Stratosphere to deep sea - University Utah

bwilson4web · Sep 24, 2012

. . .
“We found evidence that what happens in the stratosphere matters for the ocean circulation and therefore for climate,” says Thomas Reichler, senior author of the study published online Sunday, Sept. 23 in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Scientists already knew that events in the stratosphere, 6 miles to 30 miles above Earth, affect what happens below in the troposphere, the part of the atmosphere from Earth’s surface up to 6 miles or about 32,800 feet. Weather occurs in the troposphere.
Researchers also knew that global circulation patterns in the oceans – patterns caused mostly by variations in water temperature and saltiness – affect global climate.
“It is not new that the stratosphere impacts the troposphere,” says Reichler, an associate professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Utah. “It also is not new that the troposphere impacts the ocean. But now we actually demonstrated an entire link between the stratosphere, the troposphere and the ocean.”
. . .
“The North Atlantic is particularly important for global ocean circulation, and therefore for climate worldwide,” Reichler says. “In a region south of Greenland, which is called the downwelling region, water can get cold and salty enough – and thus dense enough – so the water starts sinking.”
It is Earth’s most important region of seawater downwelling, he adds. That sinking of cold, salty water “drives the three-dimensional oceanic conveyor belt circulation. What happens in the Atlantic also affects the other oceans.
. . .
Click to expand...

Source: Stratosphere Targets Deep Sea to Shape Climate | University of Utah News

I've heard of the Atlantic conveyer but understood an influx of fresh water might shut it down. Here is another mechanism but I wonder if there is a similar mechanism off of Siberia? Off Antartica?

Bob Wilson

Stratosphere to deep sea - University Utah

bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

About PriusChat

Quick Navigation

Like us on Facebook

Buy us a beer!

Useful Searches

Stratosphere to deep sea - University Utah

bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3