How many of you understand how the thermal haline conveyor works?

Question

And the history of climate change throughout the centuries? A lot of people seem to be under the impression that "global warming" amounts to the earth just getting hotter and hotter until the glaciers melt and flood the planet, which will not be the case. The earth is pretty good at keeping herself balanced.

Bob, I bet you do understand the THC (if it's the kind you like to smoke) if you think that building nuclear power plants will save our earth. It might stop pollution...until the accidents start.

Answer 1

Yes, indeed the Thermohaline belt will stop functioning after a certain level of ice caps would have melt, thus stopping the thermal exchanges between the two hemispheres. El nino will be past history... But we do not know yet, what it will takes to restart the thermohaline belt cycle, it may take much longer than we think, thus we still don't really know how long it will take for the belt to stop and even less how long it will take to restart. As you may know, precipitations in the poles are much lower than at any other lattitudes and we may predict how long it can take to melt the ice, but it will be very difficult to know how long it could take to reform the ice caps after they have melted.
So my guess here, is that after being stuck in a global warming period, we may enter a ice age that could last millenium(s). Heck, we in Canada are pretty much used to the cold, as we got the cooler side of the belt cooling down our temperatures, but the west coast and Europe could find it much harder than us...

Anyways, nice topics, very few peoples have got the time to research about it, and surprisingly enough, I did need to find this by doing my own researchs as they are almost no sites that cover this side of the story... Maybe now it has changed as it look like more peoples are aware of it, but 2 years ago.. Nothing...

Edit: Few sites that talk about the fact that the conveyor belt has greater chances to be disrupted by melted fresh water, thus triggering the cooling in temperature of the northern Atlantic regions. Also its sudden effects on the weather are not discuss anywhere...
I know Lovelock, but I do prefer Lynn Margulis, she is onto something much more important than this guy... She is also working for Nasa, while Lovelock...nuff said...

Answer 2

Thermohaline:
The water of the great world ocean is, like its crust and interior, constantly in motion. Currents carrying colossal amounts of water transport it around the globe, by what has been named "The Great Ocean Conveyor".
Oceanic thermohaline -- so named because it involves both heat, hence "thermo," and salt, hence haline, for common table salt (halite) -- circulation is what drives the Conveyor. The two attributes, temperature and salinity, determine the density of seawater, and the differences in density between the water masses in the world's oceans causes the water to flow.
Thermohaline circulation -- the Great Ocean Conveyor -- thereby produces the greatest oceanic current on the planet. It works in a fashion similar to a conveyor belt -- hence the name -- transporting enormous volumes of cold, salty water from the North Atlantic to the Northern Pacific, and bringing warmer, fresher water in return.


History of climate change throughout the centuries:

Earth's climate has been changing constantly over its 5-billion-year history.

Sometimes, the climate has warmed so that the oceans have risen and covered much of the Earth. Each of the changes may seem extreme, but they usually occurred slowly over many thousands of years

The first people arrived in America between 15,000 and 30,000 years ago. During that time, much of North America was covered by great ice sheets. Some 14,000 years ago, the last ice sheet began to melt very quickly. By 7,000 years ago, the ice was gone.
This end to the ice ages caused big changes on the Earth. The changes caused many kinds of plants and animals to die. For example, mastodons – elephant-like animals – and other large mammals that preferred cold climates may not have been able to live in the warmer, drier conditions.

Starting in the 14th century, Europeans lived through what is known as the "Little Ice Age." The Little Ice Age lasted for several hundred years. During the Little Ice Age, the advance of glaciers along with hard winters and famines caused some people to starve and others to leave their homes.

The Earth has warmed about 1ºF in the last 100 years. And the four warmest years of the 20th century all happened in the 1990s. Periods of increased heat from the sun may have helped make the Earth warmer. But many of the world's leading climatologists think that the greenhouse gases people produce are making the Earth warmer, too.

Answer 3

I understand the THC. And one of the few bright spots in the data is that, so far, effects on that seem to be minimal. The scientific consensus is that that will be true for this century. That's good for Europe, which otherwise could be headed for a freeze.

James Lovelock is a well respected scientist long known for his strong belief in the self regulating power of Earth. He's written both peer reviewed articles and books about it, calling the Earth "Gaia" in honor of its' power.

The global warming data has convinced him that this time is different. His latest book "The Revenge of Gaia" is a passionate argument for massive construction of nuclear power plants to fight global warming.

sentrynox - Google "thermohaline circulation" "global warming" and you'll get what you're looking for.

EDIT - Just because the Russians built a Yugo doesn't mean we can't build a Toyota. We're actually very good at that kind of engineering.

Read the Lovelock. He's a very very smart man.

Answer 4

Yep, as I understand it, the Arctic ice cap has to melt almost completely for re-glaciation to occur. This does not mean that all of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have to melt. This also means that it can happen sooner than we expect.

And while I disagree with Bob on many subjects, nuclear power is not one of them. It is the only "clean" power source available today on a LARGE scale. We currently do not produce enough electricity in this country; we need enough to power man's habitats and workplaces AND the bulk of transportation. Fossil fuel is NOT environmentally, politically, and ultimately economically viable through the end of the century. Alternative energy sources are promising, but are not yet ready for prime time. Nuclear is presently our best stop-gap.

And research nuclear accidents with American style generators - I think you'll find their personal and environmental safety records quite good and steadily improving.

Answer 5

Earth is excellent at keeping itself in balance and comes complete with it's own first-aid kit for patching itself up. The trouble is that in recent times we've given it such a good kicking that there's some damage that can never be put right.

We're rapidly depleting resources that have taken millions of years to form and across the planet there's areas so heavily contaminated through toxic wastes, biological tresting, radiation leaks etc that they've become no go areas and will be for hundreds or thousands of years.

Global warming has the makings of the largest disaster to have struck the planet in modern times. If we cross the threshold (known as the 'tipping point') we enter into unchartered territory and a point where the damage becomes irreparable. Our actions now and in the next few years could have implications that affect the planet for thousands, maybe even millions of years.

GW is certainly much more than melting ice caps and glaciers, this is just one the many thousands of ways in which GW has already, and will continue to, affect our planet. To exit the ice age completely will take many thousands of years and even in the worst case scenario the ice locked in the Antarctic interior will be a long time in melting. Once this point is reached, be it through natural or anthropogenic causes or a combination of both, sea levels across the planet will rise by 80.32 metres (260 feet), large areas of land will remain but large areas will also be lost to the sea.

And yes, I do understand thermohaline circulation and the history of climate change.

Answer 6

very true, but people like to feel like they are making a difference. The way I see it, it can be put to a good- non propagandized- purpose.
Im starting a non profit where old abandoned buildings are legally dismantled and the resources used for recycling, or in the building of a more helpful piece of land.

Answer 7

uuuuuuuummmmmmmm..........n0 i dnt kn0 n y d03z it m@tt3r