[at-l] Atlantic Thermo Cycle And Global Warming (Now: Good Things about an Ice Age)

[sblovedoves at bellsouth.net (SBLoveDoves)]

Thanks R&R & Dr. Ruth!

But, you know, I like to look at the positive side of things.  At least my
inability to sweat / heat intolerance during the normally hot and humid
summers in Florida won't be much of an issue when the Ice Ages return!  And,
we shouldn't have so much of a mosquito problem either....

Cheryl / Swamp Blar (with tongue firmly implanted in cheek)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <RoksnRoots@aol.com>
To: <AT-L@Backcountry.net>
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2004 3:56 PM
Subject: [at-l] Atlantic Thermo Cycle And Global Warming


>
>
>       From the NY Times:
>
>
>          "   ~ ~ Normally, water circulates in the North Atlantic like
this:
> Cold, salty water at the top sinks; that sinking water acts as a pump,
pulling
> warm Gulf Stream water north and thus moderating winter weather. But now,
> fresh water from the thawing ice and heavier rain is accumulating near the
> ocean's surface; it's not sinking as quickly. (The tropics are faced with
the
> opposite phenomenon. According to Dr Ruth Curry and her colleagues at the
Woods Hole
> Oceanographic Institution, the tropical Atlantic is becoming saltier; as
> warming increases, so does evaporation, which leaves behind salt.) The
> "freshening" in the North Atlantic may be contributing to a high-pressure
system that is
> accelerating trans-Atlantic winds and deflecting the jet stream - changes
that
> may be driving frigid fronts down the Eastern Seaboard. The ice-core
records
> demonstrate that the North Atlantic can freshen to a point where the deep
> water pump fails, warm water stops coming north, and the northern ocean
suddenly
> freezes, as it did in the last Ice-Age. No one can say if that is what
will
> happen next. But since the 1950's, the best documented deep-water pump,
between
> Iceland and Scotland, has slowed 20 percent.
>
>       Why now? After all, the planet's previous periods of global warming
> resulted from changes in the earth's tilt towards the sun, and recent
> calculations of these cycles indicate that our hospitable climate was not
due to have
> ended any time soon. But because of the warming brought by the buildup of
carbon
> dioxide, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels, the equations have
changed.
> We are entering uncharted waters. It's something for New Yorkers to ponder
as
> they bundle up. "
>
>
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