The Atlantic Conveyor belt

[nadinbrzezinski]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermohaline_circulation

It is predicted that global warming may shut it down. Folks this is BAD NEWS if this actually happened. For Europe it would mean a new ice age...

So I've been thinking, while some righties scream... but, but, this cold snap... proves global warming is melarkey... could this be a preview of coming attractions?

Oh and for those of you not knowing this... they had ice water today in Mexico City... and snow is possible... no, not just in the outskirts, in the city...

That is how damn south this snap is going.

[Zynx]

1. I'm glad the experts started using the term "climate change" as opposed to just

"global warming". The warming triggers a far worse outcome which is a dramatic drop in temperatures in the northern hemisphere.

[opihimoimoi]

2. Peeps focus on personal shit.,..the NFL, Nascar, etc..... too busy to notice until

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. I know but if this happens

it will be really bad news for us humans... worst case, not that the earth will notice, extinction level event.

[opihimoimoi]

20. Obama got it 1/2 right...not only the Masses need Science...Congress too

[RoyGBiv]

4. Something disturbing ...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/1/6/822520/-Freak-Current-Takes-Gulf-Stream-to-Greenland

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. HOLY SHIT!!!!!

I do hope it is just a rare occurrence!

[Ghost Dog]

21. Closely related: Jetstream path

currently in more southerly latitudes than 'normal' (Spain, N. Africa, Canary Islands (where Atlantic surface temperature has been colder than normal for a while) enjoying the rain and snow - note also Greenland 'spurt' later).

http://www.stormsurfing.com/cgi/display_alt.cgi?a=natla_250



See also: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8447262.stm

[arcadian]

6. Mexico City is at 7349 feet

Not surprising it is that cold there.

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. Hmmm Cold water around Mexico City is not good, but do we have

any data on the salinity factor involved here?

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Icicles and there is research ongoing on the converyor belt

look at BBC or Nature for that. Read on it over the years... let me see if I can find any basic info

ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/blueplanet/infobursts/ocean_conveyor_bg.shtml

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/05mar_arctic.htm

For the moment we are still talking theory by the way.

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. But it's a theory that could prove true, which is what is so troubling. Imagine a new

Ice Age. You think the human population is straining the planet's resources now, think what it would be like if they were cut by a third or a half? And how crowded is it going to be when people start migrating to warmer areas? (And probably away from the coast if the sea levels start rising. And of course when that happens and the oceans eat up entire cities, think how much more poisoned they will become.)

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. The history channel is playing with the worst case scenarios

right now, and in my view they are not worst casing it enough.

When I think of the worst case scenarios I realize that we might be on the edge of an extinction level event... or close to it.

[JVS]

16. Don't worry about the migrations, the transport network is not advanced to evacuate the areas.

A lot of people would just freeze.

[GreenPartyVoter]

17. Well, there is that. :^(

[David Zephyr]

8. You and I are a minority, but I've been saying this for the last year.

The last Ice Age, the Younger Dryas came quickly (less than 10 years by some estimates and recent scientific evidence shows it was even quicker) and turned Europe to tundra.

The North Atlantic Conveyor is slowing BECAUSE of global warming.

Global warming can trigger an ice age.

It might be doing that.

My suspicions began when the hurricanes that should have come the last two years in the Atlantic and Gulf did not materialize..even though the waters were warmer. Paradox? Maybe not IF the conveyor is slowing.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Well this is ONE of the possible weather models

when working in disaster planning we did look at shit like this...

I must say this though, if true... this will be painful.

[Lilith Velkor]

13. The Younger Dryas could very well have been triggered by a comet

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/clovis

[XemaSab]

14. .

[JVS]

15. Didn't I read recently that the old ice age only took a few months to kick in

[Goldstein1984]

18. As you guys have been pointing out, Climate Change isn't just

warming or cooling, it's also erratic weather patterns and changes to phenomena like the Gulf Stream and the monsoons. No hurricanes when ocean temperatures suggest their should be more hurricanes, could be an example of the kind of erratic weather we should expect.

This website http://www.realclimate.org/ is a great source of climate change information. It's operated by real climate scientists, and you can follow a lot of the scientific debates among scientists via the site. I'm only an environmental engineer, but a good friend of mine is a "statistical climatologist," now working as an environmental scientist, who really swears by this site.

[WT Fuheck]

19. Does anybody know when the new season of American Idol starts?

:sarcasm:
or more correctly, satire

[n2doc]

22. Sorry folks, no ice age

The thermal forcing right now is different. Yes, England and Northern Europe will get colder, but that heat just doesn't disappear. The Pacific Ocean has a similar surface circulation to the Atlantic, but no major deep water formation off of Alaska. That is where we are heading.

The cessation of deep circulation will have effects, but not enough to overcome CO2 forcing.