SCI/TECH: Significant Weakening Of Gulf Stream Detected

Scientists have found evidence that the sinking mechanism that drives the Gulf Stream has weakened to less than 25% of its original strength. The results could mean a significant cooling for Britain and Europe.



This discovery is absolutely incredible. I do believe they have greatly understated the effects of a current failure. That part is subject to debate. In my opinion the most concerning quote from the story was "Until recently we would find giant ‘chimneys’ in the sea where columns of cold, dense water were sinking from the surface to the seabed 3,000 metres below, but now they have almost disappeared."

If and when the current fails the effects will quickly wrap around the globe. If anything global warming may amplify the effects by greating greater temperature differences from north to south and provide the instability necessary to create huge storms by creating a greater verticle temperature difference.

Fascinating.

This could really impct NE Eurpoe.

The cited story does provide an interesting alternative to massive freezes in GB. Keeping it cool as the reat of the world heats up!

Wish my grand kids well in dealing with this

It's thought that this is one of the forces that creates an Ice Age (period of cold). Although a short-term change might not create a huge impact, a long-term (century long) one could certainly have a huge impact on the global climate.

It only takes one failed growing season to cause serious problems. One year is all it takes for the effects to be felt. I would think Noreasters would become much more severe.

In Art Bell and Streiber book, The Upcoming Global Superstorm covers this in depth.
It is a very scary proposition to me personally..

[edit on 8-5-2005 by siriuslyone]

For anyone that hasn't read the book yet I'd highly recommend it. This is the book that the movie The Day After Tomorrow is based on. In my opinion the movie doesn't do the book justice.

So if the trend continues does that mean all that warm water will stay around Florida and the east coast or what? I would hate to see what happenns if our water temperatures are approaching 90(F) come August, I mean all that solar heating in the tropics has to get vented somehow. I guess only time will tell what if anything is happening to the gulf stream.

my first reaction. "better get ready to hit that panic button we is screwing up the world again. better call out and fix whatever we are doing wrong now".

then upon second thought i remembered about those HARRP towers, mabe it's time that these were realy looked into. i say that as there is a possibility that they are being used to change weather patterns. weather this is on purpose or accident is moot if they are haveing a detrimental effect on the weather. also i guess that this means that global warming isn't the threat that it has been purported to be. or will it be said that this is just another sign that it is true. or could this even be a totaly natural event that has nothing to do with humanity? so much fun this is. if we choose wrong we could do even further damage than doing apsolutely nothing. so eeny meeny miny moe, ect.

I wonder how much this ties in with an older ATSNN discussion.. I am sure Indy will remember this one:

SCI/TECH: Satellites Record Weakening North Atlantic Current

Again, only time will tell.

Our climate may prove to be far more fragile than once believed.

I tell you what, it may not get us now, unless the final change hit us where we are standing, like the last ice age and the dinosaurs.

It will be longer than a life time (I hope) mean while I am enjoying the most wonderful weather here in the south, I love it nice and cool, the oppressing heat can stay in the tropics for another two months.

Has this weakening been verified? If the Atlantic Conveyor quits entirely it could spell serious trouble for a lot of the world, not just Europe. For example, the monsoon season in the Indian Ocean would very likely be disrupted with significant agricultural impacts. Our own northeast would get just as cold, or colder than Europe and both the frequency and intensity of tropical storms, hurricanes, & typhoons would increase.

Further, because of precipation changes throughout Europe, there is a real possibility of actual conflict over water. This is not something to be taken lightly.

I remember reading the story on the current slowing down. It was pretty chilling to read actually (no pun intended), the thought of the opposite of our fears becoming one of our fears. Currently most of us fear global warming, yet few know that we could expirience just the opposite. It's really a shame that my friends and family don't believe me when I talk about this.

This is really quite ominous considering all the climate change that could be happening. I myself can testify that out here in Illinios it's been pretty dang cold. Colder than usual. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the Atlantic current but it seems that climates tend to go by the Butterfly effect in that respect. I remember in the Day After Tommorow they mentioned that the icebergs breaking off from global warming actually chill the currents. Is it just coincidence that not too long ago a glacier the size of Rhode Island broke off from Antartica and now we're seing chilling effects. It seems that the Day After Tommorow may not be as far-fetched as we thought.

We've finally gotten back into warmer temps in Virginia after some cooler temps. It's more pleasant when it isn't as hot, but at the same time it's not necessarily a good thing to happen. Just as one guy mentioned, all it takes is one failed season. Tons of people could perish. Cold temperatures or drought can really mess up a food supply. I wish more people would take this seriously, not panic, but take a look at the situation and figure out what we can do to try and fix the damage that has been done here.

I'm disliking the people who are sawing down the rainforests right now. As well as the "Oil World Order," who try to suppress better and cleaner technologies.

