Posted on 11/30/2005 3:29:39 PM PST by voletti
The ocean current that gives western Europe its relatively balmy climate is stuttering, raising fears that it might fail entirely and plunge the continent into a mini ice age.
The dramatic finding comes from a study of ocean circulation in the North Atlantic, which found a 30% reduction in the warm currents that carry water north from the Gulf Stream.
The slow-down, which has long been predicted as a possible consequence of global warming, will give renewed urgency to intergovernmental talks in Montreal, Canada, this week on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. NS Forum What do you think about these dramatic findings? Discuss this story >>
Harry Bryden at the Southampton Oceanography Centre in the UK, whose group carried out the analysis, says he is not yet sure if the change is temporary or signals a long-term trend. "We don’t want to say the circulation will shut down," he told New Scientist. "But we are nervous about our findings. They have come as quite a surprise."
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
I want a theory that says that the exact opposite outcome of my prediction (an ice age) is proof that my theory is correct.
Oh, so they think it's happening already?
Well my colleague who has been fretting about thawing peat bogs and melting methane hydrates as the cause of global warming, and the possiblity that this effect will be self-reinforcing will be comforted. I've been telling him the shutdown of the themohaline currents in the North Atlantic would make the process self-limiting.
Mini? All the evidence suggests that the onset of a full-fledged ice age takes place in under a decade.
I'm just south of where the glaciers made it last time. I guess it will have to be cross-country skiing rather than snorkeling I take up in my retirment.
Warming...cooling...warming...cooling....which is it? Should I buy a coat, or tanning lotion?
most of the slow-down happened between 1992 and 1998.
It's Clinton's fault
Oh, and I forgot to add, when the current shut down, the theory goes. It's not just Europe, but the whole earth: the extra snowfall on Europe, and extra time it stays in place increases the Earth's albedo.
(The blockheads from Kyoto could manage to cut CO_2 and CH_4 emissions just when we need them to moderate the ice age!)
"The dramatic finding comes from a study of ocean circulation in the North Atlantic, which found a 30% reduction in the warm currents that carry water north from the Gulf Stream.
The slow-down, which has long been predicted as a possible consequence of global warming, will give renewed urgency to intergovernmental talks in Montreal, Canada, this week on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol."
Anytime there's an actual cooling event, it's always attributed to global warming. Ever notice ?
I live in a desert. Bring it on...
Hence, when the polar caps melt more, because of an increase in temperature, the resulting increase in water level covers more dry ground. That, in turn, exposes less dry ground to the sun's rays, which produces a cooling cycle.
It is a cycle that has been going on ever since there has been dry land, polar caps, and oceans. Yes, even before Al Gore was born.
See this web page. The book is an excellently researched effort.
As long as it is fresh, or nearly so, it will not sink since fresh water, irrespective of its temperature, weighs less than salt water.
Extraordinarily high levels of precipitation in the Mississippi Valley could generate a layer of fresh water over the Gulf, and the Gulf Stream and thereby bring the themohaline currents to a stop, or at least slow them down enough so that those doggone palmtrees disappear from Ireland.
A major source of additional fresh water would, of course, consist of hurricanes.
Maybe Europe is doomed and the baggy pants crowd of recent Moslem immigrants to the Continent are going to freeze to death in the dark.
Combined with the other threads about global cooling, maybe the scientists are just covering the bets: "Any type of weather is the result of global warming."
I think folks who don't regularly verify that the temperature has three digits just don't get it.
"we've hit a critical desalinization point..." - Anyone? Anyone? One of the worst lines from any movie ever.
Humans can no more control weather than we can make moutains move with our minds(unless we are Uri Geller:)).
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