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Letter to the Editor: Dichotomy of Global Warming
How can we believe the news about global warming when the eastern half of our country is blanketed in snow with the coldest temperatures in recent memory?
Evidence shows that the Arctic ice cap is melting and the glaciers on Greenland are shrinking at an alarming rate. When the disappearing ice exposes the water at the pole, two conditions result. First, evaporation of the water takes place, bringing more snow to the areas to the south, namely Canada and the northern United States. Second, the ice that previously reflected heat back into the atmosphere is gone,allowing more heat to be absorbed into the water.
As the ice cap and glaciers melt, fresh water mixes with salt water so that the northern oceans become less salty.
To explain the effect of the fresher water, one needs to realize that the Gulf Stream, dominating the flow in the Atlantic Ocean, resembles a conveyer belt with cold water off the coasts of Labrador and Greenland, sinking as it meets warmer waters to the south. This cold salt-water flow travels southward at depth along the eastern coast of North America, warming as it mixes with tropical waters.
Then this warm water is propelled northward as the top layer of the conveyer belt. Thus the Gulf Stream travels toward northwest Europe bringing warm weather to that area. When we realize that London and Paris are at the same latitude as Labrador, the effect of the Gulf Stream warmth is vital to the survival of northern Europe.
Fresh water is not a dense as salt water and thus will not sink as readily. This could weaken and eventually shut down the belt of water driving the Gulf Stream. Once this happens, it cannot be restarted. Europe would be plunged into another ice age.
We are at a critical point in our climate history. Understanding these changes help us make choices vital to protect our planet as we know it.
Gene Kaula-Slater
Santa Barbara
Comments
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» on 03.12.10 @ 03:06 PM
Global warming is B.S, and going to destroy business in the U.S with even more regulations.
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» on 03.15.10 @ 02:40 PM
Nice explanation Gene. For some of us it is not difficult disconnecting weather (local, short term climate events) from climate (regional/global long term effects). You did a nice job explaining how a climate effect (warming) can affect local weather in real time. More of that needs to happen as we have many people now disbelieving GW because of weather events. Global warming is happening as it has for the last 8000 years. We are not going to stop it, reverse it or affect it much with our puny CO2 escapements. We must also remember that our climate is constantly changing. It is not static or in stasis and never has been and thus should be looking at adaptation to it rather than God like changes we cannot do. Nor should we rule out the interaction life has with global climate. Those large deposits of lime stone a thousand feet thick all over the globe are a result of little tiny sea creatures sucking trillions of tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere and locking it away in thousands of feet of stone when the earth was covered with shallow seas and enjoyed a much warmer climate than today. As for fossil fuels, that is more CO2 locked away from our atmosphere that used to be there. So Gene keep the explanations coming, they are useful and we will continue to debunk the rest of the junk floating around out here.
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