Gulf stream slowing?

[Skins24]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1602579,00.html

Britain faces big chill as ocean current slows

Jonathan Leake, Science Editor

CLIMATE change researchers have detected the first signs of a slowdown in the Gulf Stream — the mighty ocean current that keeps Britain and Europe from freezing.

They have found that one of the “engines” driving the Gulf Stream — the sinking of supercooled water in the Greenland Sea — has weakened to less than a quarter of its former strength.

The weakening, apparently caused by global warming, could herald big changes in the current over the next few years or decades. Paradoxically, it could lead to Britain and northwestern and Europe undergoing a sharp drop in temperatures.

Such a change has long been predicted by scientists but the new research is among the first to show clear experimental evidence of the phenomenon.

Peter Wadhams, professor of ocean physics at Cambridge University, hitched rides under the Arctic ice cap in Royal Navy submarines and used ships to take measurements across the Greenland Sea.

“Until recently we would find giant ‘chimneys’ in the sea where columns of cold, dense water were sinking from the surface to the seabed 3,000 metres below, but now they have almost disappeared,” he said.

“As the water sank it was replaced by warm water flowing in from the south, which kept the circulation going. If that mechanism is slowing, it will mean less heat reaching Europe.”

Such a change could have a severe impact on Britain, which lies on the same latitude as Siberia and ought to be much colder. The Gulf Stream transports 27,000 times more heat to British shores than all the nation’s power supplies could provide, warming Britain by 5-8C.

Wadhams and his colleagues believe, however, that just such changes could be well under way. They predict that the slowing of the Gulf Stream is likely to be accompanied by other effects, such as the complete summer melting of the Arctic ice cap by as early as 2020 and almost certainly by 2080. This would spell disaster for Arctic wildlife such as the polar bear, which could face extinction.

Wadhams’s submarine journeys took him under the North Polar ice cap, using sonar to survey the ice from underneath. He has measured how the ice has become 46% thinner over the past 20 years. The results from these surveys prompted him to focus on a feature called the Odden ice shelf, which should grow out into the Greenland Sea every winter and recede in summer.

The growth of this shelf should trigger the annual formation of the sinking water columns. As sea water freezes to form the shelf, the ice crystals expel their salt into the surrounding water, making it heavier than the water below.

However, the Odden ice shelf has stopped forming. It last appeared in full in 1997. “In the past we could see nine to 12 giant columns forming under the shelf each year. In our latest cruise, we found only two and they were so weak that the sinking water could not reach the seabed,” said Wadhams, who disclosed the findings at a meeting of the European Geosciences Union in Vienna.

The exact effect of such changes is hard to predict because currents and weather systems take years to respond and because there are two other areas around the north Atlantic where water sinks, helping to maintain circulation. Less is known about how climate change is affecting these.

However, Wadhams suggests the effect could be dramatic. “One of the frightening things in the film The Day After Tomorrow showed how the circulation in the Atlantic Ocean is upset because the sinking of cold water in the north Atlantic suddenly stops,” he said.

“The sinking is stopping, albeit much more slowly than in the film — over years rather than a few days. If it continues, the effect will be to cool the climate of northern Europe.”

One possibility is that Europe will freeze; another is that the slowing of the Gulf Stream may keep Europe cool as global warming heats the rest of the world — but with more extremes of weather.

[Johnny Punani2]

hold on to your butts!

If this ocean circulation stops Washington DC area will have the same climate as Montreal Canada.

[Pete]

Good deal, that means Florida will cool down a bit:laugh:

[twa]

Might cut down on the hurricanes too.

[chomerics]

Originally posted by Pete

Good deal, that means Florida will cool down a bit:laugh:

Ummmm, yes it will cool down a bit because it will be under water.

[chomerics]

This is HUGE news, and people should be aware of the consequences. I knew something screwey was going on in the Atlantic, as we had a real strong Nor'Easter in May, this NEVER happens. Typical nor'easters happen from September to March, but almost never in May June of July. . . . at least as long as I have been alive.

A lot of it has to do with the salinity of the water, and because of global warming,. The water's salinity level is the engine for the conveyor system or the global current. The Gulf Stream is part of this current and it keeps England, Ireland and other European nations temperate. The warm water from the gulf stream keeps England from becoming Siberia. Well, due to global warming, the salinity level has decreased because of the Greenland icemelt entering the Gulf Stream. The less salty water isn't as dense and it is turning off the engine in a matter of speaking.

It is going to lead to some drastic global changes in terms of climate, and atmospheric storms. Johnny Punani should be able to bring more information about this, because it is his field of work.

Make no bones about it though, this is definitely big news.

[Predicto]

It's all just a big hoax by the enviro-wackos.

Rush told me.

[twa]

Originally posted by chomerics

Ummmm, yes it will cool down a bit because it will be under water.

You say that like thats a bad thing :laugh:

[TD_washingtonredskins]

I see this as a natural (and gradual) occurrence.

In different times, different areas of the earth will be warm. I'm sure global warming has a hand in this, but transitions like this will probably happen anyway.

[Leonard Washington]

Originally posted by Johnny Punani

hold on to your butts!

If this ocean circulation stops Washington DC area will have the same climate as Montreal Canada.

that would be gr8 i love snow!

[SkinsHokieFan]

Originally posted by chomerics

This is HUGE news, and people should be aware of the consequences. I knew something screwey was going on in the Atlantic, as we had a real strong Nor'Easter in May, this NEVER happens. Typical nor'easters happen from September to March, but almost never in May June of July. . . . at least as long as I have been alive.

