Britain faces big chill as ocean current slows

Britain faces big chill as ocean current slows
By Jonathan Leake, Science Editor
May 18, 2005, 14:08


May 08, 2005

CLIMATE change researchers have detected the first signs of a slowdown in the Gulf Stream — the mighty ocean current that keeps Britain and Europe from freezing.

They have found that one of the “engines” driving the Gulf Stream — the sinking of supercooled water in the Greenland Sea — has weakened to less than a quarter of its former strength.

The weakening, apparently caused by global warming, could herald big changes in the current over the next few years or decades. Paradoxically, it could lead to Britain and northwestern and Europe undergoing a sharp drop in temperatures.

Such a change has long been predicted by scientists but the new research is among the first to show clear experimental evidence of the phenomenon.




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http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_17762.shtml

That's a major world climate driver--significant change there could have unpredictable worldwide effects, much as a strong El Nino can massively screw things up in Australia.

Can't say we didn't see it coming, either--it's been discussed for many years. Nova Scotia (where I live) could be in for colder, longer winters.

As a matter of fact, spring has been pretty slow in coming this year... :scared:

A couple of months ago, a bLiar flunkie delivered a press comment announcing that the government was looking to adaptaion to these known climate changes rather than prevention.

Wow, Labour not only fucked Iraq, it fucked Great Britain too.

Congratulations loosers, think about it while you freeze your asses off.

I am truly sorry that the British people have been betrayed by "the third way" ... and poor Ireland, what did they ever do to hurt anybody?

was based on? :tinfoilhat:

Not good folks, not good at all. This will not only affect Britain, but Western Europe and the east coast of the US. Major current, drives a lot of the current weather patterns in the Atlantic.

Buckle in and hang on, our ride is going to be getting real bumpy, real soon.

Weather patterns in the Atlantic affect weather patterns in the Pacific, the Antarctic, the Arctic, the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean... well, you get my drift.

Trouble is, there's always someone with a degree or three who will take money to say that it's either not happening or is a good thing, usually in front of a congressional committee that's bought and paid for by the same money.

I worked at the National Center for Atmospheric Research 16 years ago and this was all well known science at the time. This has been known about for decades. Nothing, NOTHING has been done. Even then, scientists were talking about mitigation rather than prevention, because they knew it couldn't be averted.

:grr:

In that film, the Gulf Stream which helps warm parts of North America and Europe shuts down, which heralds whacky weather all around and ends in a new hemispheric ice age, in several weeks.