Troy

jrod... I think it was former National Hurricane Center director Dr. Frank that said hurricanes were like giant heat engines. He explained their purpose was to evacuate the heat from the tropics. He also speculated that if we didn't have hurricanes that we'd have something worse.

Gazz... can you believe it has been almost a year since you started that thread?

Astronomer...This particular article validates the failing sinking mechanism. This sinking is required for the current to work. As the sinking goes so does the current. There is a website I used to visit that showed the gulf stream velocity. I say "used to" because they have altered the data and the maps in my opinion are pretty much useless now. These maps used to plot out the path and relative speed of the gulf stream. An example of this would be a river that flows 10mph down stream. You take your motor boat on the water and rev the engine up and head off down stream at 15 mph relative to the water around you. But then you have mechanical problems and your motor can't run well. So instead of going 15mph you now only go 5mph. But to make yourself feel better you change your speedometer to make your speed absolute. Meaning your speed is now based on land versus the water around you. So your 5mph + 10mph water flow makes you think your boat is going 15mph. This is what happened to the gulf stream map. The current got so slow and hard to define that they had to change the measurements from relative to absolute just to have a well defined stream on the map. The reality is the current is almost gone.

Originally posted by cyberdude78
Currently most of us fear global warming, yet few know that we could expirience just the opposite.

A lot of people don't seem to understand what global warming means.

Global warming actually brings colder temperatures to the northern regions of the world. To put it in layman's terms, global warming melts glaciers in the poles faster than they can grow, the fresh water that is released from this warming breaks the balance of salinity which maintains the north atlantic conveyor belt running, which in turn slows the current down thus not being able to bring warmer waters to the norther regions. Warmer waters which gives us the mild winters in the northern regions of the world.

If the north Atlantic conveyor belt weakens more or even stops all together, which I think it will happen within a decade or less, we are looking at an ice age in those northern regions of the world.

The immediate impact will be on the northern areas. But as the snow cover grows with each passing year more energy will be reflected back in to space. The result will be shortening summers and longer winters for the southern regions. Eventually this will eat away at the warm waters of the south and cool that region as well. It will stay this way for a period of time until enough fresh water is taken from the oceans and deposited back on land as snow and ice. At this point the ocean current will begin to flow more normally and warmth will be returned to the northern waters though in a weaker form until the ice and snow starts to melt and less energy is reflected back in to space. The result will be and overall warming trend which will accelerate over decades or centuries. Basically until we are back into the state we are in today.

This report seems like a train wreck you may see happening but hope it isn't so. This event could very well destroy crops around the world and cause worldwide famine if true. It may take a few years to get worse and worse. After 10 to 20 years, I can imagine the price of food will be sky high and people will be starving. I hope this doesn't come to pass. I read that two other little known about systems were keeping the current flowing even if it's at a slow rate. I hope those don't stop. I remember reports of having a cool summer last year in the US. A freeze across the US and Europe in the middle of summer would drive the price of food sky high. Of course famine and crop failure doesn't need to result from cold. It could simply be too little or too much rain in various places around the planet.

I've read that the gulf stream current suddenly stopping (over a few years to a decade) is completely natural. It has happened at least a few times before and we were not around to question it. I am wondering if we are speeding up the process? Is it already too late to stop the damage? So far in the Southern US, the winters have not been that bad here.

If it is as far along as it appears then it is far too late to do anyhing about it. That is if anything ever could have been done. This has happened many times before. As far as I am concerned this could be a great learning experience or a nightmare. Depends on how we want to deal with it. I am a severe weather enthusiast so fun times are ahead for me.

I happened to read Art Bell and Whitley Streibers book,and in the last few months some oddly similar events have been happening,and now this...its eerie.I wonder how long before it completely collapses,if it does.Then again...most people won't really believe something like this is happening untill it's right infront of thier face.

[edit on 8-5-2005 by AaronTheWolf]

Originally posted by AaronTheWolf
Then again...most people won't really believe something like this is happening untill it's right infront of thier face.

I agree. I read this and still don't believe it's happening just like 9-11 seemed more like a movie than reality. It will be easier for people to deny reality until the price of food skyrockets and/or we have other major problems. Just imagine a hurricane with sustained winds over 200 mph becoming a common occurrence. There would be total devastation with nothing surviving unless it's in a waterproof bomb shelter for miles and miles. Such a storm could spawn tornadoes with winds over 300 to 400 mph in my opinion. I'm not an expert though. Then when the storm hits the cold, it becomes a monster blizzard with snow drifts over 30 feet tall. Hopefully this won't happen but I enjoy watching some monster storms on occasion as well.

The tropics might get hotter. Hotter water can spawn bigger storms. The temperature difference between a snow covered north and sizzling south can spawn monster storms. Of course if it gets really cold I guess the big hurricanes won't happen. I really don't know what should happen in this scenario so if I'm completely wrong on this, someone correct me.