"Ivan" wreaking havoc in Carribeans

[Citrous]

Tropical storm Jeanne is already lining up to sweep away what Ivan misses.

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

I haven't seen any news reports of the gulf stream weakening (which is weird if it's true, as news of such an event would be of pretty vital interest in the part of the world where I live). I'm somewhat sceptical of this claim, do you have a link or such?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2003/bigchill.shtml It's been known about for a few years, and the trends are showing the problem is accelerating. Salinity in the North Atlantic is dropping alamingly as global warming melts ice from Canada, Greenland, and the Arctic, which is slowing the Atlantic Conveyer. Without warm water to warm the air, the Gulf Stream will stall, and Europe will become as cold as Moscow or Newfoundland.

Looking at historical records, it seems the Atlantic Conveyer can stop very quickly (in the space of a few hundred years) and can take a long time to get restarted (a few thousand years).

The increase in the Sun's activity this last century, combined with the exacerbating effects of human industrial activity and reduction in forestation (which previously locked away a lot of greenhouse gases), means the slowdown of the Atlantic Conveyer (and thus the Gulf Stream which warms Europe) is happening faster than ever before.

 

[Deepak]

Link

Yesterday saw on CNN that there are currently 4 hurricanes around US east and west coast.