Eric Swanson
2010-10-27 09:05:23 UTC
There's a claim making it's way around the internet that the Gulf
Stream has slowed. The proposed cause is the impact of the BP oil
spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Here's a link to a blog with the earliest
post I found with a brief Google search, first dated 29 Aug 2010:
http://europebusines.blogspot.com/2010/08/special-post-life-on-this-earth-just.html
The Gulf Stream is a wind driven Western Boundary Current. I saw no
discussion of this as the cause of the flow, only various conjectures
about the impact of the chemicals used to disperse the oil from the
blown out BP well. I think this claim is not supported by the facts
and the spreading of this idea only adds to the confusion in the
public mind regarding climate change.
Of course, the Gulf Stream isn't the THC. While changes in the THC
sinking in the Nordic and Labrador Seas might impact the path of the
waters derived from the warm Gulf Stream, such as the North Atlantic
Drift Current, that would not imply a shutdown of the basic wind
driven flow. There's no apparent link offered which can explain a
relationship between the oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico and the
strength of the THC. That said, I think it is possible that the THC
has weakened, but the cause would most likely be the reported
freshening of the Nordic Seas which has occurred over the past few
decades. I've noted data from satellite passive microwave data which
suggests that the slowdown may have started 3 winters ago. If so, we
may indeed experience another cold winter over portions of of the
NH.
The weather is already getting interesting, with a massive storm
moving out of the Pacific over the US northern plains and Canada with
record low pressures recorded within. This lowest pressure measured,
around 28.20" (955 mb), is comparable to the low pressure seen within
a Cat 3 hurricane.
http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/40673/midwest-storm-breaks-us-pressu.asp
E. S.
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Stream has slowed. The proposed cause is the impact of the BP oil
spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Here's a link to a blog with the earliest
post I found with a brief Google search, first dated 29 Aug 2010:
http://europebusines.blogspot.com/2010/08/special-post-life-on-this-earth-just.html
The Gulf Stream is a wind driven Western Boundary Current. I saw no
discussion of this as the cause of the flow, only various conjectures
about the impact of the chemicals used to disperse the oil from the
blown out BP well. I think this claim is not supported by the facts
and the spreading of this idea only adds to the confusion in the
public mind regarding climate change.
Of course, the Gulf Stream isn't the THC. While changes in the THC
sinking in the Nordic and Labrador Seas might impact the path of the
waters derived from the warm Gulf Stream, such as the North Atlantic
Drift Current, that would not imply a shutdown of the basic wind
driven flow. There's no apparent link offered which can explain a
relationship between the oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico and the
strength of the THC. That said, I think it is possible that the THC
has weakened, but the cause would most likely be the reported
freshening of the Nordic Seas which has occurred over the past few
decades. I've noted data from satellite passive microwave data which
suggests that the slowdown may have started 3 winters ago. If so, we
may indeed experience another cold winter over portions of of the
NH.
The weather is already getting interesting, with a massive storm
moving out of the Pacific over the US northern plains and Canada with
record low pressures recorded within. This lowest pressure measured,
around 28.20" (955 mb), is comparable to the low pressure seen within
a Cat 3 hurricane.
http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/40673/midwest-storm-breaks-us-pressu.asp
E. S.
---
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You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Global Change ("globalchange") newsgroup. Global Change is a public, moderated venue for discussion of science, technology, economics and policy dimensions of global environmental change.
Posts will be admitted to the list if and only if any moderator finds the submission to be constructive and/or interesting, on topic, and not gratuitously rude.
To post to this group, send email to ***@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to globalchange-***@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalchange