ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Wave height

Have you ever stood by the ocean and watched the waves? The height of a wave is how tall it is from the bottom of the wave to the top of the wave. It can be really big or really small.

Imagine holding a plate in your hand and pouring water onto it. If you pour a little bit of water, the waves on the plate will be small, just like the small waves you see in a swimming pool. But if you keep pouring more and more water onto the plate, the waves will get bigger and bigger, just like the waves in the ocean during a storm.

The height of waves can be affected by lots of things. If it’s windy, the wind can make waves bigger. If there’s a big storm far away, it can make big waves that travel across the ocean. And if you’re near a beach or a shallow area in the ocean, the waves can get bigger because the water is hitting the bottom of the ocean floor and causing the wave to grow taller.

So, in short, wave height is how tall a wave is from the bottom to the top, and it can be influenced by lots of things like wind, storms, and the depth of the water.
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