I have read that the Panama Isthmus emerged several million years ago linking North and South America. A knock-on effect was that the world's oceans now exchanged more water around the poles than at the equater thus lowering world temperatures and creating less precipitation (warm air holds more moisture) which in turn lead to a reduction in the size of tropical forestation which, it is theorised, prompted our ancestors to come down from the trees.
Since the construction of the canals, has the, albeit slender, exchange of water between the Med and Red Sea and between the Carribean and Pacific had any effect on global temperature? Might it even contribute to global warming?
2007-03-25
01:06:15
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6 answers
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asked by
Andrew H
2