake on drought. And what is

Debkanya 1:41

Yeah

Kiran 1:41

Is when, you know, there is no water and people are suffering, agriculture dies, uh, or farming dies. There's no water to drink, no water for your plants, and that's a drought. And, uh, I think a big concern for everyone globally is how, um, you know, how with all of these temperature changes and the world getting warmer, how do you actually yourself from these droughts? Because

Debkanya 2:07

Yeah. Yeah. I, I think one of It, it's come up quite a bit now. We mentioned El Niño to you in one of our episodes previously, where we spoke about how, you know, it's, it's like, you know, the water is almost like a conveyor belt where it carries warm water, goes to one side, cool water goes to the other side, and that impacts the weather patterns in that particular place, you know, wherever the warm water's gone and wherever the cool water's gone. Um, that's what's happened. In fact, you know, if you noticed, in India we had a very delayed monsoon because of El Niño, and we were worried, okay, is it gonna rain? And then of course, Mumbai and a lot of other places, some parts of Delhi and Gurgaon, there was so much rainfall that the whole city got flooded. Uh, so that also happened. So there's been a lot of erratic water, uh, you know, weather patterns that we've been seeing. But the ocean here now, what it does is what this Actually, this research, uh, is interesting and actually quite heartening, I think, is because it's saying that the ocean has always behaved like this, right? Where it's carried and ensured that different parts of the world has different temperature water. But that's going to make sure that if one part has drought, there will be other parts in the world where the waters will be warm enough to create enough rainfall, right? So if one part has not enough rainfall, then it will balance out. Before, scientists believed that this would happen, like there would be drought-like conditions in at least one-third of the world, right? That's around, say, 16% of the world would have drought, and that's a large number, right? Imagine. But now they're saying because-

Kiran 3:39

is, uh, 33.33%

Debkanya 3:41

Sorry, sorry, one-sixth, one-sixth of the world. My bad. Thank you for correcting me there. One-sixth of the world will have drought-like conditions at 16%. Um, but now with this new research, they are saying that this could actually impact around 2 to 6% of the world only, which is a much smaller number. And this then will help us plan better because then if we can track that, okay, we know that certain regions will have drought-like conditions, so therefore their farms will not be able to grow the food that they need. They will not have the water that they need. Other parts will be better prepared to create like a, possibly a pipeline of food, water, and supplies to help out. In a way, it's actually... It's interesting, right? It's a call for the world to work together a lot more, to collaborate a lot more, using data to make decisions that will help everyone out.

Kiran 4:30

Yeah. When, when one part suffers, the others can come in and help and, uh, contribute and consolidate. So, so yeah, it's actually interesting. Now, it doesn't really predict exactly where this drought is gonna happen, but it just says that, you know, the, the ocean, a living system always ensures that it's not, like, gonna affect the entire world. There will be parts that will still have the rainfall, like you mentioned, which is

Debkanya 4:57

Yeah, which is beautiful. Uh, the ocean coming to our rescue yet again. I mean, we know that. We, again, this is something we spoke about. The ocean absorbs 90% of the heat that is produced by greenhouse gases, by all the activities we humans do on this planet, right? 90% of that heat is absorbed by the ocean. So I mean, the ocean's a constant ally

Kiran 5:17

Yeah. In fact, going into another research study which came out again just, uh, this week, a study by researchers at the University of California in San Diego, published a sort of experiment that they did. Now,

Debkanya 5:35

Hmm

Kiran 5:35

going back to the El Niño, and where does the El Niño happen? In the Pacific, right? So what they kind of focused on is how can you reduce the temperature of that region in the Pacific that causes El Niño? Because

Debkanya 5:52

嗯

Kiran 5:53

like we mentioned in the last episode, um, it is getting so hot that the El Niño is gonna severely disrupt weather and climate across the world this year and next year, right? So it's called the super El Niño. study, which was so cool and, and it's so simple, they just kind of salt water, just, just a mist of salt water into the clouds.