A lot of it has to do with the salinity of the water, and because of global warming,. The water's salinity level is the engine for the conveyor system or the global current. The Gulf Stream is part of this current and it keeps England, Ireland and other European nations temperate. The warm water from the gulf stream keeps England from becoming Siberia. Well, due to global warming, the salinity level has decreased because of the Greenland icemelt entering the Gulf Stream. The less salty water isn't as dense and it is turning off the engine in a matter of speaking.

It is going to lead to some drastic global changes in terms of climate, and atmospheric storms. Johnny Punani should be able to bring more information about this, because it is his field of work.

Make no bones about it though, this is definitely big news.

Just to add on to this

A few years ago (around 1997) I went with my friend's family to a "Contrarian Convention"

Just a bunch of rich ass stock brokers with contrarian views gathered in some nice resort in Vermont.

Anyways, there was a presentation on how the climate is going to change. And JP can correct me if I am wrong, but the past 100 or so years has seen some of the most calm climates in our Earth's history, and this metoroligist said that is bound to change very very soon, and that weather systems would revert back to the ways they once were, which is much more erratic and violent.

This could be the harbringer to all of that

[Skins24]

The earth goes in cycles...

(sorry it's big)

If this is correct, we're heading toward another peak (which would happen if man didn't exsist - for all those who think humans are responsible for Global Warming). Once we hit that peak....yikes....

(and of course the closer we get the less prettier the weather would become....)

[dfitzo53]

Someone call this man!

[TD_washingtonredskins]

People say "yikes" and "be ready" but we're only talking a temperature change of a few degrees in the time that we'd be alive and feeling the impact.

Granted that could lead into a few more snowstorms and things like that, but it's not like we'll be living on a glacier in 2010 or anything.

Like Skins24 said, this is a natural occurence on our planet. It has happened before and will happen again, with our without us.

[portisizzle]

Rush Limbaugh was right all along. Commie California tree hugging environmentalists crying about global warming, when the actual data suggests that the Earth is COOLING.

Good grief.

[Mufumonk]

Originally posted by portisizzle

Rush Limbaugh was right all along. Commie California tree hugging environmentalists crying about global warming, when the actual data suggests that the Earth is COOLING.

Good grief.

Cooling due to global warming.

[Johnny Punani2]

Originally posted by chomerics

This is HUGE news, and people should be aware of the consequences. I knew something screwey was going on in the Atlantic, as we had a real strong Nor'Easter in May, this NEVER happens. Typical nor'easters happen from September to March, but almost never in May June of July. . . . at least as long as I have been alive.

A lot of it has to do with the salinity of the water, and because of global warming,. The water's salinity level is the engine for the conveyor system or the global current. The Gulf Stream is part of this current and it keeps England, Ireland and other European nations temperate. The warm water from the gulf stream keeps England from becoming Siberia. Well, due to global warming, the salinity level has decreased because of the Greenland icemelt entering the Gulf Stream. The less salty water isn't as dense and it is turning off the engine in a matter of speaking.

It is going to lead to some drastic global changes in terms of climate, and atmospheric storms. Johnny Punani should be able to bring more information about this, because it is his field of work.

Make no bones about it though, this is definitely big news.

Chom,

The late Nor'Easter has more to do with the overall warmer water temps in the Atlantic this year.

For the ocean circulation to stop you would need a very quick and massive melt off in Greenland/NE Canada. I doubt it will shut off totally.

[The Evil Genius]

Originally posted by portisizzle

Rush Limbaugh was right all along. Commie California tree hugging environmentalists crying about global warming, when the actual data suggests that the Earth is COOLING.

Good grief.

Every few months people point to cooler than normal temperatures as a sure sign that global warming can't be happening.

The problem is, almost all studies done about global warming's impact on the earth support that parts of the earth should cool off as a direct result of global warming. Why? Because a potential melting of the polar ice caps would cool off warmer water currents.

Now, whether you agree or disagree with the idea of global warming - I think only a fool wouldn't believe that mass blindly led industrialization (which is becoming more and more infrequent) doesn't have an impact (even if its minimal) on the environment and the planet.

[dfitzo53]

Originally posted by TD_washingtonredskins

People say "yikes" and "be ready" but we're only talking a temperature change of a few degrees in the time that we'd be alive and feeling the impact.

Granted that could lead into a few more snowstorms and things like that, but it's not like we'll be living on a glacier in 2010 or anything.

Like Skins24 said, this is a natural occurence on our planet. It has happened before and will happen again, with our without us.

The effects of global warming (or cooling) aren't limited to whether or not we need to put on a sweater. Changes of a few degrees average temperature in an area's climate are huge. A small temperature change can influence rainfall, crop cycles, cloud cover, etc.

Skins24's chart shows an oscillation of about 14 degrees in 100,000 years. That's 1.4 degrees in 10,000 years. Some studies peg the temperature increase in the last century at or above 1 degree, which is a much faster rate of change.

I'm not saying everyone should ride bikes to work and quit farting, but claims of global warming should not be dismissed quite so easily as some people like to.

I'd also add that living based on what will affect us while we're alive is shortsighted and irresponsible.

Edit: Skins24's chart is in Centigrade, and I believe my figure about the last century was measured in Fahrenheit. It still represents a greater increase, but the respective scales are important.

[Henry]

Originally posted by portisizzle

Rush Limbaugh was right all along. Commie California tree hugging environmentalists crying about global warming, when the actual data suggests that the Earth is COOLING.

Good grief.

I can't tell if that was a joke or not.