New Scientist article on failing Gulf Stream

[tivoli_mike]

full article

 

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.

 

...

 

he North Atlantic is dominated by the Gulf Stream – currents that bring warm water north from the tropics. At around 40° north – the latitude of Portugal and New York – the current divides. Some water heads southwards in a surface current known as the subtropical gyre, while the rest continues north, leading to warming winds that raise European temperatures by 5°C to 10°C.

 

But when Bryden’s team measured north-south heat flow last year, using a set of instruments strung across the Atlantic from the Canary Islands to the Bahamas, they found that the division of the waters appeared to have changed since previous surveys in 1957, 1981 and 1992. From the amount of water in the subtropical gyre and the flow southwards at depth, they calculate that the quantity of warm water flowing north had fallen by around 30%.

 

When Bryden added previously unanalysed data – collected in the same region by the US government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – he found a similar pattern. This suggests that his 2004 measurements are not a one-off, and that most of the slow-down happened between 1992 and 1998.

 

The changes are too big to be explained by chance, co-author Stuart Cunningham told New Scientist from a research ship off the Canary Islands, where he is collecting more data. "We think the findings are robust."

 

 

...

 

[Winter]

thermohaline thermohaline thermohaline thermohaline thermohaline thermohaline thermohaline thermohaline thermohaline thermohaline

[EWolfe]

Gulf Sream needs to pay more attention to it's place in the World. There is just no excuse for that.

[catbirdseat]

This came up about a year ago in another thread. So if this phenomenon is real, Western Europe should be experiencing colder weather right now. Are they? Or is it going to take time for local waters to cool?

[bunglehead]

Dudes, I'm telling you, "The day After Tomorrow"

was more than just a movie, it was a fucking PROHPECY.

Roland Emmerich knows shit, man!!