Debkanya 6:23

Okay

Kiran 6:24

Very, very simple, right? Now, what that does to the clouds, clouds always retain moisture, right? Clouds are made of water, actually. so when this cloud gets salt in it, suddenly becomes whiter because of the salt, right? And,

Debkanya 6:44

Interesting

Kiran 6:45

it becomes whiter and it becomes a more reflective surface, think of it like a mirror, you know, going from a, a window where you can see through to a reflective surface like a mirror, you suddenly have bouncing back into space than being let through into the Pacific Ocean and heating up the system even more. So the idea over here is what if we could build that reflective surface by just spraying salty water into clouds so that the clouds kind of become this barrier for sunlight to heat up the water more? It is genius

Debkanya 7:25

It is, it is beautiful and it's quite poetic, right? Painting the clouds, but not with paint, but with seawater, right? Saltwater literally to make them whiter. But... And that is super interesting to think that, you know... And, and this technology, by the way, is used, um, in our, in, in buildings around you. If you l-

Kiran 7:43

Mm-hmm.

Debkanya 7:44

A lot of people are now starting to paint their rooftops with a white paint, a sp- a special type of paint, not just any, but it's a white reflective paint to make sure that their buildings stay cooler, right? It's pretty much the same concept where you're sending the heat back up and let- not letting it come down to where you are, and that's fantastic. And the, we're trying the same thing. Of course, like you said, this is just research. They've just experimented on a small bit. I don't think we are quite ready yet to go around painting all the clouds with saltwater. But it's... I also wonder though, Kiran, is like, playing around with something that is natural, I wonder how that's going to impact something else that we have no idea about right now, right?

Kiran 8:27

that's the problem, right? This experiment may work for now,

Debkanya 8:32

Hmm

Kiran 8:33

is there a repercussion two years down the line because something changed and the weather system changed? Are you postponing the inevitable? Are you just postponing the inevitable heating up of the El Niño to a super El Niño?

Debkanya 8:45

Hmm

Kiran 8:46

those are things people are not sure of as yet, and which is why this is just an experiment. It is a very, very exciting development, but no one knows what the repercussions will be. And, in fact, I think that's what the scientists are gonna do. They're gonna keep doing these studies to see what happens in smaller ecosystems, see if there are repercussions, any sort of, uh, side effects, and then see whether it makes sense for us to do this at bigger scale. But then problem is, to a large extent, you're also playing weather god,

Debkanya 9:17

Yeah.

Kiran 9:17

um,

Debkanya 9:18

But I mean, the other way of looking at it is a lot of the issues that we are facing today with the weather, they are manmade, right? So the, So the solutions have to be manmade too. So

Kiran 9:32

They, they

Debkanya 9:32

may-

Kiran 9:33

yes.

Debkanya 9:34

So we are on the right track

Kiran 9:35

reduce the man-made cause

Debkanya 9:38

The the the impact of, of manmade, uh, yeah.

Kiran 9:43

Instead of, instead of having to find even more solutions that are man-made, because man-made over man-made over man-made, nature's gonna come back some way or the other,

Debkanya 9:52

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I think, I think ultimately it comes down to the fact that even if it's manmade, uh, we are part of nature. Let's not forget that we are an integral and very important part of nature, and if we keep seeing ourselves as that, then I think we'll do the right thing

Kiran 10:08

Yeah. And, and so very exciting, um, you know, from a geography perspective. about it. Maybe try doing some experiments at home and in school which are similar to this, seeing reflective surfaces and heat, um, and, and maybe kind of looking at what is possible, right? Um, but I think moving from nature to something that's happening which is historic in the sporting world, we have covered it for the last couple of episodes. It is the FIFA World Cup, and we are at the end of the FIFA World Cup. You know, what is so cool is that, um, FIFA as a governing body has been, uh, ranking countries since, I think, 1992.

Debkanya 10:56

Hmm

Kiran 10:57

the way they rank these countries, it's like any sport, right? Who's the best, who's the second-best, who's the third-best, fourth-best is based on matches you play, how many you won, how many you lost, how many you drew, against who. And so coming into the World Cup, there were four the top four, and it's for the first time ever in World Cup history, after these rankings were released in 1992, that the top four teams actually made the semifinals, which are the last four tea- uh, countries,

Debkanya 11:30

Yeah yeah.

