Introduction:
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether global warming could affect the thermohaline circulation cycle (THC) significantly enough that it could even shut it down and thus cause a shift in the climate of Europe severe enough to cause another Little Ice Age. To answer the question about whether global warming could cause another ice age, I have divided this paper into segments. The first will explain what the thermohaline circulation cycle is. Next, I will look at the last interglacial period and observe what the conditions were like especially in respect to the THC. I will look at how the last interglacial led to the last great Ice Age, and the sudden demise of that Ice Age, as well as the nearly equally sudden cooling that occurred in the Younger Dryas about 12,000 years ago before the warming resumed in earnest shortly thereafter. In the final part of this paper I will look at two different predictions of what could happen as a result of the melting of the North Atlantic region's ice sheets with respect to the THC and how it could affect the regional climate in Europe.
What is the thermohaline Circulation Cycle?
The thermohaline circulation cycle (THC) delivers heat to the North Atlantic. In the winter the heat from the water is released into the eastward moving air masses like the Gulf Stream, thereby warming much of western and northern Europe. Cooling in the North Atlantic increases the density of the 'upper ocean water' to the point at which it becomes so dense that it sinks to the bottom and flows south towards the Antarctic, forming the 'lower limb' of this conveyor belt of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) (1583 Broecker).
Figure 1 (9.8, Principles of Environmental Science, 198 Cunn...
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Newfoundland and Labrador’s fisheries might start to be dated in a period not too distant from that Age of Discovery years, about five centuries ago, and since this period it had been performed an important role in both economic and socio-cultural structure of Atlantic Canada. Among several species, northern cods performed one of the main sources of food for both populations from Atlantic Canada and Eastern European countries such as Spain, Portugal, France, and principally England (Higgins, Lifestyle of Fishers, 1600-1900, 2008).
Americas by 14,000 ago” (O’Brien 12), after large portions of North America encountered the last ice age, which
...e Palaeo-Eskimo Prehistory of the North Devon Lowlands'. Arctic, vol. 44(no. 4), pp. 301-317 [Online]. Available at: http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic44-4-301.pdf [Accessed 10 December 2013].
...Clague, John J., Luckman, Brian H., Wiles, Gregory C. “Tree-Ring Dating of the Nineteenth-Century Advance of Brady Glacier and the Evolution of Two Ice- Marginal Lakes, Alaska.” The Holocene 21.4 (2001): 641-649. Sage Journals. Web. 9. Feb. 2014.
The Little Ice Age is the name for the period of cooling spanning from 1400 to 1900 c.e. that took place after the Medieval Warm Period. Scientists believe that solar minimums and reversals in the Northern Atlantic Oscillation, a large atmospheric-circulation system that affects weather in the North Atlantic area including Europe, drove these changes (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2014). It is often assumed that the Little Ice Age had a global impact. However, in 2001, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change put forth in a climate assessment report that though there were glacial increases in other parts of the world, they were not synchronous with the glacia...
During this period, groups had migrated long distances, following the edge of the glacial ice in search of food, mostly hunting seals. Some groups following seals and other marine food stuffs, made it all the Way to North America.
90 percent of the effects of global warming are attributed to rising temperatures and heat. This heat tends to affect our oceans due to the ...
O'Hare, G.. (2011). Updating our understanding of climate change in the North Atlantic: the role of global warming and the Gulf Stream. Geography,1 96, 5-15. Retrieved September 20, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 2346235711).
21,000 years ago, the Last Glacial Maximum, or LGM, occurred. It was the most recent period in climate history where ice sheets were at their peak size. This era “represents the nearest of a series of past climatic extremes characterizing the waxing and waning of Quaternary ice ages and as such serves as an excellent testing ground for assessment of sensitivity of the Earth’s climatic system,” (814, MAROGT). Due to this sensitivity of the climatic system, when data modeling global climates it is easier to see the individual effects of various external forcings (factors that alter the climate) when they are manipulated. This makes the Last Glacial Maximum ideal for testing, and it can be essential to global climate data modeling, including our
The Atlantic Ocean has been affected by the recent climate change in the Amazon. The water temperature of the ocean has rose. The temperature of the Atlantic Ocean is being determi...
There is no longer any question that our world climate has changed (King, 2004). Over the last 100 years, "temperatures have risen by about 0.6 degrees Celsius and global sea level has risen by about 20cm" (K...
To determine the HgT and Hg stable isotopes ratio in Arctic cod to study of sources and exposure pathways of Hg and MeHg in the Western Canadian Arctic, Beaufort Sea (Chapter 5).
Climate Change is any substantial change in climate that lasts for an extended period of time. One contributor to current climate change is global warming, which is an increase in Earth’s average temperature. Plants and animal species throughout the world are being affected by rising temperatures. Many plants are flowering earlier now than they once did; animals, such as the yellowbellied marmot, are emerging from hibernation earlier; and many bird and butterfly species are migrating north and breeding earlier in the spring than they did a few decades ago, all because of slight changes in temperature cues. (Shuster)
According to the Canada’s Action on Climate Change, Climate change is a long-term shift in weather conditions identified by changes in temperature, precipitation, winds, and other indicators. Climate change can involve both changes in average conditions and changes in variability, including, for example, extreme events. Climate change is one of the biggest crisis in the earth. It will cause a huge damage to the eco-system and human. We are the victims of the climate change. However, we are the one who cause the climate change.
all the time. The greenhouse effect is a natural process that keeps the earth at temperatures that