ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Salinity

Salinity is like how much salt there is in water. You know how you put salt in your soup to make it taste better? Well, the ocean is like a giant bowl of soup and it has salt in it too! The salt doesn't just come from people adding it though, it actually comes from rocks and other things in the earth.

The amount of salt in water is important for the animals and plants that live in it. Some animals and plants can only survive in water with a certain amount of salt, while others can only survive in water with a different amount of salt. For example, fish that live in the ocean need more salt in their water than fish that live in rivers.

Scientists use a measurement called "parts per thousand" to talk about how much salt there is in water. So if there were 5 parts of salt for every 1000 parts of water, we would say the water has a salinity of 5. Scientists also use different tools to test the amount of salt in water, like special instruments or even tasting the water themselves!

Overall, salinity is important for understanding how things live in water and how we can take care of our oceans and other bodies of water.