Kiran 11:31

which is amazing, right? So it's,

Debkanya 11:33

it's it's, neat. It's neat and mathematical. That's what it is

Kiran 11:36

It is. It is. It's Argentina, Spain, France and England, and in fact, it is so neat and mathematical that, um, you know, it gives even more confidence to the FIFA rankings,

Debkanya 11:49

Yeah.

Kiran 11:50

okay, you know,

Debkanya 11:51

We're doing something right.

Kiran 11:53

Yeah, exactly. And what is even cooler is now we know that it's not just these four into the semis. We know who the finalists are,

Debkanya 12:02

Yes

Kiran 12:03

and Spain, which is the number one and number two, so even more about

Debkanya 12:08

Who, who are you rooting for, Kiran?

Kiran 12:11

Oh, I'm Argentina all the way. From,

Debkanya 12:13

All the way.

Kiran 12:14

of the, yeah, from the

Debkanya 12:15

Hmm

Kiran 12:17

of the tournament. In fact, um, you know, I think France had a pretty big following as well, a lot of people kind of rooting for France. I know my daughter was, you know, very, very upset when Spain beat, France.

Debkanya 12:34

Okay.

Kiran 12:34

she's a big Mbappé fan. Um, but,

Debkanya 12:38

daughter's a Haaland fan, and she was very upset when Norway had to go.

Kiran 12:43

Yes,

Debkanya 12:43

I think Haaland got a lot of lot of new fans this time

Kiran 12:47

yeah, yeah, yeah. He was very likable.

Debkanya 12:52

Yeah, she's the lovable goofball

Kiran 12:53

Viking

Debkanya 12:55

or the gentle Viking

Kiran 12:57

Yeah.

Debkanya 12:59

Well, but yes, unfortunately we won't see him. Uh, but we will be seeing Messi, and I think that, that man has enough, uh, of a hero status in this world of football and otherwise in the sport, in, in the world of sports. Um, a lot of people will be rooting for Argentina for sure. I haven't decided yet. Hmm. I have to decide

Kiran 13:20

about Messi? Another little stat is that he is the first person to actually get 10 career assists in World Cup matches, and an assist

Debkanya 13:34

That is so cool

Kiran 13:35

That is so cool, right? It-- And an assist is when you actually, um, create the opportunity for someone else to score a goal. So it's really about being a team player, right? It's not about you just going and scoring yourself, but 10 career assists in a World Cup, in World Cup matches never happened before. Messi's the first person, and, uh, you know, ever since this stat was being recorded, I think this was from 1966, so 60-odd years

Debkanya 14:01

Hmm

Kiran 14:02

no one else has done 10 career assists in World Cup, and Messi's the first one to do it.

Debkanya 14:08

That is wonderful. Right. Truly, truly complete team player where he's setting the scene for someone else to score that winning goal, right? It's

Kiran 14:15

Yeah. Even

Debkanya 14:16

right? So,

Kiran 14:17

he didn't score at all. He,

Debkanya 14:18

hmm

Kiran 14:19

set it up, so yeah, brilliant

Debkanya 14:22

Great guy and great match coming up on Sunday. I don't know. I'm sure a lot of you will be staying up very late, uh, into Monday morning for us, uh, to watch this match.

Kiran 14:33

Yeah

Debkanya 14:33

Uh, with that, we will wrap up this episode, but I will have to give you your quiz question, and it's connected to the football. It's not connected to the oceans. It's connected to football. And I'm gonna ask you about another very, very famous Argentinian player, also a captain of the Argentinian football team, who is famously associated with the phrase Hand of God. Do you know who he is? No options.

Kiran 15:04

Yes. Yes. Yes. I do

Debkanya 15:07

No options here. Send in your answers to www.takarokids.com or you can send us a message on Instagram and we will pick one lucky winner. Send it whenever you want. It doesn't have to be the first or the last, and we'll pick a winner

Kiran 15:24

Go in and send in your entries. This is such an easy one that Debbie has given you this time.

Debkanya 15:29

Super easy.

Kiran 15:30

is super, super simple. Along with your answer, and if this is sent before the finals, if your answer is sent before the finals, also send your prediction. Who do you think is gonna win? Yeah.